I thought of you today

I thought of you today 1Today, I thought of you (though you probably didn't know it).

I thought of you, Jo-Lynne, when I saw a tweet about BlogHer...you and your sparkly red shoes. You with your perfectly timed humor, your magnetic personality. You with a heart as big as Texas.

Josh, I thought about you today. My one and only brother. We're so different, but also a little bit the same. You have reddish-brown hair and wear canvas shoes and are math-minded. You married a girl I really like and moved to Portland.

A plane flew by and, Mandi, you came to mind. I wondered where in the world you are. I wondered if you are being romanced by someone (and I prayed that he would be as wildly passionate as you are).

I walked by your house and thought of you, Meghan. I thought - for the zillionth time - how we NEED to invite you over for dinner, how we want too. I thought about how we could be friends, how we could have great conversations about books and dreams.

Rollo, I thought of you today when I was rocking my baby to sleep at naptime. I was singing "Holiness, Holiness, It's what I long for..." and a memory of you and your guitar came to mind. I thought of my middle-school self and what an impact you made on me at First Baptist as my youth pastor. Those rides in the church van with a dozen needy kids, stops at 7-eleven for slushies, talks about music (you made fun of Country; I still like it) and boys (you told me to wait for the best - and I did). Such wisdom you poured into me in those precarious days.

I thought of you today 2I thought so many things about you today - Yes, YOU. Cousin. Sister. College Professor. Coworker. Old childhood friend.

24 hours in a day. 24 hours that seem so much shorter than they used to in childhood and young adulthood.

I have a husband to dream with, encourage, enjoy. Kids to hug and help and hold. A house to keep. A writer hat to wear. An entrepreneur hat to wear. A friend hat to wear. A world-changer hat to wear. A comfortable pair of pajamas to wear (because a girl does have to sleep sometimes you know).

I want to do it all. To write you that letter. Bring you that meal. Invite you over for apple crisp. Tell you that your eyes are radiant windows to your iridescent soul. Remind you what an impact you had in my life way back when. Introduce myself for the first time. But...I often have a baby on my hip, a preschooler tugging on my arm, and smeared banana on my shirt.

Know this: In spite of everything, I AM thinking of you. More often than you know.

Do you struggle to find the time to acknowledge the people in your life? How do you show people that you are thinking of them?

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23 comments on “I thought of you today”

  1. i loved this post. so different from your normal posts but so truly you all the same.

    i am do bad at making sure those i love know i am constantly thinking and praying for them. right now, with my SIL's illness and diagnosis, I can't help but think about her constantly but don't want to constantly reach out to them because i don't want to disturb them, i don't want to interrupt them and i don't want my worry to come across- only hope should be shared. i wish expressing our thoughts and love for those around us were just a little bit easier - but then it probably wouldn't mean quite as much.

  2. Thank you! You inspired me to get myself over to see a friend "in person", instead of just reading her blog! It sure is hard to keep up on relationships, with little ones about.

  3. Definitely a struggle... trying to keep in touch with everyone, remember birthdays, anniversaries, to not get hurt when they too have busy lives and forget or don't have time... I unfortunately have no slick tricks up my sleeve for making it happen! Just try to keep a paper list/calendar and put reminders in my Outlook... still, sometimes time just slips by... It's sad... but you made it sound so beautiful too!

  4. Yes, yes, yes. Now more than ever. Life gets crazy and busy and it becomes harder and harder to find time to let people know you're thinking of them.

  5. Oh yes, this is very much a struggle. There are so many people who have touched my lives and who I think of so often, and I'd like to turn the "I thought of you" into "I reached out to you" much more than I do.

  6. Great post! I, too, struggle with this, and attempt to not let guilt take over! But someone gave me wise advice once...there are seasons in life, and each season has its priorities. I try to remember that, and give the priorities of this season their rightful place, and allow God to lead me daily in whatever other plans He might have for the day. And each day is a new beginning, for which I am thankful!

  7. What a beautiful post. One of my New Year's resolutions was to keep in better touch with my friends and I was reminded of this again this weekend when I attended a baby shower for the woman who was my matron of honor at our wedding (and I was hers). She and I were inseparable for years but then she moved to Arizona (I live in Wisconsin) and between different time zones, new jobs for all of us, then I had a baby and now she is having a baby, yada, yada, yada...I don't know where the time goes. It kills me that I can't be there to hold her new baby and watch as she becomes a mother. I wish I had unlimited time and funds to visit her. My solution is to email and call as often as I can, but I do need to do better.

  8. Such a heartfelt post - and one that I'm sure MANY of us can identify with. YOu have inspired me to get off my computer and dash off a few thank you notes...right now, while the rest of the house is sleeping...

  9. I love this! It so perfectly expresses exactly who I am in the words that I don't have. Sometimes I think you are my soul sister and I look up to you so much!
    I try to send notes, usually by email anymore, but I love getting real mail so I try to send it too! A phone call, a facebook message. I always want to keep in touch with everyone I've ever known, but it's just not possible. I hope they know I am thinking of them too!

  10. This is one of those posts I could have written myself. Probably not as beautifully but as I read along I kept thinking I am not alone. Someone else has these thoughts too! I have wanted to write a thank you letter to my midwife and lactation consultant for a year now and I still have not done so. As I read I thought of them. They are part of a precious memory for me and I want to let them know what they mean to us. When I say I will I get overwhelmed with the need to adequately express my gratitude... and then someone needs fed or changed.
    So beautifully said. Truly love your writing!

  11. what a great post. and yes...i think about so many people that i am so far away from, especially since my husband and I left everything and everyone for half a year. I'm looking forward to re-connecting in the near future, but until then, thank God for the internet!

  12. Beautiful, beautiful post Stephanie! Your lovely words ring so true for me also - so many people I long to encourage, reach out to, & touch...and yet so many (well, 3, anyways) precious little people who need me nearly every minute, it seems. Sometimes I feel I do well with balancing the two, and sometimes I'm a miserable failure. So thank you for the inspiration to keep being passionate & keep "buying up opportunities" as they come.

  13. This was beautiful, so well written, and so true. Such a treat as a reader, like you just gave me an awesome, enjoyable present

  14. I am shy by nature, so "reaching out" is always a challange for me. Plus, having four kids in tow can sometimes make me feel makeup-less and messy but I have found that most mothers feel the same and love a kind word or a encouraging smile just as much as I do. When I keep my focus inward I think of all my faults but when I turn my eyes upward and out to others I feel like I can connect and even sometimes encourage.
    Thank you for your smiles!

  15. I do struggle with that! But the moments I can carve out in the day (or evening) to sit and write an email or a letter are priceless to me. It's amazing how many people God has placed in my life that have impacted me deeply.
    And thanks for mentioning Mandi's blog. It has been a while since I have visited it and I look forward to reading it.

  16. Do you know that I think of you everyday? I think about how I wish our paths would have crossed earlier. I think about how many things we have in common. *sigh*

    1. Nancy! I think of you every day too! We need to plan a family hike together into Cienega Creek (Tim mentioned that...).

      Also - Are you going camping this weekend up at Mt. Lemmon?

  17. I love your posts. They are truly so heartfelt. And yes, we do struggle here to acknowledge all of those special people in our lives. Oftentimes I wish I was able to honor our relationships, our commitments, and our memories more often than we're able. But I try to remind myself that this is the way life is. We think of others, but only reach out and physically connect a small percentage of the time. But I believe our positive thoughts and energy still travel on and affect everyone regardless. You kind of have to believe that, knowing that people haven't been able to jot emails, pick up the phone, etc. for all of these centuries. Perhaps our holding of others in our thoughts and memories is just as valuable really. :)

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