You Have My Support

When I was in church Sunday, my mind wandered some. It’s amazing where your mind can go to, but my mind went back several years to the original Ninja Turtles game on my computer. I remember playing that with friends and seeing this stage with the goal of rescuing Splinter and every time a message came from April O’Neil, she’d end it and say “You have my support.”

My friends and I in our youthful ignorance laughed at that. Yeah. We’re here risking our lives while April is back safe, but don’t worry. We have her support. That’s a real comfort. It doesn’t matter that we could die out here, but April just always wants to say that as if it makes a difference.

It was ignorance indeed.

I look to where I am now and I realize what a blessing it would be. I’ve mentioned before the joy I have in receiving an IM or a message from someone saying “You know, I really liked that thing that you said.” It means a lot more to know now that someone says they’re praying for me. I think of my single life and a friend who said “I’m going to start praying every night that God send you a great wife.”

We sometimes tell people we’re praying for them and then follow that with “It’s the least I can do.” Nonsense. It’s the most that we can do. Of course, this does not deny that we should act on our own. We should. However, prayer is incredibly important. I find this is an area I lack in my own life as well.

Someone once told me that what I do can often be a thankless job. In many ways, it can be, but then you get that message from someone and you realize it isn’t. Would that we all did that? I went out for ice cream Sunday night with my Sunday School director. We just had a great conversation about the church and the class. In the end, my emotional problems I’d been going through seemed to have evaporated. I phoned immediately when I got home just to thank him for the conversation.

Does your shepherd need that? How hard is it for any of us, myself included, to go to someone we appreciate and let them know that we do. I sometimes try to end conversations with friends by saying “Thanks for being a friend.” I don’t do it everyday so that it will seem trite, but I try to remember it and when I pray at night, I try to remember each of my friends I spoke to during the day and ask God to bless them.

April O’Neil. You were right back then. It’s a shame that in our youthful ignorance, my friends and I missed it. Today, I give my great thanks for it.