This mom is also an educator. As she was helping a student with a behavioral problem as part of her job at school, her cell phone rang. With uncontrollable emotions and sobbing, her daughter called from a different school, “There is a shooting in our school. Something awful is going on.” Our conversation begins at this part of the story and takes us through the realization that her son was one of the victims, how she found out, got to the hospital and how she copes with the pain while, at the same time, sees the blessings of her son’s survival. It was my honor to support that mom and her family at the hospital and it has is been my pleasure to have be invited to be part of their family. We are bonded by our encounter at the emergency department that dark and traumatic day.

In our study to care with actions that make a difference we begin with our nature. This is our source and capacity to care. If we have a nature that has not been changed by God, all kinds of disfunction pour out of us. I make this point with the metaphor of your life being a bucket. Whatever your bucket is full of will affect how you approach every situation in life and how well you care or even if you care. There is great news! God offers to fill our buckets with a new nature powered by His Spirit that helps us care effectively.

When we boil it all down, most of us want to know our life has made a difference in someone else’s life. That’s worth thinking about and considering how that desire fits into God’s plan and design for our lives. Then we are set on a course for our best life.