My Name is Somebody

Don and I entered and found seats. On each was a card and a nametag that said “Somebody”.

We can all be “somebody”

There’s a story about a man throwing starfish, stranded on the beach, back into the ocean one at a time. Another man approached and said, “Hey, you can’t save ‘em all. What difference does it make?”

“Well,” the man replied as he threw another starfish into the sea, “I made a difference to that one.”

We can each make a difference in others’ lives.

We Can be Someone’s Somebody

Whether it’s the GoFundMe account for a friend in need, a hug for a lonely person, a smile and bright hello to an elderly person who feels invisible, we CAN make a difference. We can be that person’s “somebody.”

Right now, Don and I are called to be “somebody” to a dear friend who is critically ill. He is in pain, confused at times, in a rehab center from which it is unlikely he will return to his own home. I can visit him, pay his bills, check out long-term living situations and feel resentment for the time his current needs (and my commitment as his Power of Attorney) require; or I can recognize that God is allowing me to be his “somebody” for this period of time.

It’s not easy, but it is a privilege. And as Pastor Joe said, whatever we do for someone else will never equal what Jesus Christ did for us—for me. I have a choice every day. I can help our friend with joy and compassion, or I can complain and live in resentment.

Ways to be Someone’s Somebody

A few ways we can be someone else’s “somebody”…

• Send an encouraging note or phone call
  

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• Offer to do laundry, or take a meal to someone who is ill
• Buy food for a homeless person
• Sit with someone who is lonely, sometimes without words
• Offer grace and kindness to those in our own lives who sometimes hurt us, without intent
• Help a neighbor fix a fence
• Give to help those less fortunate through a reliable organization, or sometimes, directly

Being Someone’s Somebody Requires Trust

When Pastor Joe was born, his father held him high in both hands, offering him back to God. And now, thirty some years later, Joe is a minister, serving God, our church, and others. When Joe and Roxy had their first child, Joe wanted to follow his father’s example. When Joe held up that little boy, he realized he was offering this most precious gift back to God. What if God took his son’s life in a day, ten years? The child was God’s.

His point? When we take what is most precious to us and hand it back to the Father, we express our trust in him.

Eighteen years ago I was my late husband’s “somebody” as he faced a terminal illness. https://www.carolloewen.com/caregivers-support-self-care-and-communication/

Being “Somebody” Helps us Be More Like Jesus

Joe talked about making a duplicate key. Every ridge, every cut in the new key is to make it more like the original. Even so, every nook and cranny in our lives is to help us become more like Jesus, to open the key to God’s kingdom for someone else.

I won’t be someone’s “somebody” in the same way as another friend will. And vice versa.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Romans 12:4-12

So whose “somebody” will you be today?