Katherine

Last week, I got a phone call. I think she said her name was Katherine. 

A few weeks ago, I went to a local event that is one of my favorite events of the year. In it, local businesses set up and promote themselves and give away a bunch of promotional items, plus the chance to win raffle baskets. I've been going to this event for years, and I enter to win everything. Because...why not? 

Nobody has ever called me. Nobody has ever sent me an email. Nobody has ever harassed me because I provided my information at this event for the sole purpose of possibly winning something. 

But this year, I used a stack of old business cards instead of filling out slips of paper. 

And this year, I got a call. 

Katherine was a representative of a local business, and they were planning on holding a fully-catered networking event in the near future. She saw my business, which presents me as an author, speaker, and artist, and she wanted to know if I would be interested in coming and connecting with other persons in the community? 

I told her now was not a good time. I was having some challenges, and now was simply not a good time to commit myself to anything else. 

If you know me, you know what these challenges are. At least, some of them. If you don't, it's not important. Katherine, who has never met me and never even spoken to me before that phone call, had no idea what my challenges are in this season. 

But immediately, she said, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Then, she continued, "I mean, I don't know what's going on, but if I can be of any help at all, just let me know. I know I'm just a (insert her profession), but I know a lot of people, and if I can make some contacts that would be helpful to you, I'm willing to do that. Call me back on this number any time. Stop in and ask for me. Whatever you need, I'll do my best to help." 

This kind of wraps into a neat little package a couple of the other folks that I have talked about in the past few weeks in this space. I wonder if it might be that God is trying to shape my heart in this direction in a more profound way than even I realize. 

See, I want to be this person. I want to be this person who puts other humans first. Who is quick to set aside business and get down to humanity. Who is willing to use my connections and my resources for the good of others. Who is present. Who can shift on a dime and start a response with, "I'm sorry to hear that," and be willing to spin off in an entirely different direction, just like that. 

Some days, I'm really good at this. Some days, I'm still working on it. Some days, I feel bound by organizational structures - the "rules" about being in certain places that I am in, belonging to certain organizations I belong to (professional or community-based or faith-based or whatever), and I feel that tug about whether "the man" would approve if I stepped out of my sandals and made a little holy ground. The last thing I want to do sometimes is create a liability. 

But here was Katherine, calling me from her office, making a business contact that turned into a human connection, and if I'm being honest - I'm in places in my life right now where this is not only welcome; it's encouraged. Those structures around me that I worry so much about operating within? They are people-centered. Just like I want to be. 

So some days, I'm really good at this. Some days, I'm still working on it. And some days, I am blessed to be the recipient of it in a random phone call from an old business card that reminds me how wonderful it is to be a human being first and have someone recognize that not all engagements have to be transactions. 

Some are just love.