Somebody must do it.

I deliberately used the word "must" in the title,  not as a command but as a celebration of my culture. It is one of the most common used words in South African Language . . . and is thrown into most sentences with out having the full weight and authority of the original meaning of the word. "I  must go and get bread and milk from the shops" "remind me that i must return that call" "we must get together sometime". . .  and so i think somebody, anybody,  must do it. . . . not say it. . . do it.

I know many people are all into 5 love languages and rubbish like that. I call it rubbish, yes it appears to hold some truth, but i truly think that it also shoves individuals into boxes and hinders us embracing the individuality Christ created in us. It also gives us an excuse, or reason for broken relationships and bad behavior. It [in my opinion] is no different to horoscopes putting people into personality boxes, it just comes in a different package.

People, being made in the image of the creator, are to wonderfully,beautifully complex to be dragged into boxes. So apparently I fall into the Words of Affirmation. That doesn't surprise me. My life hinges on words,  I love writing and writing lots and lots of words, each picture hanging in my house is centered on words, my art is inspired by words ...even my fridge is covered in magnetic words. The first thing I do when receiving a gift is look [hopefully] for the card to read the words and if there isnt a card there i feel disappointed even if it is a great gift. And if you have ever held a conversation with me, i am not a monosyllable converser.

I fit into that box. That standard. But I can honestly tell you that despite that box, my biggest pet peeve, the one that really gets my blood boiling is when people have a lot to say and no follow through. I HATE IT! Empty promises, even if the promise/intention/motive was so well meaning irritate the "dinges" out of me.  [for non Afrikaans speaking people, dinges is just another salute to my culture, you can insert many different words there to complete that sentence].

I truly think that a time needs to come where actions speak louder than words. With my current car issues, in a nation where public transport is barely existing and not safe, one of the things that stood out to me so much is my boss. The minute she heard the crisis, she was on the phone begging to come pick me up and help me out. For the first few days till I was blessed with a rental car, she went out of her way to give me lifts, make sure i got to grocery stores etc. It wasnt an empty offer, and there was very little discussion, it was simply done. She is super busy. She is a specialist doctor, who delivers babys so is often called out late at night etc. She has a 10 month old and a 7 year old. That week her husband and oldest daughter were extremely sick. But none of this hindered her being supportive.  And those small gestures meant the world to me. There was very little to follow through on that she had verbally promised because she simply did it.

I'll never forget when i first returned to South Africa and was struggling with PTSD there were those who had a lot to say and offered many things, but there actions never reflected their words. They offered to be there for me, but it had to be at their convenience. And it never seemed to be convenient. But there were others who simply were there. Offering a hug. Sitting and praying for me. Buying me groceries. Giving me clothes. Simply checking in on me. [ironically the wordsy ones rose up and warned me to stay away the supportive ones...but thats a story for another day]. I really felt the love of God more through the ones that didn't promise support but genuinely showed support. 

I have so much more to say around this topic . . . and possibly will continue this train of thought later. But I really think we need to start letting our actions reflect our words. In fact our actions should speak louder than our words . . . . and somebody [yes you] needs to just do it. You  must do it.