I'm A Little Emotional, Jim

Kendyl was a young lady who worked with me one day on the prayer walk in the 9th Ward in New Orleans. We struck up an immediate conversation because she was from Little Rock, AR, not too far from my home in Searcy. She was a student at LSU in Baton Rouge and had come over with the group from the Christian student center there. My problem was I couldn't remember Kendyl's name at first. "Emily?" I said at first. "Kendyl." Well, then it became a joke. I called her everything from Alice to Betty to Celeste...anything but Kendyl. And she returned the favor.
She was good at the prayer walking. She just had a knack for getting to the heart of the matter so quickly. At the final place, she got onto the van and I looked at her and said, "Well, how's it going, Marge?" She looked at me with a tear in her eye and said, "I'm a little emotional right now, Jim." No jokes. No smile. Just reality. I knew I had crossed the line and it was time to be serious.
As we talked, she told me she absolutely hated the prayer walking. I had already revealed to her that I had wanted to muck houses, but had been assigned this task. She identified. And although she was very good at it, it pulled at her heart deeply. It was Kendyl who visited with the lady I talked about yesterday. Remember? The one who had lost $40,000. Kendyl had the kind of rapport with her that she would tell a perfect stranger her story of how she lost so much money.
I wish I had that kind of heart. I was able to keep emotionally detached. Maybe it's because I'm a guy and I've been taught not to let the feelings show. I think the word is "compassion." When Jesus saw the crowds, that they had no one to follow and they were sick, He had compassion on them. Compassion isn't just a feeling, it's the feeling that motivates to action. That's what I want. I want to have compassion...to feel as Jesus felt.
That's the feeling we're all striving for. Not just a sad heart, but one that moves to action. Kendyl, you just keep caring. I learned a great lesson that day. It's not enough to be touched, we most be motivated to really do something. Have a great day. JW