To Sit on the Bench

This is beyond beautiful. We all need to be those bench sitters, the ones who can offer that out-stretched arm of love and compassion to those who are struggling and in need. Love is so powerful. Depression and Suicide are a real force that so many of us have been given the trial of dealing with. But that Love, that pure Christ-like love and taking the time to sit on the bench, to just be there for someone, to listen, to feel, to sometimes not say anything and just be there---That love is a light more powerful than any of the darkest episodes of depression. Please, don't forget that.
 We don't know what everyone else is going through. Sometimes I don't think we even know what we're going through ourselves. I am so eternally grateful for a friend who listened to the promptings of the Spirit and took the time to sit by me on my 'bench.' Just a few words, a kind gesture, and a smile on her face... It made all the difference.
When my Mom came down to Ecuador, we had a chance to really sit on a bench together, in the biggest park in South America, and just talk. All these bent up emotions inside of me I could finally release. I cried. She cried. But the darkness lifted overtime, and it was all because of that bench. It's amazing how much my Heavenly Father is aware of me and my needs. How much He loves me. How much He is aware of my every need, even for a small park bench. But for a mother who I could trust. A mother who I loved and she loved me. The world was so big, yet at one dark moment, I had seemed so small. You could say that it took a sit on the bench for me to realize how wrong I had been. And how right my Father's Plan of Happiness truly was.
So, lend an arm. Take a sit on that old bench. You may not understand what they are going through, but the impact your small act of compassion can make is beyond comprehension. Don't judge. Don't nag. Don't push. When they are ready to talk, just be there. You'll never know the impact you'll make. All they want is someone who'll care. Someone to say, "I want you here."

I feel so free. There is a peace that comes through knowing that, above all else, my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ are always there for me, ever the faithful bench sitters.

With so much love,
Future Sister Holly Howell