If you’ve been following the news in suburban Philadelphia the past couple weeks, you might have heard about the church shooting that took place at Keystone Fellowship. A horrible tragedy took place, leaving families on both sides grieving and coping with unimaginable losses. My heart continues to break for them. All I have to do is read another news article about it, and I’ll start tearing up (happened this morning on my way into work. Great way to start the day ✌️ ).

But this post isn’t about that. If you want to read more, check out the post my good friend Janine wrote on our website She Ascends.

What I saw in the week following the shooting was people so selflessly sacrificing their time, their resources, and their hearts. It impressed on me this lesson:

Don’t let your schedule and what you impose as your responsibilities stop you from taking advantage of the opportunities you are given.

There are some things we have to do. If you have a job, you have to go to work. If you go to school, you have to complete your coursework. But we often impose a lot of other things on ourselves that we don’t actually need to do (if you are fortunate, you can even call out of work).

Like blogging!
Or chores.
Or exercising.

Not that any of these things are bad or that you should avoid them forever — yes, you should clean your house, and you should exercise. But they can wait.

Because you can’t always plan for life. Honestly, the whole situation still doesn’t even seem real. When I got the phone call that there had been a shooting at my church, I couldn’t comprehend what my friend had just told me. You can’t always expect what life throws at you.

The following week looked nothing like I had originally planned (despite my obsessive planning tenancies). As I work with the middle school girls at my church, we had extra time for counselling and processing Sunday’s events. I love the 7th grade girls I work with, and I really didn’t have to think twice about dropping the commitments I already had for the week to come alongside these girls in whatever way I was able to.

It wasn’t necessarily a conscious decision I made at the time, but it was a conscious decision I had made before hand. Sticking to non-essential obligations when life happens can cause you miss out on life. If your schedule is too booked or you aren’t paying attention, you’ll miss out.

I encourage you: be willing to be open to life’s interruptions.