Outdo eachother in showing honour

"Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.  Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honouring each other."
Romans 12: 9-10

The other night I was having a conversation with a friend about honouring people and what that looks like in a culture that is very much about honouring ourselves.
We talked about building people up and pointing out the things they are good at and character traits which you love and speaking those things out in public, honouring them.
Most of us aren't super good at it. Including myself.

But today I want to take a minute and honour a few of the people who have been a special blessing to me in these past couple of weeks. I could write about a lot of people, but since I don't have a whole lot of time, I'll just choose a few.

This is Lauren... She's one of my favourite people in Dunedin this year.
She's so good at asking questions of people and being interested in their lives, then actually remembering the things you say.
She has an infectious childlike excitement about the world and almost all the time has this little smile underneath her words, like she's trying not to laugh.
She knew I as studying all day so she bought me a cupcake and brought it all the way up to my house for me, and another time she ran across town in her pyjamas, chasing me home because she forgot to ask me how something had gone the other night.

This is Tegan... We've both been doing Rock Solid, a youth programme together this year as leaders, but recently she's become a good friend of mine.
Tegan has a sense of integrity and a genuine personality that I haven't seen the same way in very many people. She's one of those people that mean the things they say.
She's honest and straight up and I appreciate that so much.
She has a heart for youth and I've seen through the Rock Solid stuff we do that she's been given such gifts in relating to them and making them feel important.

Bridget... she's featured on here before...
She knows the things about me that are stupid and embarrassing and still loves me anyway. She knows how much I hate shopping so when we went the other day she bought me candy at half time to keep me going.
She will come over to my house late at night if she knows I might be upset, and will just sit there for a while without saying anything. I love that.
She gets more excited about me getting mail than I do and wont let me open it unless she's there.
She cares deeply about people and will go out of her way to make them feel loved.

This is my mother. I'm not sure where I would even begin to start with her... She's taught me to be logical and manage my time well and to plan things.. a task that I'm sure was a mission! Cause this is not something I find easy. She sends me parcels down to Dunedin with chocolate and cute notes in them. She is endlessly helping people and serving them, giving of her time and money and food and energy. She's an incredible woman!