Learning lessons from Hayley

Since moving to AZ we have found an awesome church that we go to. I even want to go twice a week...that's how much I like it! Anyway, we just started a new series called "40 Days of Love" and we are into our second lesson. In the meantime, Hayley has been talking about a little girl at school that she has befriended for weeks now. Hayley has told me about her and she has been through some really tough stuff in her life. Stuff that Hayley has never been exposed to. Stuff that is just awful! I finally got to meet this little girl one day at school. She was sweet but I couldn't understand what she and Hayley had in common? From the outside, they were nothing alike. Hayley continues to talk about her and wants to invite her over but I always find some excuse not to. I just have felt uneasy about it. I don't want to express this to Hayley because she has such a great heart so I prayed about it asking God to help me make the right decision.Ok, so back to church. For the past two lessons, I have listened to our pastor talk about loving your neighbor. This means getting out of your comfort zone to love them! Love them because they are not like us and because God loves us all the same. I felt like God was answering my prayers the more the pastor spoke to us. Like the answer was right there in front of me the whole time. The right thing to do is to invite her over to spend some time with Hayley. Hayley only sees what's on the inside, not what's on the outside. When no one else would be friends with this little girl, Hayley is her friend. When this little girl cried at school, Hayley got her some tissues. When this little girl didn't have a lunch for the field trip, Hayley packed her one from home. When this little girl was cold at school, Hayley let her borrow her sweater. Even Hayley's teacher said to her, "You sure have been a good friend to ______". I am happy to say that we are inviting her over this week to play after school. I bought pizza dough, pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese for the girls to make their own pizzas!
Hayley, I am so proud of how pure and sweet your heart is. I am learning a lot about myself through church and our lessons on love but I am learning the most from you! I love you baby girl!