The Importance of Invitations

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I have been studying a lot about unity lately.  I have had a lot of good discussions, and had people write to me their thoughts on the topic, which were helpful and enlightening.  One thing, which I knew was important, but maybe didn't recognized how important, was invitations.  Inviting people to do things with us, and having people invite us to do things with them. 

Even if we invite people to do something, and they can't do it, it lets them know that we were thinking about them and want them to be with us.  When I was a young mom, a friend inviting me to go places with her made a huge impact on my life for good.  During the stress of last year a friend invited me to ride with her to the lake and walk around.  She shared things that were helpful to me and it was a calm, peaceful retreat in a stormy time.  Lately, I have a couple of friends who invite me to go to the temple with them.  Even when I can't go I am always thankful to be thought of.

One of my sisters-in-law who wrote to me suggested that we never do a good thing alone (if possible).  We can at least invite someone to come, even if it doesn't work out.  Of course, we can turn anything into something to feel guilty about, and for some it can be scary to invite people to do things.  Somehow we need to learn to ditch the guilt, and be brave about making invitations.  I have seen and felt the good impact invitations have had on myself and others.  We do not have to plan a big event, or do anything grand.  We don't have to invite someone to come over for hours, or even at all.  We can invite people (or a person) to do things that we want to do and feel comfortable doing, and the impact for good that we will have will be more than we imagine.

***Photo by Duy Pham on Unsplash