Subtlety

Friday night was sort of an eye opener. The usual praise and prayer night where we sing songs and pray about certain topics, nothing out of the ordinary. Towards the end one of the prayer topics Jenny Ahn mentioned was praying for the people who influenced you as well as people you have influenced. Thoughts swirled around as I knelt to pray in thankfulness for the people have influenced my life. On the flip side it also made me worry about the people I have influenced. I'm a big believer in subtle influence. You don't necessarily have to be a huge impact on someones' life but in the end, anything you say or do can and will influence others whether it be for the better or worse.

Everyone wants a role model as well as be a good one for others. I'm no different. When Jenny mentioned the topic, I think I replayed my entire 4 years here at Syracuse in less than 10 minutes. I know for a fact that there are people who have influenced my life. A lot of people probably don't know that they have influenced me in very subtle ways. I guess what made me worry is that humans have this extraordinary power of influence. Did I influence people for the better or for the worse? My 2 years of being a small group leader, my 3 years of church leadership, my 4 years of being present in Syracuse, I pray they have been fruitful. I guess part of the reason I decided not to be a family group leader this year is for that exact reason. I don't want to be in that position where I can influence someone's life drastically. I rather be subtle about it.

Thanks to certain subtle influential figures, I am who I am. Your subtle acts of kindness and faith changed my life and I hope I can do the same for the future generations.

We have the power to influence people. What a scary yet reassuring thought that we have the power to carve the future.