As we walked into the classroom, Gabriella asked if she could speak to our class. I said, “Of course.” Giving her the option to speak now or later, she chose later.

When our workbook lesson was complete, Gabriella got up to speak. She shared with our class how one of her friends had lost everything in a recent house fire. Also, how he was in need of anything extra that we could donate, such as clothing, blankets or money, because he and his family now have nothing.

After she spoke, I put on a movie. It was the story of Ruth, a woman who held the attributes of what it truly means to love, to be loyal, and to live out a pure, unselfish lifestyle. As the story goes, Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law, Naomi, after their husbands had died. She said to Naomi, “Don’t urge me to leave you, or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

While watching the film, I couldn’t help but see Gabriella’s kindness reflecting that of Ruth. I saw a heart that cares so much for someone else, that nothing stops them from putting others first. Gabriella put away any of her personal thoughts as she stood up and requested help for a friend.

As we celebrate this Easter Season, let us remember the words of John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus did this for us so well.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8