I love the way this verse beautifully reveals God's heart for community, his desire to see us committed, taking time to meet, doing life together and urging us to do so all the more with no thought of giving up.
I have a great group of friends... friends I have tried to make an effort to meet with for over 13 years. In our early years, we flocked together as often as possible in an effort to survive the most challenging season of our lives (parenting toddlers and preschoolers). We endured the loud crashes of toys they liked to dump all over the floor and the high pitched screams of, no kidding.. when we all got together, a total of 15 kids who had no problem conquring the lower realms of my bi-level home. In the chaos, we somehow used the time to encourge each other to get the parenting job done! We laughed and shared stories as we slapped 15+ peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together and scrounged up extra chairs and squeezed all 15 squirming toddlers around my kitchen table which was made to seat only six. Sometimes we even tried to pray together dispite the annoying, dramatic interruptions. It was a riot!
It's fun to have so many memories of those days... Even though it was a crazy time, it had a free and inviting way about it because there was no predetermined schedule. The flexibility in my day always allowed time for community and it grew naturally and thrived as we shared our lives raising toddlers together. I loved being available to meet needs as they came, figuring out how to best handle a bruised knee, or deciding that NOW was a good time to walk to the park and run around, or to discern that it might be a good time to stop by a friend's house to visit. Forgetting to meet together was not a problem for me in those days. So glad I experienced such a season... I am still reaping the benefits today!But today it is a totally different story... we are all scattered in different directions, kids with school and activities, adults with jobs and responsibilities. Fitting into my new, more structured environment feels tight and I often long to re-capture the free and loose fit of earlier days. The restriction limits my freedom to go with the flow and my family and I must follow a schedule. I'm OK with it. I'm not thinking just because it's "tighter" it's "wrong". I just find it's harder to keep community in the equation because I'm always concerned about what's next on my agenda, forgetting to stop and enjoy a chance for breakfast conversation with my husband, or to whisper words of encouragement in my children's ears as leave for their day, or invite a friend to lunch to catch up. I'm trying to learn to find a new way, in this structure, to flow through my day and grasp a little community on the way. I may not have an entire afternoon to do it like I used to but still a little encouraging and connecting here and there adds up and I trust it is just as powerful.
I am convinced the gift of who we are to each other is priceless. You are a beautiful gift to me and I am a gift to you because we have stories to share with each other and somehow God uses our stories to mysteriously build us up into something even more beautiful! We need each other to live to our full potential. ~As we jouney along let's not forget to do it together! It's up to us to find ways to connect, to build up, to encourage and commit to community!
Blessings!
