Why Community Matters

 

I dropped off almost 60 thank-you notes at the post office today… and there were tears welling up in the corners of my eyes as I wrote each one.  We were overwhelmed, literally overwhelmed, with the support we received from friends and family in the weeks following Teli’s accident.

Honestly? We would have made it through these past six weeks.  I can see that now.  We would have made it home from the hospital that awful first night.  We would have found sustenance without meals being dropped off.  We would have filled the hours without the movies and toys we were blessed with.  But the fact that we didn’t have to was perhaps the greatest gift we could have ever imagined – and yet never known to ask for.  Community is one of the most precious gifts our father in heaven has given us.  And He shows us how much this matters to Him when he tells us “to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.” (Matthew 22:37-39)

 

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say even if you don’t know what to do – do something.  Because showing compassion is never the wrong response. And it matters.  I had one friend who messaged me almost daily and told me she would pop in when I was ready.  She knew that I probably needed some space to figure things out.   She was right.  And I appreciated it.  I had another friend who just showed up on three different occasions and told me to leave the house I had otherwise been confined to while she watched my kids.  She just showed up - because she knew I would never ask for this.  And she was right.  These were completely opposite responses and yet both were bang on. It doesn't matter how we respond to suffering - just that we respond. Because each unique response fills in a gap and weaves together a beautiful tapestry of God's provision for us.  The master creator still at work, in His perfect time.

 

I, personally, will probably never again say the words “Let me know how I can help” because now that I have been on the other end, I know that sometimes help is hard to ask for.  Sometimes you just scream at your spouse across the entire acre of your property because you haven’t slept well in 10 days and you feel like you are about to snap.  You don’t know how anyone else could help so you don’t ask.  But when you realize that you have a community around you that truly cares… it changes everything. 

 

  Something amazing and beautiful happens when love becomes a verb. 

Loneliness dissipates, facades crumble, hearts knit together, the sun shines a little bit brighter,

creation responds with new life and the entire host of heaven applauds.

 Everything we do matters… but love matters most of all.

 

So, I will say it again, from the bottom of our hearts - thank you for loving on us.  Thank you for reminding us that we weren’t alone.  I hope the ripple effect of your “love-in-motion” reaches all the way around and back to you.  And, most assuredly, our family plans to be a part of that ripple. :)