If we weather a little rain, there’s often a reward.
My daughter came downstairs this morning sporting a new pair of ankle boots that she has been dying to wear to school. When we got ready to go, it was raining. She was disappointed, trying to decide whether to wear them or not because she was worried about ruining them. In the end, she decided to go for it. What do you know? The rain had slowed to a light mist by the time we arrived at school. I promised myself I would take a run today (okay honestly, it’s more walking than running; but running sounds cooler ) Anyway, when I got ready to go out, it was raining, but slowing. A huge part of me was thinking, “oh well, it wasn’t meant to be,” but I ignored that little voice and went anyway. And you guessed it, the rain stopped.
This rain dilemma really got me thinking. How many opportunities do we miss out on because of a little rain. How many times do we skip church because it’s raining or too cold? How many chances to get together with friends do we miss because we are too tired? How many walks do we miss? How much beauty do we miss because we decide to stay indoors where we are safe and dry?
As I pondered this, I dug a little deeper. How many times have I said, “I would love to do a Bible study, but I don’t have time?” I also often hear someone say things like “I don’t live in a friendly neighborhood.” I wonder, has that person, personally tried to organize a neighborhood get together? I also often hear, “I would love to participate in (you fill in the blank here), but I don’t want to organize it. Why not? Someone has to take the first step. Why not you? Why not me?
When we first moved into our neighborhood, my husband and I thought it might be fun to organize a neighborhood hay ride for Halloween. I got together with another neighbor of ours and we put a flier on every mailbox. What do you think happened? Our neighbors were thrilled. The people with young kids were happy to have a safe mode of transportation and a large group. The older neighbors were tickled to get to hand out candy to little goblins who were supervised by their parents. And the kids, well, they were eating candy til Christmas. All it took was printing some fliers and talking to some neighbors. Not all that difficult, right?
We all long for the world to be the way it used to be, where everyone knew their neighbors and we didn’t have to lock our doors at night. While we can’t go back, there’s no reason we can’t re-establish community. Your community may be your physical neighbors or people you go to church with or people you work with or people you went to high school or college with; this is another one of those endless lists.
The point is, I think we all want to be part of a community; it seems to be inborn, (remember wanting to be part of a group in middle school or high school?) I think God designed us this way. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NLT , tells us “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. ” It goes onto say that three are even better than two.
As adults, we have many choices on what our community will look like, but if we want to be part of a loving, caring and supportive community, we may need to be the one to take the first step, even if it’s raining or the house is a mess or we’re tired or busy. If we wait for the perfect time, we may be sitting in a nursing home. Somebody has to go first. Why not you?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂
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