How different would our world be if we all committed to show up?
Yesterday was a super busy day for me. I subbed in fifth grade. My son had a dental appointment right after school that I had to rush him to. He had two cavities which will result in a second trip. I ran him home and then I rushed to my daughter’s school to pick her up from tennis practice. I rushed home for dinner and then rushed to a brand new small group from church that was meeting for the first time at 7:00.
I have to admit, I was not feeling it at all. I was exhausted. I wanted to put on my sweatpants and sit on a couch, but I had committed to go and be a part of this group weeks ago. Isn’t that always the way with human nature? We love the idea of doing something different, of participating in something that will grow us or change our lives in some way for the better, but when it comes down to it, we lack the commitment. Exercising and eating healthy are perfect examples of our failure to commit.
My hubby and I even talked about people’s lack of commitment on our way over. Why aren’t people willing to commit to growing spiritually? Why won’t we commit to show up?
Not surprisingly, we had a fabulous time. There were three other couples and a delightful single lady. We were all different ages and backgrounds. We had a nurse and a firefighter, a teacher and a pilot, a widow and a graphic artist. We had retired people and people who still have kids at home. We had people at different stages of their faith walk.
So often in churches, we group ourselves with people who are just like us, raising kids, empty nesters, young couples, retired people or youth. We tend to stick with people who are at our same age and stage. I always have. But, here’s the thing, we miss out on a fabulous opportunity to learn from each other and to pass on wisdom and life experiences to each other. We miss a unique opportunity to grow our faith by being with people who see things differently because they have traveled a different path.
The twelve disciples weren’t all fisherman. Matthew was a tax collector. We don’t know about all of the rest of them, but their backgrounds varied. Peter was married, but we don’t get that information on all of them. They were most likely not all the same. They had different stories and each brought something different and unique to the table, just like we do.
Our first little video session was called, “Committing to Show Up.” I smiled when I saw it. I’m way too deep in my faith walk to believe in coincidences. I attended tonight because I had committed, not because was in the mood, but I was so blessed because I did. How many other things would we be blessed with if we honored our commitments?
We commit to a lot of things. There are things like exercise and diet, but there are also things like building better relationships, or attending church more regularly, or reading the Bible daily, or setting daily prayer time, or serving others in some way. What would our lives look like if we honored those commitments? What would our world look like?
What if we just committed to show up? We might be delighted with the results. I can’t wait to go back to my next small group meeting.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂