How is our teamwork?
It was a Tuesday afternoon & I was headed to the local girls’ volleyball games.
I walked through my backyard, then a parking lot, & entered the stuffy gymnasium. For the first game I sat with friends I go to church with, but I found myself curious about a family I spotted in the stands who I knew from my past in foster care.
After our girls won, Yeah Wildcats! I made my way over to this family to ask about a girl we both had in our homes for a season of time. I learned so much- most of it heartbreaking. But I was amazed & encouraged that they have stayed in touch with this girl- now a young lady aging out of the system- for over 10 years!
It was a joy to thank this mom for their family’s faithfulness to care for kids “in the system.” After some persuading, she agreed to let a Care Team come alongside their family for mutual support/learning opportunities. I think “date night” was the key phrase that convinced her!
That small conversation was so encouraging to both of us & will hopefully result in others getting involved with foster & adoptive support & engagement!
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During the second game of the evening I sat with a different family, one I knew from teaching one of their kids years ago. Fresh off such an encouraging talk, I stayed curious & asked what their church is up to these days. I told the mom how I love hearing their music on Sunday morning from way down the road while walking my dog before church.
When I asked about her church, she lit up and told me about how they are expanding their fellowship hall to make room for more hospitality, like hosting the whole high school football team for meals on Friday night!
She was also excited to tell me how their church does Christmas shopping for local kids in need each year! Then I learned that her home is a hub for teenagers to hang out at & that a girl I know spends time there often.
Gratitude for this family flooded through me. They are organically providing that extra pair of caring adults that every teenager needs to help prevent all kinds of trauma!
And to top it off, I got to hear her brag on her husband who is generous with the success that God has blessed him with in his business. It amazed me to hear he gives back 20% of his profits to help different needs in the community!
In the course of this conversation, we are also watching the volleyball game. And she is telling me about a team that suffers from a lack of unity.
“They don’t work together.
They don’t even really like each other.
They are in cliques.
They yell at each other when they make mistakes.
When the pressure’s on they fall apart instead of coming together.
It’s almost like they are all doing their own thing at the same time, but as enemies.”
And later it hit me.
Don’t those descriptions fit the body of Christ sometimes?
This is why Jesus prayed repeatedly for our unity.
Unity does not come easily, but is so key in showing the power of God’s love!
Psalm 133:1 says, “How good & pleasant it is when God’s people dwell together in unity!”
I had just experienced that pleasure in spades talking to these two women from churches I don’t attend, hearing the good in what they are doing & then encouraging them in it! And I ended up getting to share with both of them about Garden 58’s Care Teams.
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So, if you are already cheering on other churches or friends from other churches, thank you!
Please keep it up & share how great the blessing of unity are with others!
And if this is new territory for you, be encouraged- perfect love really does cast out fear. The knowledge that God loves others in the same way He loves you- with patience, grace, mercy, gentleness & delight- can help you live out that same kind of love towards those outside your current circle!
Let’s be a team that the grandstands of heaven & the people around us love to watch!
Let’s work together.
Let’s find what we like about each other.
Let’s be mindful of our tendency toward cliques.
Let’s encourage other Christians, even when we make mistakes!
Let’s remember who our common enemy is (not each other!)
Then, when the pressure is on, we can pull together with all the strength the Lord provides!
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“May the God of endurance & encouragement grant you…
to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,
that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”
Romans 15:5-7