Last night I was blessed with a great conversation with two great friends. Conversations like this one don’t happen everyday. Why not? Why is it that friends cant sit down and talk. I don’t just mean “how was your day” or “man, its hot outside”. I mean really talk. Talk about fears and struggles. Talk about what the Lord is doing or not doing. Share our feelings. Isn’t that what the body of Christ is about. Isn’t that why we are called “a family”? So that we can be there for each other.
I think one of the many reasons I am drawn to missions (especially with AIM) is the community that we have out of the field. Even with this last trip I led, I had 15 amazing sisters in Christ that I knew if I needed them they were there to pray for me even if I was the one leading 14 of them. There is always a understanding of trust and love. I know that my teams will love me no matter what crap I am dealing with or how ugly (an inner ugliness) I am right now. When I come home to America unless I am in certain “circles” I don’t see this or feel this. We (Americas) are so wrapped up in what we are doing and what is the correct way to go in life that we don’t stop to listen to our friends. I think that if I were ever asked “How are you?” and the asker was honestly interested and willing to listen to my response I would be shocked. We are all programed to say “I’m good”, or “I’m fine” and keep walking.
We (Christians) were made to fellowship. We were made for community. We were not meant to live this life alone. We need to have conversations (like the one I was part of last night) about life and God, to learn and grow. We need to take time to listen to our brothers and sisters to find out how they are and what they are going through so that we can pray for and help them through it.
I use to think that I was an internal processor. If you look at any of my journals they are full of my rambling. There is something about processing out loud with those you love and trust to get feedback and encouragement. If you keep life to yourself how are you ever able to be encouraged. We are called to speak into each others lives. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another”…(Hebrews 10:24,25).
If you don’t have a group that you can have honest conversations with I ask you to find one. It might be scary at first. Trusting humans are a hard thing to do. But look at it as trusting the Lord that these people will honor you and respect you and love you. I pray that each of my brothers and sisters out there are able to have someone they can go to and talk about life and help each other through it. Its such a good feeling to know you are not alone.
