Most people would be grateful. I was to a point. I was certainly impressed by his initiative. But I was also defensive (inside). I can do this myself. I don’t need you is what I thought.
To give a little background, Tony is in my small group and the night before we were looking at Acts 2. In Acts 2, we saw that because of the radical work of the Spirit and the God-infused love they had for one another, nobody had a need that wasn’t met. We talked as a group about the kinds of needs we had. Because we all had young kids, most of us had household projects that just couldn’t get done because of the physical demands of having young children.
Tony was being the model small group member. He was not just listening to the word, but he was doing what it said. And I didn’t like it. I don’t want to have need. Isn’t that the whole vision of living in Suburbia? To build a life where I can live in isolation allowing people in where I want and keeping them at a distance here I feel safe, secure and in control.
But I am not. If you want evidence, come look at the 3000 dandelions in my front yard that declare my lack of control to everyone who drives by.
So, thanks Tony for your help. In more ways than you know.
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2 comments:
Suburbia, a place we can come home from work and pull into our garage, enter our homes without ever stepping outside. Then we put up fences to keep others out. The American dream! I am fondly recalling the days of my youth, no one sat out back on the deck, it was a front stoop community. I need to spend some more time on the stoop and less on the deck. Ok so that was a little off topic!
As you consider the needs, an area that we are very aware of now, would be to find out if the group members have family in the area. It was a culture shock with our move to CO to not have family around. It was even more of a shock to find that even while connected in church and a small group, few needs were considered as far as our not having family in the area. Some of our first holidays here were spent alone. There were no family members available for babysitting for doctor appointments etc. and very few folks available to help. It presents a wonderful way to serve, share and be in community.
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