13 Mar On Community and the Church

I’ve long been a champion for the value, the necessity of community. It’s been a literal lifeline throughout the birth of children (two in a place we didn’t really know anyone yet), postpartum anxiety, multiple Military moves, and the utterly terrible dog days of deployment.

I’ve had it in the form of meals, flowers, emergency babysitting, play dates, travel companions, more emergency babysitting, middle of the night vox sessions – all this from women scattered all across North America and then some.

We are coming to a close in our family, trailing out of the baby stage with a youngest who can allllmooooost buckle herself and insists on just going ahead and being four (she’s not), and the eldest perched on the edge of adolescence and all the uncertainty that entails.

She’s handling herself beautifully, considering, but that’s not what I want to tell you. What I want to tell you about is the sweet gift of community I’m discovering as I navigate tweendom.

A new friend at church recently inquired about my oldest daughter’s babysitting abilities and offered to have her come and be a mother’s helper for a few hours here and there and my girl could “practice” with her 8 month old daughter. First of all, bless her brave heart. That is an experienced mom move, rare for a first time go. Secondly, I watched my daughter’s face as she met my friend and discussed the opportunity – something new was appearing there. See, I know my girl, and I know quality time and attention is her love language. Watching her face light up as my friend interacted with her as someone who could help her, as someone with value and skills that are needed to serve another person, well that is a gift I wasn’t prepared for.

In our church tradition, we practice infant baptism, and at the end, the pastor asks the following question:

“Do you as a congregation undertake the responsibility of assisting the parents in the Christian
nurture of this child?”

And the congregation stands in positive affirmation. And so, 12 years in, we are seeing the church stand in a new way, affirming her dignity, value, and vital contribution to our community. And I get to watch her grow, secure in the knowledge of how very much we are all loved.

This, this is community. This is church. This is how we invest in each other. My encouragement to you this week is to peer into your community and ask the Lord for ways to shepherd a young heart. It is a gift to all the weary mamas out there.