One thing this pandemic has taught us is this: we need each other. Maybe I didn’t realize it so much before all this began, but I certainly realize it now. Maybe I (not intentionally) took the people in my life for granted. And maybe I also didn’t realize how very connected we all are. (Whether we like that or not.) Yes, I’ve learned through a year of #pandemiclife, life is much better together.
Life is much better together.
In tomorrow’s post I’m sharing more about living a year in the pandemic, so I won’t steal that post’s thunder today. But, think back to when all of this began. We were isolated. We stayed in our homes. Some of us transitioned to working from home, shopping for groceries from home, and ordering toilet paper from home (if we could find it). Some of us feared stepping out of our doors, and some of us even feared our fellow man. We didn’t know what to do or what to think. We all wanted this pandemic to be over so we could return to our normal lives as quickly as possible.
It was in all of those moments I realized I needed my people. I needed my husband, maybe more than ever. I needed to be with my children, to see their smiles, the lights in their eyes, and to feel their hugs. And my dear friends (affectionately called the “God Squad”), I needed their calming presence and their unconditional love. I needed the people I’m blessed to do life with. I needed my extended family and my friends.
Those early days were difficult, and I shed many a tear in the midst of them. God was teaching me much.
God was teaching me how important are the people in my life.
I pray I never take them for granted again.
Maybe, friend, you can relate. You’ve realized, too, just how important “your people” are to you. It reminds me of how true that old saying is…
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Sextus (Roman poet)
I fully realize some of us are still absent from “our people.” We haven’t seen them in months–or longer. We know full well the heartache that accompanies the separation. The heaviness is almost too big to bear some days. We wonder, will this ever end?
Friend, take heart. It won’t be like this forever. We can trust that it won’t. Because I truly believe God made us for connection. He didn’t design us to be islands to ourselves. He designed us to live life with one another. To be better together.
God designed us for community.
Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds, not forgetting to gather as a community, as some have forgotten, but encouraging each other, especially as the day of His return approaches.
Hebrews 10:24-25 VOICE
It’s better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, but if there’s no one to help, tough! Two in a bed warm each other. Alone, you shiver all night. By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 MSG
The community continually committed themselves to learning what the apostles taught them, gathering for fellowship, breaking bread, and praying.
Acts 2:42 VOICE
I believe God will remove all separation soon. In His timing, and in His ways. It may not look like it did before or how we may expect, but I trust He will work all this out for our growth, for the good of others, and for His glory.
Better together is doing life with one another.
In case my words might read as if I’m attempting to “buck the system” here, please know I’m not. I’m not eluding to defy the mandates and the orders. I’m simply referring to the fact how we are better together because we are designed that way.
And I believe because we were designed that way by God who knows His people better than we know ourselves, He will bring us back together again. To continue to do life with one another. Because in a world where people can’t seem to agree and where we take sides on everything including political parties, mask wearing, quarantining, and now even Dr. Seuss, doing life together is something I believe God intends for us to agree on.
I pray we remember this in the days, weeks, and months to come: we are better together.
Much love,
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