If there were two things I knew about myself before this pandemic it was this: I’m an extrovert and I’m not a techie. These two things have become painfully clear to me since being quarantined over a week ago. Working from home with virtual instead of in-person meetings and learning new forms of technology have taken me way out of my comfort zone.
However, there’s another thing that has become clear to me, and that realization has not been painful: We need each other! This fact is echoed in Scripture in Hebrews 10:24-25 when it says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.”
I’ve never seen this more in action in our church family than in the past week. Twenty families logged on to our Grace Kids parent chat this past Sunday morning. On this call, families spurred one another on toward a greater love of Christ during this difficult time. Families shared devotional resources and ideas with one another, asking each other questions and offering ideas of how to help our families grow closer to Christ. A GRC moms WhatsApp group mobilized together to spur each other on in good deeds – making masks for our courageous healthcare workers. Moms lifted up prayer for each other during ongoing WhatsApp chats, encouraging the scared and discouraged. Families encouraged one another through drive-by bike greetings of GRC friends within cycling distance or with surprise cookie drops to front porches.
Grace Redeemer family, Hebrews 10:24-25 is for all of us, not just those of us with young kids at home.
How can you spur those in your circle on to the love of Christ? Do you have the time to pick up a forgotten devotional on your shelf and invite a friend to read it with you and set up regular times to discuss it?
How can we spur one another on to good deeds? If you sew, can you join together with a friend (virtually) and sew masks and share your creations with one another? Can you and a friend have a virtual card-making party and make cards for nursing home residents who are not allowed visitors at this time? If you’re good at math, can you virtually help a child with their math lessons?
Finally, how can you encourage one another? Who can you pick up the phone and call, Facetime or to whom can you send a handwritten note? Can you set up a weekly prayer call with a friend?
Though this has been an extremely challenging couple of weeks, it has been a beautiful picture of our church family living out Hebrews 10:24-25. Keep it up, Grace Redeemer family! I am trusting that God will use this time to draw us closer together.
Karen Jacobsen is the Director of of Children’s Ministry and Refuge 686, a ministry focused on adoptive and foster care. She is sheltering at home with her dog, several good books, and a cup of coffee in hand.