Where’s the fruit?

No, this isn’t about a summer fruit salad. It’s about people and interactions.

I have an amazing group of friends. Some I’ve known as long as 11 years, some for just a few months, but they all amaze me with their hearts and minds. We all desire real, authentic community with one another. We all desire to serve God, and others. We all desire to see God’s will be lived out through us, as individuals and as a whole.

And yet, we all struggle to actually live up to our spoken desires. We’ve all been coming to the realization that we’re stuck in a nice, cozy, stagnant little rut, and we’re stuck in it together.

Nothing is out of malicious intent, it’s just that we stick to what, and who, we know because it’s comfortable. We also tend to avoid really talking about what we’re each struggling with, because that stuff is too messy to deal with on a friday night. And that leads us straight to the ditch we’ve fallen in, and we can’t get out alone.

I know we all want  to see change and I know we all love each other, we just need to step up our game and redirect our focus. We need to grow. We’ve got a solid foundation, but it seems like we’ve been forgetting to water our little tree. It’s time for some fruit. Time for a harvest.

Here we go. If you feel like praying for a group of strangers, that would be lovely! I know we’re all in it together, I think we’ve just gotten lazy.

Today is heavy.

Today has been one of those days.

A day when there is so much going on in other people’s lives that I get overwhelmed. They are all people I love, and I am honored to be there to pray for them and go through it with them…but it gets tiring nonetheless. I’ve always been a peacemaker, with both family and friends. I don’t mean that in a people pleasing sense, I just tend to help clarify situations and support them while they’re going through it. But along with all of that comes on the impact of taking on someone else’s burdens.

I believe that’s what community and love is all about, helping to lessen the load of someone elses burdens. I think today I’m just feeling the weight of it all more than other days. And the situations going on are also making me think about those areas of my own life. Areas that I’ve already been through, or areas that I feel like there is something missing.

I’m so thankful that I am loved by a God who is bigger than all of it. Through Him I will live abundantly, I will come through the other side as a stronger person, and while I am tired from it all He will give me rest.