We Need Each Other

I have always been an extrovert.

I’d love to have a houseful of people every weekend talking about life and making new memories. So, why don’t I? Well, to be very clear, Ken is NOT. He is the epitome of an introvert. By the time we come home, he’s ready to sit in the recliner and shut out the outside world.

Except – and that’s a big “except” – we have a group of very close friends that are like family. They have been with us, and hopefully we have been with them, through every hard life event. It just so happens that in this season, Ken is vying for the record of life challenges. But we stick together. When he has been in surgery three times recently, I’ve had at least 2-3 couples with me, or out of town but checking in during the procedure.

I believe God created us to be in a relationship.

After all, God wasn’t singular. He was 3 in 1. In Genesis 1:26-27, the Bible says:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

- Genesis 1:26-27 (emphasis added)

Friends, we are created for relational connection. When my sister was killed, I didn’t want to be around anyone. I wanted to isolate and stay in my grief. But that isn’t what God designed.

I was miserable in my pain wondering if life would ever be the same. It wasn’t until I took a step of faith and began to connect in our church and in relationship again that I began to heal.

I think it is very intentional that God designed us for relational connection, and that, outside of that, we are lost and alone. Ken and I are still friends with a few of the couples in our small group in Arizona that stepped up and helped me get back into living after my sister died.

Our best friends in San Diego have come from relationships formed out of doing life together in our church family. I know it’s hard with kids and sports, music and tutoring, but it is so worth it.

I wouldn’t be the person I am today without some of the hard words spoken to me by our friends we’ve been in relationship with. They’ve walked with us through teenage trauma (lol) and they’ve challenged us when they haven’t seen we’re putting our marriage first.

No, it doesn’t happen automatically. But it does happen when you begin to step out and join a table group.

Take a step of faith if you haven’t already! Group sign-ups just ended, but I know there is a place for you! Reach out to our Groups Director, Som, and get connected today.

Pastor Pam