Call the Midwife

First of all, NO! This is not an announcement of any sort!  And if any of you watch the PBS show, Call the Midwife, your first thought was of Jenny Lee, Chummy, Sister Monica Joan, and what in the world is going to happen to Poplar if they really do demolish Nonnatus house! I have been binge watching this show on Netflix and love it!  This show is perfect!  But, for all of you who don’t watch the show, you have either stopped reading or are waiting for me to get to my point!!!

Well, here it is…..what stands out to me most as I watch this show, is the sense of community that is conveyed in each episode.  Everyone helps.  They share with each other, they watch out for each other, and most of all they depend on one another.  I can’t help but see that this no longer the norm in our culture, and I don’t think that is how we were meant to live.

I recently read a post on Facebook about storm that had knocked out power in a nearby community, and how it would have been great if instead of having a service on Sunday, the churches would have opened their doors and served the community.  I thought it was an awesome idea!  How much of an impact could have been made just by letting someone charge their phone, take a shower, or have some warm coffee.  In reading the comments you could see that the majority felt that it would take too much planning, or that it was good idea in theory but really not that practical when it came to practice…….are we really so out of the practice of serving and helping one another that it takes planning to give of ourselves?!!!  I am not criticizing  any of the opinions shared by those who responded, but I have to admit I was surprised at how out of practice we are at helping one another or accepting the help of others.

We were NOT meant to isolate ourselves from one another and do everything on our own.  We were NOT meant to sit in our houses and get our socialization from Facebook (ugh, that one hurt a little bit).  We were NOT meant to sit in a church service on Sunday and think only of ourselves (ooooo, that one hurt too).  God created us to be relational; with Him and with each other.  We need each other.  As much as we need God, we need each other.  So, here is where I am going to plug getting involved in a small group 😉

I love our small group!  They have been such a blessing in my life and I know that I can depend on any one of them to be there if I need something.  It wasn’t always like that; we needed to learn to depend on each other and trust each other.  That meant investing time and energy into getting to know one another.  That meant letting people help when I wanted to do it on my own, and it meant helping them when I wasn’t really up to it.  But the investment has paid off in ways I cannot even begin to explain!

I think one of the biggest lies we believe is that being independent is the greatest strength.  We find comfort in the chaos of not letting anyone help us, and we find solitude in quiet of not helping anyone else.  After all, there is no possible way we can be everything to everybody so why even try?  Philippians 4:13-14 (The Message) says this: Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through ANYTHING in the One who make me who I am.  I don’t mean that your help didn’t mean a lot to me-it did.  It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.

It is a beautiful thing to help someone.  It is a beautiful thing to be helped.  So, take a meal to a neighbor this week.  Let someone pick your kids up from school if they offer.  Go for a walk around your neighborhood and stop to chat and find out what’s going on in the lives of your community.  On this very windy Monday, I am going to do my best to Choose Happy by looking for ways to step outside my sometimes too independent self.  The sense of community that seems to be a thing of the past is only an act of kindness away.