August 11th

Our Villages: Varied and Valuable

My spiritual life has been a major work in progress during the pandemic of 2020. As an active member of Lethbridge Mennonite Church on the worship committee – church began to feel a lot more like work, and a lot less like worship. It has taken much more focus to actually be tuned in and not just turned off from exhaustion. I was a lucky one, I worked full time through everything, but that also meant I didn’t have down time to deal with all the emotions that come with living in a pandemic. Processing those emotions came randomly and not always the most appropriately.

Parenting was interesting to say the least. I am not an educator – and me being at home trying to help our son with “at home learning” wasn’t something that worked for our family. Thanks to understanding and flexible jobs Paul and I shared being at home and trying to “work” while also helping with a young daughter home from daycare, and a 10-year-old with schoolwork. It was challenging to say the least. Once daycare resumed it became easier to balance the work from home aspect as well. We were and are blessed with our jobs.

One of the hardest parts of the past year was losing our bible study group – zoom just didn’t work for our group. It was a group of young couples and families – and those women were my lifeline. Losing that connection and vulnerability was truly heart breaking. I am dearly looking forward to creating a group again – I’m not sure it will all be the same people but meeting together to pray and challenge each other and our faith is an exciting thought.

In the interim, I was invited to join a women’s group called IF Table, we are excited to meet in person later this summer but are currently meeting through Facebook messenger. IF Table gives discussion questions for the group and the idea is that you meet together around the table and eat and discuss. We live in a culture that is all flash and no substance. IF Table challenges you to be vulnerable, and to become a support system for each other, it creates a village. Search it online if you are curious – the questions are available to anyone. Truly this group of women stepped into a void in my spiritual life and have pulled me back to the bible and study. Even when our family bible study group resumes this group will remain in my life.

In closing I encourage you to find ways to connect with your lost villages. Reach out to that person you think is doing so well and check in on them, they might not be doing as well as you think they are. We are people who crave connection – make your connections count.