“Alright, people!” Cody shouted, waving his hands in the air to the 30 or so people scattered in Paul’s front yard. Some were playing cornhole, some were still eating their grilled burgers and others were playing volleyball. They finished their serves and their comments and moseyed over to the driveway.

“As most of you know, TJ is leaving for Nepal soon,” he said loudly. I weaseled my way through the group to stand by TJ’s and threw my arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze. “It’s going to be a pretty intense mission trip so we thought we would take this opportunity to pray for her before she leaves in a couple days.”

TJ smiled sheepishly. She is a dear friend of ours, and has been our friend since day one of attending Common Ground Christian church. I know from experience there’s actually nothing a bit sheepish about her. Her hair, damp from a swim in the pool, was pulled into pigtails, her cheeks were rosy from the sun, and her crystal blue eyes were happy. She has a fiery personality and loves deeply. She doesn’t think twice about speaking her mind, consequences aside. Yet it has served her, and her friends, well.

“Get in the middle!” our friend Erin said, lovingly nicknamed Noodle because she was so tall, thin and blonde. She nudged TJ.

TJ stepped into the middle of her friends. Of her family. Of the people who have done their best to love her up and down mountains and valleys and tears. The memory of those times only made this night sweeter. TJ has overcome a lot, and there was no doubt in our minds that God has used it all to prepare her for this trip. In Nepal, with a small group of friends, she will encounter victims of sex trafficking, leprosy, and poverty, and will spend time in orphan hospitals. While she has been anxious about the trip, those feelings evaporated as she drew strength from our love.

Granted, it’s an imperfect love; while we are good at praying for each other, hugging each other, and texting each other, we are just as good at hurting and forgetting. We don’t think twice sometimes when putting ourselves first. But moments like this draw in moments like that. And within the circle, grudges are irrelevant. We are reminded that together, we are more than the sum of our parts.

I stared down at all of our feet…painted toenails, sandals, running shoes, wet feet…they’ve all been through so much. They’ve all been stubbed in different places, some have been more broken than others, some get regular pedicures, and others get a beating every day through working out and running. But they all have the ability to both forget those staggers while also carrying them as redemptive scars. They were still present but were never hindering. If anything, they were freeing. And all of these experiences and all of these ever-deepening levels of love were there for TJ that night.

We gathered closer to her, grabbing her hand and placing our hands on her shoulders, her back, her arms. And we prayed. And for a moment, we all forgot ourselves and the broken parts were restored.

One Response to “Stand together”

1. Laura Says:
   August 5th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

   This made me bawl. At work.

Leave a Reply