[Steph here – read my recent life update]

“Mom – I was really nervous, but then my team came during my run out and that really helped me.” 

At his cross country meet this past weekend, my son found himself alone in the starting box. New to the sport this year, he’s been battling a body working to adjust to the changing demands placed on it. Unable to practice all week due to an ankle injury, he was moved to the JV race for this meet. Attending a small school is a unique experience, one that sometimes means all but 1-2 runners are able to participate in Varsity. When you’re injured, understandably, you’re moved to JV to allow yourself to compete without pushing your body too hard and give the rest of your team space to participate in the varsity race. 

So there he stood, the lone runner for his team. When it came time for the final run out, he was uncertain of what to do. Was there a point running 20 feet forward, alone, just to turn around and head back?  Then his team showed up; running from the sidelines to his run-out spot as they returned from their warm up. He ran forward to join them, suddenly looking confident and more sure of himself. I watched this group of middle school young men throw their arms around my son and pray for him, as they always do before a race. He was the only one running this race, but his team came to surround him with prayer and encouragement.

I stood watching with tears threatening to spill from my eyes at seeing my son’s community lift him up and quite literally change the way he carried himself, moving forward with confidence into the race ahead. It’s not unlike the way my community has surrounded me as I walk the journey of widowhood.

I have seen the commands of the Bible lived out as the church has surrounded and protected me. Men have stepped in to defend me in uncertainty, teach my sons things their dad would have taught them, helped with home maintenance and offered their expertise as I made decisions. Women have stepped in to care for me emotionally, help with household tasks, prayed for me, and told me I am loved. The church has wrapped its arms around me in the way a loving husband would. 

Countless times over the last 6 months I have seen my community show up in just the right moment. It never fails, on the toughest days within a few hours of begging God for relief or for Him to see and comfort me in my pain, someone shows up; with an unprovoked word of encouragement, stopping by on the their way home from work to see if I need anything, or a card in the mail. He has always shown up. He’s God, He could do it on His own. But these sweet friends of mine, who have allowed themselves to be sensitive to the Lord’s promptings and followed through on them, have become instruments of carrying out His promises. 

Nothing will ever replace my husband and his love for me; yet the Lord has stepped in as my husband through the people of the church acting as His hands and feet. 

Let me encourage you today, friends. Pray for the friend that keeps resurfacing in your thoughts. Reach out to see if there’s something you can pray for when you can’t get them out of your mind. Take the extra minute to send a text, don’t brush it off. Send the card, even if it’s been months and you kept forgetting to get around to it. Following these prompts matters. You just may be the answer to someone’s prayer.

What a gift it is to allow ourselves to be used by the Father.