Have you ever sat down and thought about how many
people are in your village? We regularly use the saying “it takes a village” when referring to raising our kids, and for good reason. Kids get sick, pennies stuck up their noses and they throw tantrums. Everyone at some point has had to call someone to ask how to get their kid’s head out of the railing on a set of stairs. Kids don’t come with a manual so we go to people that have enough experience to know writing one is impossible and ask for help. Truly I do not know what Hannah and I would do without our village, and that will become even more evident with James coming soon.
There is a whole other side to our village though that we often forget about, our spiritual village. Think about how many people had an impact on getting you where you are sitting reading this right now. There are the key people like parents, ministers, teachers, and siblings but there are also people like the woman at church who taught your class since before you were born, the babysitter who watched you when you were five, or your best friend’s dad that kept you in check in a way you would never let your parents do.
I have youth parents and friends here at Southside keeping me in check for what I am teaching their children, keeping tabs on how my family life is going, and being the best spiritual leader I can be.
It takes a village to raise a Christian.
Our Father knew this before we were born. He gave us the Holy Spirit as a counselor and comforter. He gave us the Church as a support system and a family larger and stronger than blood could ever be. He knew that we can never be strong enough alone and that we needed a village to get us on the right track.
Today take the time to think about the people in your village and let them know what they mean to you. It means more to them than you realize to find out the impact they made on you and to see the harvest of the seeds planted in your life.
