Community and Connection

Shauna Niequist has been one of my favorite author's for several years. Even though we've only had one brief meeting she has become one of my mentors through her words teaching me about how to write and how to live life well. Her next book won't be released until the Spring but I'm already excited. She posted this summer about being in the midst of writing this manuscript and what it's focus will be,

"Cold Tangerines is a book about choosing to believe that life is worth celebrating. Bittersweet is a book about choosing to believe that pain and loss are our greatest teachers. And Bread & Wine is about choosing to believe that connection and community shape our lives more than almost anything else."

I can't wait to read a whole book about connection and community. In the past seven years I have increasingly seen how important those things are and how they make life successful and meaningful. So many of my kids think that they will define their success by their paycheck or their accomplishments. That's not the kind of success I'm striving for. I've learned through experience that those things just don't matter. Instead I want to invest in friendships, take time for conversations, and prioritize people.

I sat in the bleachers of a soccer game tonight with one of my Young Life girls and another leader. We came to cheer on the girls playing on the field, two that had gone to camp with us this summer and a large group that we know from school. We came for the game, but I love that when you are up in the stands you're also making connections with all the people around you. We're waving at the moms and dads we recognize. Kathy yells hi to the group of boys down the row until they wave back. I'm chatting with my friend Meg that coached the other team. Haleigh talks to her friends that played in the first game. One of my old FBC girls runs up the steps to give me a hug when she realizes I'm there. So many connections.

If I want connections and community to shape my life then I have to figure out ways to improve and make sure I learn from my mistakes. Sometimes I will mess up and let people down and not always say the right thing. I'm not perfect and that's ok. I'll keep practicing and growing and learning and investing because it's worth it.

A couple of my students asked me to come to their cross country meet after school so I stuck around to watch their race. Rachel and I got to know each other when she was in the Junior High a few years ago when she would come talk to me after lunch every day. She was at the meet to watch her younger sister so we ran around the course together, yelling at the HSE kids as they went by. "Why aren't you a coach?" she asked me. I told her that although I think it would be fun to be with the team everyday I would miss getting to do so many other things like getting to talk on the phone to a camp girl, then an old YL girl, coming to the xc meet and going to watch soccer with Haleigh. She decided it was a good thing I'm doing that instead of being a coach.