In the weeds : idiomatic.  Immersed or entangled in details or complexities. (Wiktionary the Free Dictionary)

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,  (Hebrews 10: 24)

“I want you, right now, to take a deep breath and let it out slowly.  Do again and again until you can release this to God” (My cousin, Emily Crighton)

This morning I got a text from one of my colleagues telling me that she was having a tough morning and telling me that she really wanted just to go back to bed and read.  She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what was wrong, just that it all felt overwhelming and difficult. 

And what’s really interesting, is that I was getting ready to text her EXACTLY THE SAME THING.  That things felt overwhelming and difficult, and what I really wanted was a jammie day.  Only for me it would be watching weird YouTube videos (I’ve been really into the Historic Farm stuff that the BBC puts out) (or reruns of “The Vicar of Dibley” because a good deal of the time I feel like I’m the Vicar of Rideau Ferry) instead of reading. 

Because sometimes, there’s just too much of life to manage, eh.

You all have been looped into my recent life events:  3 close family members in hospital.  Fortunately all three were hospitalized in the same hospital so we had one-stop visiting.  At the same time as my home life was feeling very chaotic, I had a bunch of very intense wider church activities on the go, and we at Bethel were pretty busy doing the work of the church.  ANNNDDDD with due dates and changes at school there was some drama there too. 

So I’ve been having a really bad case of being “in the weeds”.  It was a little bit of comfort that I wasn’t there alone – and that I had a companion mucking around with me.  Because company really makes a huge difference in life, doesn’t it. 

I’ve been thinking about this truth a lot this week – about how we can manage pretty much all of life if we have someone with us along the ride. I’ve been thinking about this since I heard that I had a colleague mucking around in the weeds with me.   I’ve been thinking about this because I really felt very much like I could manage better after I told you all on Sunday about my family members and I had the congregation pray for them with me.  I’ve been thinking about this because I was touched and encouraged by the number of you that reached out with emails and phone calls of support, and the offers of help in ‘whatever way we can’.  You know that old saying “it takes a village to raise a child” – well I’m starting to think that the phrase really should say “it takes a village to raise us all”.  Our lives are meant to be lived in community.  And I really believe that we were never meant to handle all of what’s thrown at us alone.  Seriously.

We need our community when we’re mucking in the weeds.  We need the people that just come with us on this journey.  We need the people who put on their rubber boots and wade in with fresh insights and attitude.  We need the people who throw us a lifeline and haul us out of the muck, and we need the people who will put warm blankets around our shoulders and welcome us onto dry land. 

We need each other.  For all of the times of our lives, we need each other.

And I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for you. 

Because, my dear Bethel friends – you are my peeps and you make my life so much easier. Especially when I’m in the weeds.   Thank you. 

Blessings today, and remember you are Loved.

~Rev. Lynne