We ARE Better Together!

Michele Laccabue, GFC Carrollwood 

A couple of months ago, our youngest son got married. What a glorious season of preparation and anticipation. Walking in the mother-of-the-groom role for the first time was dreamy and daunting. My biggest responsibility on the wedding weekend was to host a rehearsal dinner party for 60 family and friends at an out-of-state location. Lots of fun planning, but when the day came, it became evident that I needed help to execute all the plans I had made. Crazy me thought I could do it all myself.

Why do I struggle with asking for a helping hand?  Am I afraid of burdening a friend? Is it a pride and control issue? Do I feel like a failure because I can’t handle it? Is this just me? Can anyone else relate?

Thankfully, at just the right time, God reminded me of the beauty of sisterhood. A friend stepped in to help without asking. Another friend saw a need (a detail I missed) and got it done better than I could have.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up”.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)

Thank you, Jesus, for sending a small army to rescue me and save the day. It didn’t mean I was lesser of a person who couldn’t handle my responsibilities. It was God providing and modeling the all-important principle, “WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER”. And, you know what? It was fun. We laughed and conquered the final tasks together with greater success than I ever could have alone. It wasn’t a burden for them. It brought them joy to links arms with me. I am forever grateful. Thank you, Laura, Kim, and Mom!

One month later, while SOARing through 1 John chapter 1, a fresh detail popped up that I hadn’t noticed before. My observation of John’s heavy use of the plural pronouns WE, OUR, and US. Even though he is writing this letter alone, he pens the whole chapter as though a plural author. I went back and circled all the pronouns in the first four verses. In the NIV, he writes, “WE” nine times and “OUR” and “US” twice!

1 John 1:1 reads, “That which was from the beginning, which WE have heard, which WE have seen with our eyes, which WE have looked at and OUR hands have touched – this WE proclaim concerning the Word of life.”

Don’t you love how God reveals something NEW every time we read His Word?

Our application today is to lean into our community, our people. Ask for help. If you see a need, jump in, and help a sister. God created us for so much more than we can do alone. He is with us. Let’s link arms because WE are most definitely better and stronger together.

p.s. A big thank you also goes to a team of “sisters” back home who gladly shared their wisdom and skills in the weeks leading up to this special weekend (Jeanna, Kristin, Jennifer, and Gianna).