Pulling Each Other Through
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a couple deep breaths, and allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Consider a river and how it has to navigate both rough and calm terrain to get to the ocean.
“Helped are those who find the courage to do at least one small thing each day to help the existence of another.”
- Alice Walker
“I get by with a little help from my friends.”
- The Beatles
Galatians 6:2
Shoulder each other’s burdens, and then you will live as Jesus teaches us to live.
Food for Thought
As the summer came to a close this year, my family made one last trip to our favorite spot, White Lake, NC. White Lake is a place filled with fond memories of my childhood - swimming by the pier, learning to water ski, and kids anxiously awaiting the ice cream truck.
As we put on our life jackets and headed out to go “tubing,” my two older children - who have become more comfortable with the water - requested a “crazy tube ride.” My children are still young, so I rode along with them. And though I loved wild tube rides as a kid, the truth is it had been quite some time since I’d been on one. As the boat pulled us through the water, the tube flying from one side of the wake to the other, my kids’ squeals of delight bellowing around me, I became increasingly aware that my grip was steadily tightening. While they made up songs to the tune of “Row, Row, Row your Boat,” I was double-checking to make sure that my grip - which locked onto theirs - would not give way at the next jolt from a wave.
Isn’t this also the shift we experience in life? For a time, if things are as they should be, our children are fully immersed in the ride. Their squeals bellow out as they learn to swing across the monkey bars, score their first goal, make new friends. They course merrily through, from one thing to the next, with anticipation of what the future holds, while we hang on tightly for the moment they will discover - as we all do - that life isn’t “but a dream.”
The truth is, no matter how hard we try - how tightly we hang on to them - we cannot protect our children from the rougher waters of life.
In 2017, my wife started treatment for breast cancer - the same week our second child was born. That whole year was one wild ride of joy and devastation, grit and exhaustion, milestones and treatment markers. We laughed and cried and prayed and fell to pieces often - and it was clear to me then, as it is to me now, that we only made it from one moment to the next with the grace and love of the people who surrounded and cared for us. We found a steadying force in the people who were showing up for us - a community of friends, and family, and complete strangers - pulling for us and with us through that difficult time.
My children will likely not remember that whirlwind year, but I do want them to know how much richer our lives were made by those who helped pull us through it - those who offered shoulders to cry on, who delivered meals to our front porch, friends who stopped by to check in, and complete strangers who heard our story and extended love through notes and gifts. That is the work that we are called to in this world - pulling one another through.
And so, as we bumped along behind the boat, I offered this lesson of truth and blessing to my children:
“You know - life is a lot like this ride we are on. Some parts are smooth and easy; other times it’s rough and you’re doing all you can to just hold on. Some moments you are having the time of your life, others you seem to be hitting bump after bump, and there will definitely be times when life is flinging you over the wake. Most of life is a joy, but when life feels incredibly hard - look up ahead of us - just know that you have people around you who love you and who are pulling you through life with love and care.”
When we pay attention to those around us enough to know their story, to understand the burdens they bear, we see more clearly the humanity that connects us instead of the differences that separate us. When we create spaces of welcome within us and around us, we make ourselves available to the needs of those around us, and we make ourselves vulnerable enough for others to see our needs, too. It is in this holy work of pulling each other through that makes this ride through life a little smoother for one another.
This week, try living out the words of Alice Walker - find the courage to do at least one small thing each day to help the existence of another - plant, animal, river, or human being.
Do you have your own illustration for life (ie. roller coaster, the ocean waves, etc). Draw that illustration and write the names of some people who have shown up for you in difficult times to extend love and care.
Blessing
Loving God,
Thank you for the ways
you guide us toward one another
so that we may share
in each other’s burdens
and lead each other safely
through rough waters.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Can you remember a time when the love and support of others helped you through a difficult season of life?
Can you think of a time when hearing another person’s story helped you to better understand their experience?
Discuss together how you can extend help to someone else in a simple and meaningful way.
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Share an illustration with your child that might help them understand the different rhythms of life.
Share a story about a time when someone helped you in a difficult time.
Help your child name some people who love them and can help them when they need it.
Meet our Welcoming Voice!
Lin Story-Bunce is a North Carolina native, and lovingly calls Greensboro, NC home. She earned a Masters of Divinity from Wake Forest University and has served a wonderful and thoughtful congregation at College Park Baptist Church since 2009, pastoring to families and their faith development. Most of all, Lin loves the moments she gets to connect with her family - snowboarding with her wife and keeping up with their four kiddos and two energetic pups. Lin is a teacher, preacher, dreamer and procrastinator who, if you ask her youth group, has a knack for trying to do way too many things in far too little time.
To hear more from Lin throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!