FRIENDSHIP
I remember when we found out we were pregnant with our first son (who would later be named Corbyn). I was so excited! I wanted to tell everyone!! I was scared and felt radically overwhelmed and underprepared. But I was excited and I wanted to tell everyone! I knew everything in our world would be different from that moment on and things would continue to change as the seasons of parenting went on and on. But I was SUPER excited, and I wanted to tell everyone. Out of early-pregnancy-caution, we opted to keep things quiet until we got out of the first trimester. I wanted to tell everyone
Isn’t it true that when something new happens in our lives we want to tell the people we share life with! When you’re having a child, in a new relationship, finished a degree, or your sports team actually made it out of the first round of the playoffs… we want to talk about the things we’re excited about!
This has been so exceptionally true for me in the last 6 months! For quite a few years I’ve been feeling like Jesus was brewing something deep in my bones and it’s finally starting to take some sort of shape! Four years ago, I literally quit my dream job and stepped out into radical uncertainty because I had this deep peace and hope that Jesus had something new for me to walk in. I was scared, but also excited and hopeful.
Here I am now, 4 years later, living in a different province. So many things are different in my life than they were four years ago. And here I am, stepping into the next leg of this journey in life. Starting a new job. Not just any new job, but one I’m kinda making up as I go. One that I don’t get paid to do unless Jesus moves in the community around me to create a financially sustainable reality.
Here I am now, and let me assure you, I AM EXCITED!
Over the last six months I’ve been seeing some awesome things begin to take shape. I’ve shared my dream and vision for this opportunity with many and have been affirmed time and time again that this is something “I was made for.”
Let me say it one more time, I AM EXCITED.
This excitement, set against the backdrop of literally everything in my life being different than it was 4 years ago, has created a certain amount of … shall we say … angst.
Remember, when we’re excited about something, when there’s something new in our lives, we want to tell those closest to us!
Life in Ontario has been really good. We’ve settled into some amazing community and feel ridiculously blessed by the ways we can see Jesus working and having worked in our lives. Things are good.
That said, the reality remains, the people whom I have known the longest in my life do not live anywhere near me.
When there is something new and exciting in in your life, you look for opportunities to share, but you also just share this news with people when you bump into them. When we see your friends at shared events, even bumping into them at the grocery store or seeing them at church. In the comings and goings of some form of shared life, there are lots of opportunities to share your exciting news. You bump into someone, you share quickly, you set up a lunch or coffee together, or you share a meal in one another’s homes and you share fully expressions of the new things you’re excited about.
The “angst” of this season for me flows from the reality of geography. There is literally a zero percent chance that I will casually bump into most of the people who have known me the longest in my life.
I feel this thread of loneliness and isolation being drawn from within. Again, I’m feeling super supported and dialled into community in Ontario. There is still mourning though. I still mourn what we left in Edmonton in very real ways.
Stepping into this new adventure, this new season of learning to trust and follow Jesus into the unknown - I am so excited. But at times, it can feel lonely.
The realities of FRIENDSHIP feel more important to me than ever!
Not only is this thread of loneliness being drawn from within, but the very nature of this new work can be quite isolating. I don’t really have a “team” I work with, and most of those who I would call my team live in another country and 3 timezones away!
It feels a little bit “elementary school” … but I need friends!
So this is what I so sincerely invite you into! If you’re reading this, chances are, we’d already call ourselves friends in some way.
In this season, I’m inviting people to JOIN ME in the things I’m feeling Jesus is calling me into. I can’t do this alone.
Last week I talked about how PRAYER is such an important part of that. And soon I’ll talk about the FINANCE part of support in this new endeavour.
Today though, I want to invite you to JOIN ME in FRIENDSHIP.
Let’s be friends!
For real.
I’m doing my best to reach out and be a great friend - seeking to be more and more present in your lives.
I need friendship now more than ever.
Give me a call, invite me for coffee or a meal. Ask me how these things are going. Invite me to serve people in your circles.
Let’s be friends!
js
On a VERY VERY practical note… I’m writing this as I’m sitting on an airplane on a flight to Edmonton, my home for nearly my entire adult life!
Friends in Edmonton!! Let’s hang out!!
Friends of Central Baptist. I consider it such an honour to call so many of you my friends. The experiences we’ve shared over the years are so real and I treasure them so much! I’ll be around Central a fair amount this weekend. I’ll be attending CYM’s Mexican Fiesta on Saturday and I’ll be at Connors Hill on Sunday morning. And then Central has also been gracious enough to host a “Connect with Jud” night on Wednesday, May 10th at Connors Hill at 7pm. It’d be so great to see many of you there!
📸: Courtesy of Manish Sharma on unsplash.
