"We may be different sizes. We may be different shapes.
But we're amazing sisters, and we'll do what it takes!"
(AJH)
My daughter's little poem got me thinking.
I knew there was something there. Something more than just a little girl's singing in the backseat.
Something more.
Something God-breathed.
So I wrote it down. As a reminder.
As a reminder of my relationship with my sisters...and my brothers. With my family, my family in Christ.
Yes, we may be different sizes:
The size of our growth in any given area, at any given time, may be different. I may have the faith for something you don't have the faith for just yet, or you may have cultivated the endurance to joyfully thrive in circumstances I've yet to encounter.
And, yes, we may be different shapes:
My gift and talent mix won't look the same as yours, and your personal calling won't look the same as mine.
But when we do
whatever it takes. Whatever it takes to learn, to grow, to walk together in love and covenant and community, we do something amazing!
When we love each other unconditionally.
When we embrace each other's gifts and callings and multi-faceted personalities with joy and honor.
When we cheer each other on and pick each other up and keep walking together no matter what, w
e truly become the joyful, unified body of Christ, we were meant to be!
Yes, we are different: Different giftings. Different talents. Different personalities. Different life experiences.
And, yes, we are the same: One Spirit. One Lord and Father. One Savior, Jesus Christ!
And when we come together, with all our differences and all our sameness, we are amazing!
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is over all, in all, and living through all. Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV
In light of all this, here's what I want you to do. While I'm locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk - better yet, run! - on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline - not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,
He climbed the high mountain, He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people. Ephesians 4:1-7 MSG
