Doing Life Together

Don’t be afraid to be real. I mean, I personally don’t believe in “letting it all hang out” all the time, but be real! Do the students and sponsors and parents only see your “church face?” Do they know how you spend your free time? (You may feel like all your free time is spent with them!)

A person from our (still fairly new) ministry remarked that she likes us because we’re just regular people. They see our family not just at church, but at the store, at the ball games, at the school concerts, whatever. And somehow they see that our whole life isn’t prayer circles and praise songs. We have our ups and downs. But we’re not like the world, either. We don’t cuss at the refs (although we have been known to yell); we also make it a practice to discourage booing and other unsportsmanlike behaviors.

The kids who take road trips with us for conferences, retreats, or missions trips have always been exposed to a real-life marriage—the good, the bad, and the bumpy! And they have also seen our marriage endure and thrive, in spite of just how regular (a.k.a. sinful) we sometimes are!

I think this makes a huge difference in our ministry, and gives opportunities for conversations we otherwise would not get to have. It gives points of connection with all kinds of people, and plenty of opportunities to discuss life lessons with our students, church, and even the community at large.

It crossed my mind that this kind of “doing life together” comes naturally for us right now—our kids are in the same schools as the folks at church, after all. But it is something that anyone can do—it just takes a little more effort for those who don’t have children yet or don’t have children in school, either because of age or homeschooling, or for those whose ministry encompasses many school buildings or even districts. But it is well worth the extra effort!

Colossians 4:5-6 (New International Version): Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.