It Takes A Village
Today as I was gardening in the community garden, I was approached by three of the community garden organizers. They asked if I had received an invitation to an event that is going to be held on Sunday. I told them I hadn't heard about it. They were so welcoming and said that they thought they had my e-mail address and certainly wanted me to join them. So of course, I was more than happy to accept an invitation. As I was watering the plot for which I am responsible for assisting with, a couple of them came up to me and offered me vegetables from their gardens. Of course, I was happy to accept such generosity. Unfortunately, the active adult garden that I am part of was planted a little late, so our vegetables haven't quite gotten to the point of harvesting, but I am looking forward to when we will be able to provide offerings out of it to others. It was just a reminder to me how kind people can be. When you find a common interest with others, how easy it is just to interact. As I was leaving, I told the ones left that I would be seeing them on Sunday and thanked them for the vegetables. They responded that anytime I saw vegetables, to feel free to take some. That little village today, made my day. They put a smile on my face.
Earlier one of the gardeners had expressed how abundant and green our garden was looking. I was fast to let her know that I give that production all to God. I let her know, all I have to do is water and prune it and remove the weeds and God was doing the rest. I also told her that I knew it was a group effort that these gardens are doing so well. I shared that I pray over it each time I visit it. I told her I would think there are a lot of members here that do that as all the surrounding gardens are just as beautiful. I told her how I love coming to this place to garden. She expressed that she too thought it was a lovely place. So, here is this small group of people, who are building up a wonderful community garden that will be shared with many people outside of us who are tending to it. I would love to see the statistics as to how many people it has actually fed over the years.
As a Human Resources Manager for a school district, I knew I could rely on a village to help me get the tasks done that I needed to do for the day. In my career, I was surrounded by so many wonderful people. There were those who were my mentors, I became a mentor to others, I had made close friends and was blessed by the friendships of many acquaintances. They always offered me assistance when it was needed and my hands were equally ready to assist them if they needed me as well. There was also a wonderful support system that was reciprocated when anyone in the village needed any kind of support. There was a circle in the district that was also prayerful. I loved that the leadership at that time welcomed prayer circles. There was even a time, when we would hold after work prayer meetings and worship time. I found that during those years, our district was moving forward with improving the education of children and our employees were more cohesive in working together to make it happen.
As I have written before in my blog, I have visited many churches and have maintained some of the relationships from those churches. I have many relatives and friends who love the Lord. My Facebook is inclusive of who I call Prayer Warriors. Whether it is my own family needing prayer or a prayer request has been made to me, I rely on those prayer warriors to help me lift myself or someone else up who is in need of divine help. I also love when I can report out how our prayers were answered. I also belong to a Discipleship app that has brought me such uplifting resources and I have grown fond of visiting there on a daily basis. The people on this application are a huge village within itself. They are so encouraging to each other.
There are many platforms on the internet that form the different villages for each area of my life where I have an interest. I'm an artist and engaging with someone who loves art as much as I do is so fulfilling. Because of this village, I became an art collector in 2006 and have since supported many artists I have met. I also belong to a senior chat and have developed many virtual friends that I have met through this platform. I've actually become close friends and speak to a few on a frequent basis over the telephone. This group of seniors is instrumental in getting me through my most recent divorce after 24 years of marriage. I was so lonely and down. It was also during a time when I was very obese and unhealthy. These individuals through their encouraging words got me through that rough time and held me accountable for when I lost my initial 70lbs. of weight. This senior chat was actually where I found my companion who seven years ago had lost his companion of 34 years. Again, it took a village to change my life and move me forward.
I cannot discount that as I was growing up as a child, it definitely took a village to guide me through the ups and downs of that roller coaster. But here I am today and it took many villages to get me here.
I recognize that truly the Trinity is what guides my life, but I'd like to think that the heavenly village above is also watching over me 24/7.
All these villages combined have been such a blessing to me. I also know that when I feel that I'm alone in this life all I have to do is reach out and there is always someone there.
Psalms 133:1 -- "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (NKJV)
Comments
Post a Comment