Our trauma doesn;t have to be the defining moment of our lives, but only the beginning,

As iron sharpens iron,so one person sharpens anotherProverbs 27:17

 
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I discovered last night how wonderful Christian fellowship is and continues to be in my life. I may not be the wealthiest person in the world, nor live in the biggest and grandest home on Lake Miinnetonka or the Lake of the Isles, but I'm blessed with having many friends. I discovered just as George Bailey in It's a wonderful life that wealth isn' measured by the number of zeroes in your bank account, but by the number of friends one has.

Last night my wife and I joined several other couples we've known since the early 1980's.  I should preface that by saying that most of the men last night were men I got to know through the Navigator  2:7 disciplship group..

 When iron sharpens iron relationships are built, a solid foundation is formed, and true fellowship results.

 I've learned that friendship is like making little deposits at the bank. Each time we attend church we are depositing into other people's lives. The more we share our lives, our good and not so good experiences, the deeper our friendships grow. 

Like seeing a healthy and vibrant tree, we often forget that the tree is just as deep under the ground as it is above it. Like that tree, relationships need nourishment- attention, tender-hearted care and a little pruning ( encouragement, occasional admonishment) 

Many people, unfortunately, stay guarded in how open they are with others around them. We build fortress walls around us to protect us from being hurt more. The more traumas that are inflicted on us the taller the wall we build. When the wall isn't enough we build a moat outside that wall and when that wasn't enough to keep people away we place alligators in there. 

The good news is that Jesus Christ gives us the strength to be vulnerable with others around us. He knows that everyone will experience trauma the further in life we go. Life is filled with losses, but God gives us the ability to use our stories of loss to encourage others in their own losses. 

Instead of moats and walls and alligaotrs,  God gives us a platform to tell our stories to the world around us that they too can personally know Jesus Christ as their hope and foundation.

The amazing thing about God is he has made a place for all of us who love his son Jesus.  

While it is tempting for us to look up in all of our pain and say "take me NOW Lord", God wants to use us to bring as many people to this precious gift of salvation as we can. 

Our trauma doesn;t have to be the defining moment of our lives, but only the beginning,  Our trauma can actually make us human  and out of our humanness bring hope to others as they struggle through their own multiple losses.

The friends we saw last night were the result of plenty of watering, nourishing, with a little occasional admonishing, but as I reflect on the deep roots of those friendships I had to admit that it was all worth it.