Community

The other day I hit a bird--or thought I did. There was a thump, and no body in my rear view mirror, so I resolved to check my grill at my next stop. However, I forgot. Really forgot.

The next few days we noticed a lot of flies in our garage. And a funny smell. I thought maybe some milk had leaked in our trash container. Johnny thought maybe a toad had found its way into our garage and perished. We were neither one sure how to locate the source, and it wasn't getting any prettier.

Then on Sunday night we went to our community group (a church small group that meets at a friend's house). One of the guys walked in and said, "Nice bird on your grill, Johnny." We both looked puzzled, and he said, "You know? The dead bird on the front of your van?" At that point I remembered the bird incident, and voila, our garage-smell problem was solved.

Isn't it lovely to be part of a community? There are times that parts of your life just stink, and you don't know why and you don't know how to fix it. But when you regularly hang with people who care about you, they may be able to pinpoint your problem. I guess this close-knit group used to be called family, but in our fast-paced, splintered society, it seems to be something you have to consciously choose.

Thanks, Steve, for your useful observation!