Kelly Adams
CBF Director of Clergy Support
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
–Matthew 18:20
It seems silly to type it, let alone say it aloud, but what is saving my life right now is my cell phone. I refuse to leave home without it, and not just because I need the maps app frequently to help get me around in an area in which I’ve lived less than a year. I don’t leave home without my cell phone because it is my connection to those whom I hold most dear.
It is the way I hear the voices of my husband and son when I travel, which is often. Hearing their voices is reassuring and grounding when I’m in the chaos of an airport or missing morning snuggles. It is a gift to stay attuned to the daily lives of the two people I love most in the world.
It is also the way I stay connected to my oldest and dearest friends. There’s a WhatsApp thread through which five of us who have known each other at least since high school message daily. The subject varies; some are messages about the joys and challenges of motherhood and work; but more often they’re memes about getting older or growing up in the 80s and 90s. Our connection is life-giving because it is to people with whom I can be my most genuine self. There are other folks with whom I stay connected mostly through my phone: a few former coworkers who are dear friends, the matron of honor from my wedding, and my mom, who can never have enough pictures of her grandson.
My phone is also how I stay connected to co-workers through text threads that serve primarily to help one another and think together. These threads can and often do digress into humor that is often well-timed and much-needed. It is a crucial link to each other when we’re traveling separately and when very few people around us understand the nuances of our work.
So, it’s not the cell phone that is saving me after all; it’s the connection it provides to the rooted relationships I need to truly thrive both personally and professionally. What and who are the connections that are saving you?
Pray, Practice, Ponder
Gracious God, You are generous to place in our lives people who reveal something of your goodness and grace. Whether it’s one person or 20, we are grateful for the rooted relationships that reach out or answer at just the right time, reminding us we are loved and giving us hope when we most need it. For these friends and loved ones, we give you thanks and praise. Amen.
Pray…Give…Go.