Pilgrim, the teardrop camper rests within the fence during most hot summer days, but last week was a great time to take her to the dealer for some repair. The Road Trip Camping parking lot, loaded with campers, reminded me that, although we are not made in the form of a teardrop camper, our personal teardrops help form us with wisdom and understanding to comfort and encourage one another. Where would we be without supportive people in our lives? Bio families, growing families of faith, and even strangers (angels unaware?) can help ease our journey. They:
• Celebrate with us in good times
• Companion us in times of loss
• Offer wisdom for complex moments
• Warn us of blind spots
• Pray with us for supernatural vision
• Laugh with us in times of play
• Support us in times of tragedy
• Worship with us and point to God
When we companion pilgrims “beyond the fence” after fear and loss, we are able to comfort them “with the comfort we ourselves receive from God (2 Corinthians 1:4).”
Pilgrim the camper has provided a sense of comfort for me. But today, even Pilgrim is learning the value of relationship with others (see video).
The Treasure: Teardrops shared with “brothers and sisters” can ease the journey along our pilgrimage in this world.
If you’d rather read than watch the video, here’s the full video transcript:
Pilgrim and I have come out from behind the fence. We are actually in Orange, Virginia at the dealer. We’ve come here, two and a half hours away; we’re at the dealer because… actually, Pilgrim is broken. She needs a new air conditioner, so she’s come here to get some help. Actually she’s kind of happy; she’s been alone for a long time behind the fence and sometimes we go out to campgrounds. But she’s found that she has brothers and sisters here—other campers.
A lot them are different. Some of them are smaller; some of them are larger. They all do something kind of similar but their different. This one’s really small. You can probably only sleep in this one. And then there are some that are a little bigger. This one is similar size, but then there’s a 400 right here that’s a little bit bigger and is capable of holding more people and more things.
But what occurs to me is that, as pilgrims in this life we all need brothers and sisters. We need people different from us—people who are sometimes more capable and some areas and sometimes they need our capabilities and our gifts to minister to them. But it’s so important to uh, just be so open to relationship and not stay behind the fence and isolate and be alone all the time. So, I’m going to leave Pilgrim here for a week or so and she can have some good socialization and some repair, and uh when I need repair, I’m glad that I can call on you and we can call on each other. It’s nice to be in relationship with all of you.
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