What does it mean to come alongside others?

Today has been a hard day. The part of me that remembers life at the Drop-In Centre wants to attribute it to the full moon... or maybe it's just the time of year! I have had a lot of good conversations today, but a lot of hard ones too. Some of them debating issues, others walking people through conflict and struggles. All of these conversations left me with the question of what does it mean to really come alongside other people? How do you really show people the love of Christ. It is such a monumental task, and yet simple at the same time. Monumental in the impact that it has, and in the issues that people are dealing with (that all of us are dealing with in one way or another). Simple in our role of loving, of being present, of just "doing life" together. If it IS simple, why is it so difficult? Why do we have such a hard time being present? Why is it so easy to come to conclusions, to try and "fix" whatever problems there are instead of guiding people, of walking with them?

The other part of this question for me is how do I come alongside someone when I myself am so stained? I am shoulder deep in the mire, barely able to keep my head above it! I am so thankful that the Lord uses uses us in the midst of it, that His grace covers it all.

Tonight I decided to go swimming. I have forgotten how much I love swimming. There is something so theraputic and relaxing about it, even though it is great exerise. I had heard that there was a diving board at the pool here, but it had slipped my mind until I was actually IN the pool. For those of you who don't know, I used to dive... a lot. It was a big part of my life and the thing I was most passionate about for a long time. The whole time I was doing laps I was thinking about that diving board. I was totally drawn to it, but was trying to convince myself that I didn't really want to go near it. I finished my laps and moved into a deeper part of the pool. I was in there treading water for several minutes, my heart started to beat faster as I thought about diving. I wasn't nervous or anything like that, I don't really know how to explain what I was feeling. It was this excitement that I couldn't contain mixed with my stubbornness and not wanting to go anywhere near the diving board. It had been a long time, years even, since I did it last - talk about being out of practice. Finally I gave in and moved towards the deep end of the pool. I got up on the board and realized that I had to do it quickly, kind of like ripping off a band-aid. I stood for only a moment and then started. By the second step into it I felt like I had slipped into something so familiar, so comfortable.

As strange as it may sound, my little trip to the pool today was exactly what I needed. This past week I've really felt the feeling of being in a new place with new people. I've been praying a lot about feeling a sense of home, of familiarity here at Wheaton. As small as it is, diving was exactly what I needed to do tonight.