One another
My daughter Meredith suffered an unexpected bout with shingles recently. She called me early one morning on her way home from the Urgent Care, gave me a brief summary of the last 8 hours, and asked me if I could take her older two girls to a swim play date later that morning. I knew the swimming party could be missed, of course, but I also realized that Julia (age 7) and Caroline (age 5) would be disappointed if they couldn't go. The girls weren't the only ones disappointed by the turn of events. Meredith had counted on the couple of hours of respite that the swim date provided. "Later" turned out to be less than two hours, so I quickly got ready and went to pick up the girls.
Meredith gave me directions to our swim host's home. She also gave me a quick rundown on the logistics of the swim date. The entire play date would last from 10 AM -1 PM with our host serving lunch on her patio around noon. There would be 3-4 other young moms there with 12-13 children swimming.
"Who else is coming?" I asked.
"I'm not sure," Meredith replied. "It's a different group each week, but all the moms will be members of our Sojourners Sunday School community."
I picked up Julia and Caroline who quickly filled in other details of what I should expect. From the back seat Julia said, "Mia, have you ever had one of Miss Mary Ann's chocolate chip cookies? They are "AWESOME!" Caroline chimed in with, "Her PB&J are too! She cuts the crusts off our sandwiches." I began asking the girls what else was on Miss Mary Ann's swim party lunch menu. "Red grapes and potato chips with one drink," they replied. "But you have to say "please and thank you!"
We arrived at our host's home to find the swimming pool was full of kids ages 2-12. Julia and Caroline quickly joined the fun and I settled in with the young moms, all of whom I knew from church and women's Bible studies. It turns out that Thursday morning swim dates and lunch are a weekly summer event for Miss Mary Ann. She and her husband are older mentors for this young families Sunday School community. Miss Mary Ann's emphasis is on "community," that "reciprocal rootedness" or longing to connect that all of us hope for. She uses her time, talent, and treasure to build community, not just on Sunday mornings, but throughout the week as well. Miss Mary Ann uses Thursday mornings to help young moms and their children get to know each other a little better. In the process, Miss Mary Ann knows each of them better too.
Throughout the New Testament the Apostle Paul repeatedly uses the words "one another" to teach us how to build Christian community. There are over twenty "one another" commands throughout Paul's letters as in:
Greet one another
Teach one another
Encourage one another
Love one another
Admonish one another
Serve one another
Offer hospitality to one another
Over the course of our three-hour swim and lunch, I saw each one of those community "one anothers" on display for both children and adults. It was a rich time of fellowship for four generations of moms and children. Our "swim date" was so much more than that as we enjoyed Miss Mary Ann's hospitality. Karen Burton Maims once wrote that biblical hospitality is making people feel "welcomed, wanted, and worth the trouble." All of us felt that. I marveled at Miss Mary Ann's commitment to intentionally and relationally teach and train another generation of women to steward their God-given resources for other's good and God's glory. Miss Mary Ann isn't just teaching manners when she insists on "please" and "thank you." She's teaching young moms how to teach and train their children as she sets expectations and boundaries. Miss Mary Ann creates space for reciprocal relationships to grow. Our conversation included Miss Mary Ann's stories from the early days of our church's rich sixty-year old history. All of us benefited, not just from her pool or lunch menu, but from her wisdom, encouragement, instruction, perspective, and humor.
My takeaways from that Thursday morning swim date were many, but perhaps the biggest one was Miss Mary Ann's perspective on aging. When I thanked her for being a mentor and model to these young moms and their children, Miss Mary Ann quickly replied, "Oh, Honey, it's so much more fun being with them than being with old people!" I left Miss Mary Ann's home that day wondering how many women approaching their eighth decade of living would dare to invest themselves in a weekly summer swim date for 15-20 young people? I was challenged to consider how do I steward my own God-given resources for others? Am I willing to invest my time, talent, and treasure for building community and bridges across generations?
I drove away from Miss Mary Ann's with the words of Proverbs ringing in my head and heart, "She laughs at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue....Give her the reward she has earned and let her works praise her at the city gate." (Proverbs 31:25b, 26, 31) Thank you Miss Mary Ann for being a treasured resource for a host of younger women and their families. Thank you God for Miss Mary Ann and all those who follow in her footsteps to teach what is good and train a younger generation. May her tribe increase!