Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. (Rms. 12:15)

Are you a care-giver?

Do you work in a care-giving field? Ministry, counseling, medicine and others would all fall into this care-giving line of work.

We desire to be there when people are in need.

We feel called to help others when they hurt.

We move towards the pain… while most move away from it.

But what happens when the pain hits close to home.

What happens when us care-giver needs care?

We’ve got a community of care-givers on our campus who recently suffered a tragic loss… and they’re struggling to be on the “hurting” side of the equation.

They’re much more comfortable on the helping side…

They know how do that. It feels right, comfortable.

And so they’re trying to figure out how to “receive” help, comfort and care… as well as how to help their students learn this important lesson at their young age — receiving the help of others.

As care-givers, receiving from others — in our time of need, can be a significant challenge… but it’s something we must learn to do.

We are — after all — human as well.

We are not immune to pain and suffering.

We will hurt too.

And we need to allow others to care for us in our times of deep need and loss.

As counter-intuitive as it might feel… we need to be able to receive the love and support of others.

We cannot go it alone… as much as we might be tempted to do so.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:

If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecc. 4:9-12)

The Body of Christ — community at its best — has no one person (or group of people) that stands above the rest…

We are all equal members of this community — playing different role and fulfilling different functions at different times.