Today I had the chance to spend some time on the phone with a friend and colleague. I haven’t talked to her in a while, so the call was well overdue. We chatted for quite a while.

We shared some of our joys and some of our frustrations in ministry. She didn’t solve my problems and I didn’t solve hers, but it was good to share. It was good to remind each other that we are in this together. It was good to laugh together and to finish each other’s sentences.

It reminded me of the lyrics of a hymn that I love:

Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

We are pilgrims on a journey,
and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together
of Christ’s love and agony.

My friends, we are not meant to walk this road alone. Whether you are in ministry, whether you are a Christian or whether neither of those things can be said of you. We are made for relationship. We are made to walk the road together.

Every night my friend Michelle texts me or send me a message on FB to remind me to blog – because we are in this together. We are doing NaBloPoMo together and that means that each day we encourage each other to keep posting. And there have definitely been times where I wouldn’t have posted except that she reminded me.

So look around, see who is walking the road with you, and take a moment to say thanks for their presence in your life.