“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

1st Corinthians 12:27

Have you ever been uncomfortable?

How about uncomfortable because of your own decisions?

It was a split second, impulsive decision. I made it mostly to get a laugh. And it worked. The best kind of laugh that I always seem to draw out of my sister. 

Just as the door was about to shut I turned the two seater into a three seater. Three grown adults squished into the tiny ride. It was so uncomfortable. And so worth it. 

Our vehicle? A doom buggy—the Omnimover on Disney’s Haunted Mansion Ride. Yup, for the next 7 minutes and 30 seconds I was crammed in next to Deanna and my sister Soni. It was priceless. And so much fun. Until it wasn’t.

We were laughing. Joking at every quasi-spooky moment on the ride. The haunted mansion is not scary—it’s Disney after all. But, we had fun pretending that it was. My sides hurt; from laughing and from the elbows digging into my sides. It was glorious. A highlight of our magical day at the park.

And then we came to the next room on the ride. And everything came to a halt. The ride stopped. We were stuck. Stuck in the doom buggy because there really wasn’t room for all three of us. And stuck on the ride because there was a malfunction somewhere else on the track. We sat there. The sound track and the animatronics in the room kept doing their thing on a 30 second repeating loop. The magic was quickly slipping away.

I don’t know how long we sat there. It wasn’t forever, but it was certainly too long–at least 30 minutes. I was beginning to regret my split second decisions to join them in the seat. I think my decision was getting on all three of our nerves.

But, then I thought a little more about it. One of the deeper reasons I jumped in was because I didn’t want to experience the ride alone. I wanted to be with them. 

Life is meant to be lived in community. You aren’t supposed to go it alone. 

One of the realities of these times is that we have never had a more connected society. You have more connections and it’s easier to stay in touch with people than ever before in human history. We are more connected than ever. And yet we are more isolated and alone than we’ve ever been. 

For too many, we ride in our own doom buggy through this life.

Today begins day three of the Prince of Peace mission trip. We are in Port Saint Joe’s, Florida working on some homes impacted by a hurricane. There are 20 of us on the trip. And, thankfully, we will have a little more space than those doom buggy’s. But, for a full week 20 amazing and beautiful people will be living and working really close to each other. I assure you, we will be laughing a whole lot. I imagine my sides will hurt at some point on the trip. And, I imagine there might be a time when we get stuck—like on that ride. There will be times when the heat and exhaustion and the close proximity will elevate to discomfort.

But, I can also promise you this. Mission trips are no fun when you go by yourself. It’s this group that we grow to love and care for deeply as we work and laugh together. They make the trip for me. Every year.

My hope for all of us on this trip, and for all of us through this life is this. Risk discomfort. Risk getting close. And welcome other’s when they draw close to you. Your sides may hurt a little, but it’s so much better than riding through this life alone.

Who is someone you want to draw closer to and get to know better? How will you reach out and make a connection this week?