Daily Devotion

by Emily Hoops

Modern technology--screens, in particular--is something I am constantly battling.  Parenting in this age comes with different challenges than what my own parents had to juggle.  However, as I look back on the past year, I can’t imagine how disconnected I would feel from my faith community if the pandemic had struck when I was a kid when texting and Zoom weren't a part of our daily lives.  Granted, the loneliness, disconnectedness, and solitude that many have felt during this time is still very real, and it isn’t something technology can solve.  People have to do the work of connection.  

Parenting in the best of times is no easy job, and I believe I am the best mother I can be when I have a community surrounding my family.  The connections I have formed through Good Shepherd in the 4 ½ years we have lived in Cincinnati are the relationships that withstood the distance, fears, and hardships of 2020, and they are stronger for it.  When I look back at the hardest moments of the past year, my thoughts always turn toward those deeply rooted connections within my faith community.  I could walk with others on this strange journey because people walk with me.  There are countless moments in my life where I truly need God’s grace. I wish I could say that I’m able to pause and remember that God’s grace is given freely, but boy is that hard.  I need people to point me back toward God’s forgiveness and love, and those friends always show up.

It takes me a long time to make new friends.  Our family has made many cross-country moves, and we have historically been on our way out the door when I finally felt I had made authentic, faithful friendships.  I am grateful that it’s different this time (as we put down roots here in Cincinnati).  I feel more connected to my faith community at Good Shepherd than I have at churches in the past, and it is because my experience is that Good Shepherd’s culture encourages leaning into authentic connection.  I feel I am better able to reach out because others reached out to me first.  I can offer grace because it was first given freely to me.  I can be someone who helps others feel connected, because I’m not grasping for connection myself.  Do you feel bolder in your faith because you can lean on your faithful relationships?  How can you take the comfort you get from connectedness and turn it outward toward your neighbor?