Better Together

Our small-town farming community here in Central Missouri is not all that different from any other in the sense that in the last couple of years, times have been very difficult. Of course, there has been COVID and all the fallout and division that it has caused. At times, agricultural markets have been difficult and the challenges of trying to grow and breathe life into a small college town have seemed daunting. Those are all real struggles that our town and others like us have faced.

But our community has faced some extra heartache in the last 12 to 18 months. I want to protect the families that have been impacted so I won’t go into a lot of details, but we have experienced more than just a couple of tragedies in our community the last year or so. We have watched as young men and women have been diagnosed with serious illnesses or cancers and are walking through some difficult days. Families have lost loved ones including the loss of a young man full of life and charisma to a tragic accident. Time after time after time, our community has taken blow after blow, punch after punch. But although the community has stumbled and staggered because of the blows, we are still here, still standing.

"...God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it. And so there is no division in the body, but all different parts have the same concern for one another. If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness." - 1 Corinthians 12:24-27

This past weekend this was on display at its fullest. Marching band is a big deal here in our community. Last year was a struggle for our band for a multitude of reasons – in fact that is a huge understatement. But under new leadership, with a new attitude, and a renewed vision, our community traveled to the first band competition since 2019. The energy was electric! The community was beaming with pride as our students were displaying the results of all their hard work and hours of practice. But what stood out to me more than anything was the deep nature of togetherness. Dozens of young people working together as one band, one unit, chasing one task, TOGETHER. The results were seven trophies and winning the sweepstakes award - a fancy way of saying they won the whole thing for schools their size. For those who were paying attention, that group of young people were showing all of us how success is forged through the fires of hard work and unity.

The next day at a hometown high school football game, our community continued to display this truth. Recently, two of my son’s football teammates lost their father in a tragic accident. Two young men, now faced with prematurely saying goodbye to their father. Earlier that day I witnessed the entire football team come alongside their teammates, their brothers and attend the funeral of their father. Later that night, I watched as the community came together in standing room only fashion. The middle school and high school bands played together on the same field accompanied by nearly 60 elementary aged girls who were displaying all they had learned at their cheerleading clinic. There was a line backed up through the parking lot of people who showed up to participate in a tailgating effort raising funds for the family. The highlight of the night was a football team firing on all cylinders. It was evident they were playing for more than just a “W” in the win column. But it was a group of young men, playing for their teammates who desperately needed something to celebrate. The mere effort to describe the night in words cannot do justice in painting the picture of the environment and the atmosphere we experienced in that moment of time. It is simply unexplainable, but it was most definitely tangible.

The weekend left me in a bit of a reflective state. Do not misunderstand me, the weekend was a much-needed breath of fresh air for our community but in many ways also a bittersweet one. As I sat down with a cup of coffee on Sunday morning, I was overcome with emotion and pride for belonging to a community that responded in this fashion. But I was also reminded of the truth that we are given in 1 Corinthians 12:24-27. This should be the norm for a community of any kind. There is unique power in numbers and unique power in unity. In our greatest seasons, the celebrations mean more when we celebrate together. In our most difficult seasons, times of loss and difficulty, together we can pick one another up to help take the next step. We accomplish more together when we are pulling the rope together. God designed community to work in this way – we truly are better together.