By Joy Dodge, Director of Connections

Have you ever encountered those people who live their lives so selflessly that you find yourself wondering if they were born with some sort of superpower? They seem to effortlessly and automatically put others before themselves and do so with ease and happiness. Pastor Jacob reminded us that meekness refers to the gentle ones, the humble ones, the lowly ones, the considerate ones. Jesus thought so highly of the meek that he included in his Beatitudes, "The meek shall inherit the earth."

Maybe meekness comes naturally to you, or maybe you have to work at it. Regardless, sheltering at home has probably challenged that ability at one point or another, and that is to be expected!

Our Don't Stop Believing Small Group (sing it!) is full of couples with small children, so these past couple of months have been a challenge attempting to balance work and family life. When asked what meekness meant to them during this season they said, "We've been shown meekness through the patience of employers, through grandparents playing hide and seek through FaceTime to keep the kids content and give them a break from their parents, dropping off activities for the kids, and doing social distancing visits, and through neighbors asking if they can get anything for us while they are at the store."

Another member shared, "Attempting to balance work, kids, family, etc., has been a challenge throughout the past few weeks. When I think of meekness, I think of someone who enjoys serving others, and for us, my mother-in-law has done this time and time again. From cooking dinners to watching the girls in between our meetings, she has continued to be there for us. During our times of struggles or weakness, she has constantly served our family all while considering it a privilege. We love our Gigi!"

Lastly, "My mother has shown me meekness over the past 6 weeks. Our children's daycare has been closed for a few weeks, and we were stuck trying to find childcare while still continuing to work. My mother is a substitute teacher and is out of work at this time, but agreed to watch our toddler free of charge. She is losing income and instead of looking for another job to help herself, she chose to help her family which we greatly appreciated. It was her humbleness and generosity that allowed my husband and I to continue working so we could continue to provide for our family. She put her own needs to the side and made us a priority, which really meant a lot to us."

Selfless, humble, kind. Meekness is far from weakness. May we all seek out moments, no matter how "small" they may seem to practice meekness and be a blessing to others.