One of the greatest blessings of being a military family is the people you meet. (People are also one of the greatest stressors, but that’s another post.)  On Sunday, some of our dearest friends here in Virginia invited us and our neighbors out for a pizza lunch. Seven adults (Matt’s at sea) and nine children in the backroom of YNot Pizza broke bread with tomato sauce.

Matt met Robert and Cheryl Bradshaw when he was in chaplain school in 2002. We weren’t stationed together until last year, but God must have been smiling in anticipation as we made our way to Virginia. The Bradshaws were already here, and they were the only people we knew in Virginia.

The second day we were in our house, we bought a rug and needed help picking it up. The Bradshaws drove over in their truck and brought it down our back alley. Within minutes, our neighbor two doors down was in the alley hugging Robert. I hadn’t met anyone on the street yet, and here was Robert, who lived on a different base, hugging my neighbor.

Come to find out, Robert and Cheryl had been stationed in Japan with our neighbors, Alicia and Issac Medina. Robert was their chaplain. Alicia immediately invited us over, and we all ate dinner under their hospitality. We shook our heads, smiling, knowing God put us right where he wanted us. A few weeks later, the neighbors between us and the Medinas, Ron and Darlena Kolpak, arrived.

As I looked around the table today, I nearly wept. I wanted to embrace each of them. Robert and Cheryl are surrogate aunt and uncle to our kids—each Sunday after church, the kids run to find them and get their hugs and horseplay. Cheryl brought mochas to my office while I was trying to finish my thesis. I have dubbed her Saint Cheryl.

The Medinas and the Kolpaks are saints too, as they have to deal with the Weems and our mess on a daily basis. We have shared two Thanksgivings and a bunch of birthdays. We have carpooled and watched each other’s dogs and kids and studied the Bible together. We are in and out of each other’s houses almost daily, our kids often struggle with the same issues or viruses, and God has placed us here in this time and this place for support and love. This is the body of Christ.  If you are wondering how to pray for a military family you know, pray for healthy community to surround their family.

Thanks Robert and Cheryl for bringing us all together for a great lunch, and thanks to God who smiles down at the fellowship He so obviously fitted together.

Sometimes community falls in your lap. Other times, you have to actively pursue it. In a season when so many feel alone, consider reaching out to a neighbor or a community group. Maybe a group at church or the golf course could use volunteers. Anytime you see people regularly, plan to invest a few extra moments in getting to know them, in letting them know you. It is the best kind of gift at Christmas and all year around.*if you click on the picture you can see everyone much better, and don’t miss the classic Memphis picture moment- she’s in the middle.