Glue

What holds us together?

This week I experienced my first earthquake - shake, rattle and roll! I was in a basement restaurant, Teaism, having a great conversation about life and love with Sheri Shepherd when the table started shaking, then the floor, then me. Silence. Nobody spoke - we all just looked at each other. Then the lights flickered and we all suddenly realized a basement wasn't the best place to be! As we left the restaurant people were pouring out of the surrounding buildings, cell phone reception was down, sirens careered through the streets and it was every man for himself.

Isn't it weird how you can be surrounded by thousands of people and be utterly alone? As I looked around my fellow Washingtonians I thought, would any of these people save me in an crisis? Would I save them before saving myself? In that moment I just wanted to be with Richard, the man who I know would do anything to save me.

It is amazing how the Lord puts us in families - however that 'family' looks. He puts us with people who love hanging out with us, who get our jokes, who shrug at our idiosyncrasies, who gobble our best and worst dishes, and who miss us when we're gone. This is what holds us together - it's the little dots of glue that shared memories and future dreams create. It's not about seeking out people who have loads of stuff, but those who have open hands and tender hearts; it's not about the physically beautiful but about those who adore us just as we are.

So, what's your sticky glue?