Some weeks remind us just how connected we all really are. It starts with one person sniffling, then someone else coughing, and before long the whole house is surviving on half-sleep and saltine crackers.
That was my home this week. Every human was sick. Thankfully the animals stayed healthy—though I’m pretty sure the cats were annoyed that we were around so much.
And as weeks like this tend to go, everything started falling like dominoes: school, taekwondo, gymnastics, piano lessons. Even the council meeting got postponed. Midweek worship had to be canceled. Thank you for your grace with that decision, and thank you to East Union for welcoming West Union folks for dinner and worship.
Each canceled plan came with the same question:
Is going really the right choice?
Who could we unknowingly affect?
Even something as simple as piano lessons suddenly felt like a big calculation. Thirty minutes with Mr. Allan—no big deal… until we remember he teaches around seventy-five students across the metro. Those students have families, workplaces, grocery stores, classrooms. It doesn’t take long to realize how quickly something small can travel far beyond our front door.
And somewhere between buttering toast, taking medicine, and calling in cancellations, two other questions crept in:
Does love work that way too?
Does faith spread that fast?
What if I paused long enough at Kwik Trip to really ask the clerk—who sees me nearly every week—how they’re doing… and then actually listened? Could that tiny moment of care ripple out farther than I imagine?
Or what if I struck up a conversation with another parent at gymnastics and mentioned the thing God is stirring here at West Union? How this quirky, country church keeps creating impact through small acts—like “Bottoms and Baskets” this month. Could something in them open? A curiosity about church? About God? About what a community like ours can do?
Could care spread as quickly?
Could one story about where you’ve seen God at work pass from person to person in ways we never see?
This week reminded me that we’re always carrying something—germs, yes, but also grace. And while we want to be careful with the first one, maybe we can be a little more reckless with the second.
Here’s my encouragement for the week:
Choose an ordinary place—gas station, gym, pick-up line, grocery aisle—and give someone a moment of real attention.
A small kindness.
A listening ear.
An ordinary story of an extraordinary God.
Got a neighbor, a family member, a parent sitting next to you at baseball practice? If there’s an opening, share one thing you see God doing at West Union.
Then trust God to do the spreading.
God bless you,
Pastor Adam
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