As we find ourselves in the throes of summer, it can be time to look at each other in the eyes and declare a plan.
I remember a morning when the kids were younger, looking in the rear-view mirror of the car and saying, “Guys, there are a lot of us, and this is either going to be really great or a giant disaster. I believe it can be great, but we are going to have to live as a team.”
I asked them what they wanted to name the team and it was some convoluted bunch of animals. We started as “Giraffe Pack,” which I agree was the lamest thing ever…but they were three, two and newborn, so I chose to hang for awhile. Then once we were functioning well, I subtly changed it to Team Ricketts.
Something interesting happened even at a young age by treating the kids as a team. They caught the concept and saw themselves as a part of the group rather than individuals, and they saw how their behavior affected the group. When I would say we were leaving the park and began to walk to the car, they started gathering each other (also because there was a healthy fear that I would actually leave when I said I was going to, but that’s for a later post).
Recently we had a friend over who called a sibling a “loser.” The kids’ rationale on why we should wait awhile before inviting said friend over again was that they “mistreated the team.” Even my kid who desperately wanted to invite this friend over again didn’t give pushback because he was used to functioning as a team.
It’s not the general concept of “Us against the world” but of “Us for each other.” It can be a difference maker with our kids, in our marriages, and even with our friends. I believe it is a reflection of how God views us: “I am for you. We are in this together.”
Team. It matters, and I will choose to live in the security and freedom that it provides. This is the free life. Held loosely because I stand securely as a part of His team, lived freely because we are for each other…we are in this together.
