Day 11: Explore What Works and What Doesn't

Tonight our meal plan has me scheduled to make salmon cooked in a coconut curry sauce. It’s a delicious meal, not terribly hard, and I certainly enjoy it. But we rarely make it. Tomorrow I’m making chicken adobo, which is probably slightly easier to make, also delicious, and a staple at our house. Why the difference? Well, the children hate the one and love the other. Plus, the salmon leftovers don’t keep and chicken adobo will feed us for two nights.

I’m not sure if everyone does the “will they eat it/will there be leftovers/how long does this take” calculation when it comes to food, but I am sure there is some area of your life where you don’t choose perfectly good things just because the work/reward ratio is too high. It makes sense. Adulthood brings with it a lot of mundane effort and why not make choices that give you the most bang for your buck?

We need to bring this mentality into our connection building efforts as well. Sometimes a lot of hard work is worth it, because the reward is so great. And sometimes we stumble upon small life hacks that we can’t believe are so easy and yet bring so many benefits. And unfortunately, sometimes we work our butts off for some assumed future benefit, just to have it fizzle out and come to nothing.

As you continue moving more and more into community, keep checking in with yourself. Did that do what I wanted it to do? Did is exceed my expectations? Was it more work than I thought it would be? Did it feel “worth it”? Was I frustrated and overwhelmed at the end? How could I make this easier or more fruitful?

How can you examine and explore how to make community work for you and your people today?