In This Together

<p>Kelly was battling brain cancer when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Then fluid developed around her heart and lungs and she had to be hospitalized again. Her family couldn&rsquo;t visit because of the pandemic. Her husband, Dave, vowed to do something.</p> <p>Gathering loved ones together, Dave asked them to make large signs with messages. They did. Wearing masks, twenty people stood on the street outside the hospital holding signs: &ldquo;BEST MOM!&rdquo; &ldquo;LOVE YOU.&rdquo; &ldquo;WE ARE WITH U.&rdquo; With the help of a nurse, Kelly made her way to a fourth-floor window. &ldquo;All we could see was a facemask and a waving hand,&rdquo; her husband posted on social media, &ldquo;but it was a beautiful facemask and waving hand.&rdquo;</p> <p>Late in his life, the apostle Paul felt alone as he languished in a Roman prison. He wrote to Timothy, &ldquo;Do your best to get here before winter&rdquo; (2 Timothy 4:21). Yet Paul wasn&rsquo;t totally alone. &ldquo;The Lord stood at my side and gave me strength,&rdquo; he said (v. 17). And it&rsquo;s also apparent that he had some encouraging contact with other believers. &ldquo;Eubulus greets you,&rdquo; he said to Timothy, &ldquo;and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers and sisters&rdquo; (v. 21).</p> <p>We&rsquo;re created for community, and we feel that most keenly when we&rsquo;re in crisis. What might you do for someone who may feel entirely alone today? &nbsp;</p>