Serving: Thelma & Louise Style

First things first: Guys—don’t let the title of this post scare you away! What I’m about to share about doing things together is something men are naturally good at!  

My friend Molly and I think of ourselves as Thelma and Louise. I’m not sure who’s who, but that’s not important. What is important is that we like to do things together. And this summer we were invited—together—to share with a group of moms. They wanted to hear from us because we are “further down the road” of parenting. We were just glad they didn’t call us old.  

So one evening we all gathered, and Molly and I got to share our “mother hearts.”  While doing so, in passing, we mentioned that our friendship had blossomed when we discovered we both follow the Paleo diet. After we finished our talk and asked for questions, no one wanted to know anything about how we mothered, but they were interested in how we cooked!

So we offered a cooking class! And not too long after, seven joined Molly and me in her kitchen where we demonstrated how to make basic dishes in new ways and how to plan a week of meals. After that time together, two women contacted Molly to ask her to mentor them.

We served those moms both the night we shared our hearts, and the night we shared our skills. But sharing a common activity fostered connections that led to meaningful conversations in a way that sharing knowledge alone didn’t.

A shared activity allows people who are seeking to experience what we know and internalize that knowledge for themselves. In our case, learning how to cooking healthy meals helped them believe they were able to be good moms, rather than just hearing about the truth—how to be a good mom—in a conversation circle.

I believe the same is true with the transfer of faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, but faith without works is dead. Walking the walk goes a lot further than—and often comes before—talking the talk.

Men? Women? What activities have you used to help build meaningful connections? Let’s share ideas in the comments section today!

Jenn Nahrstadt
Friend of Q Place