The Power of Shared Experiences

I'm writing this post tonight from a hotel room in Buffalo, New York. I just spent the day with my family at Niagara Falls: we went to the Hershey store and ate chocolate, then had lunch at the Hard Rock cafe and looked at cool guitars owned by Ace Frehley and Ritchie Sambora. This afternoon we got on a boat called the Maid of the Mist and rode up to the falls from the river. It was like standing in a rainstorm at the base of the falls--we got soaked even with the blue ponchos they gave us. I finished the day playing pop-a-shot and mini-bowling at an arcade with the boys.

There is an immense power in shared experiences. We didn't change the world today, but we were together...and we have plenty of tourist photos to prove it. The truth is, if we weren't away from home today I wouldn't have spent this much time with my wife and kids. I would have spent a lot of time today doing things they don't care much about. I didn't step into the boys' world by bringing them to Niagara Falls, but I did when I played arcade games with them. We'll be able to do that thing that only people who have shared experiences can do: one of us will say, "You remember when we went to Niagara Falls?" and the rest of us will nod our heads. That's a powerful thing, probably more powerful than we realize.

You don't have to travel far or spend a lot of money to have shared experiences. I have some almost every time our home group meets. In a couple of weeks our group is going camping together, and a couple of weeks after that we'll be working together on a Habitat for Humanity house. Helping a deserving family become homeowners is worthwhile in itself, but sharing the experience with friends and neighbors is a huge bonus. I think especially for men and boys, it helps to do something active together instead of just meeting, but sometimes just hanging out is enough. All biblical community--family, spiritual friendships, the tribe, neighborhood life--is built on shared experiences. Nobody feels a bond to people they haven't shared experiences with. Sometimes it only takes one experience to make that connection. It may be a great day or the worst day of someone's life, but if they shared it with you they won't soon forget that you were there and you are now a part of their story. Don't miss this. Be fully present with your spouse and kids, your community and your neighbors. If you're there when the good stuff, the fun stuff and the important stuff happens, you'll be weaving your story into those around you, and God will be weaving His through all of yours. As Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.