I thought being part of a team would be completely different.

I’m not sure if the dream let me down…it’s different than reality.

As part of my writing apprenticeship, I work in an office for 40 hours a week. It’s set up like a job: five other people work in the same office. Some projects we work on together and some projects we work on individually.

And I’m part of the team.

It’s different.

I guess you should know that I dreamed of being part of a team as a kid.

It’s a very natural way to form deep friendships, it’s almost like a quest (minus the ring and mountain of doom parts), and you’re part of something important.

And I am. I’m part of The PearlMag team, where I manage their social media so that more people can read the curiously good kingdom literature we publish on our free online magazine every week.

(Speaking of The Pearl, we’re giving away a FREE BOOK every week for the next three months. Read the details (it’s a simple giveaway, no strings attached, lots of fun) and register to win via this link.)

But most days, being on the Pearl team isn’t incredibly exciting.

Hidden in the mundane.

It’s mundane. It’s responding to emails. It’s making mistakes and fixing them.

But hidden in the middle of all that are shining opportunities. Opportunities to connect with the people on my team, to laugh together, to work together, to urge each other into growing.

I’m also part of the Fantastical Summer team. I don’t know what that team will look like yet…because the team members are still being chosen.

But I hope it’s even better than I’ve dreamed.

(Don’t forget to submit by midnight tomorrow, January 30th! If you want detailed instructions on how to submit, click here. If you don’t need those, head to fantasticalsummer.com to submit!)

Invisible teams…the ones we forget we’re a part of.

Every relationship is a team effort.

It’s takes two to tango and all that. But also…building a deep, healthy relationship takes effort. There’s no way to create a healthy relationship on your own.

With friends…with guys you date…with family members. Each person is only one half of the relationship.

They’re a team.

If you want to grow your relationship, it takes a team effort. Sure, you can initiate and that’s a GREAT thing to do. But they have to respond.

And if they don’t respond, there’s not much you can do.

Does Cancel Culture have a point?

But that’s not the end of the story. Because even if someone isn’t ready to respond now, that doesn’t mean they never will be.

We don’t want to give up on people too easily.

God redeems. God restores. And we can’t expect our friends to be perfect.