The Sixth Man

It was transformation at The Reformation. This is the way Coach Stu and I live. Stuff just “happens”. Of course, it just doesn’t “happen” because when you live with your antennas up to the world around you, you attract these kinds of opportunities it just doesn’t “happen” because when you live with your antennas up to the world around you, you attract these kinds of opportunities.

It’s not random.

We got the band back together a few years back, figuratively, not literally. Years ago, we and our spouses lived together in a group with four other couples. The backstory to that is awesome but suffice it to say we are bonded together in experience and love that only time and The Spirit can produce. It had been a while since we had seen each other, and John arranged a twelve-ounce curl workout at a local craft beer place called Reformation Brewery.

As I drove up, John was already talking in the parking lot with one of our gang and proudly displayed a t-shirt from a craft brewery in the northeast. In fact, he purposefully dug through “the pile” and donned that shirt just for the occasion. Another member of our group arrives, and as we all head in, a guy drives up, gets out of his car, and walks in just ahead of us. No big deal, right, except he wore the same t-shirt as John.

Yep, here we go…

Immediately, a conversation starts, and over the next ten minutes or so, he and John take a picture together and share some small talk. Meanwhile, our fifth member arrived, and we started the walk down memory lane and the current life catch-up conversation. John eventually joins us, and off we go like it was just yesterday that we were together. Amidst all this, we look up, and the t-shirt guy, we’ll call him Trevor, is looking to join in the conversation. Five good friends are in close conversation, drinking beers around a table, and this guy decides to be vulnerable enough to “ask” to join in. Threshold moment. Do we embrace the “sixth man,” or do we politely stiff-arm him (that’s an oxymoron, but we somehow think it makes sense)?

It was a no-brainer for us because we constantly cultivate an atmosphere that embraces this kind of stuff. But it’s not natural for most people, and unless it is purposeful in your life and it’s just the way you are, you would have missed all the blessings that come next. Over the next two hours, we just shared life. We told family stories and God stories, and Trevor could not get enough of it. Come to find out that just that day he crossed a financial hurdle of debt reduction and was in the mode of generosity. He, without even realizing it, was ready for what we call the “through you.”

He is part owner in a string of men’s barber shops in the Atlanta area, and once he heard of our involvement with The Atlanta Mission, he got excited about how he might help those guys groom themselves for job interviews. Here we go; the flow was unleashed.

One thing led to another, and then another, and then, with tears in his eyes, he simply stated that he would, “like to be the sixth guy next time we got together again.”

He kept shaking his head at how all this played out. Of course, we all knew it was not a coincidence and reinforced the idea that this is the way God beautifully designed the relational world.

Together is better.

So, it’s time for goodbyes, and he hands each of us a business card so we can follow up on several touchpoints that we had. I look at the card, and, of course, this is where I get my hair cut. Just another one of those coincidences, but I’m sure there will be a sequel to this story…