If you have seen this lovely meerkat pop up in some of our staff photos and wondered why it was there, the CER Staff has a mascot.

At a staff retreat in December of 2017, the CER staff did a team building exercise that in a round-about way brought up the idea of how we, as a team, were like meerkats. While each of us had specialty areas, we all had general skills and would do what needed done, like meerkats do to protect their home.

Within a year, one team member found a stuffed meerkat and purchased it for the team to have as a mascot. Since then the meerkat has been the symbol of our team and the support we provide each other. The meerkat is rotated around the staff members. We send them to new members as a welcome, and we send them to teammates when there is a need for a show of support, such as with an accident or significant illness, a family struggle, a death, or a special celebration. Sometimes we send it to someone just because it's been a while since they've had a visit from the meerkat. No one asks for a meerkat visit, they just show up.

For some of us, the meerkat provides a sense of comfort that our team is there for us. Sometimes they travel alone and sometimes they travel with items of comfort for the next recipient. Our meerkat is an expression of support and community within our team.

Think about your church or other communities of which you are a part. How does your community express support and comfort? Is there a ritual you have? Do you share certain things? Do community members reach out when someone needs care and support? Does that care and support just show up or do you have to ask?

Community is about being there for each other. Sometimes it is holding the space for someone to grieve or vent or just sit in silence. Sometimes it is showing up with a casserole, or finding some other way to take a task off their to-do list. Sometimes it's a caring word or card to remind them that someone is thinking about them.

As we enter this holiday season, which can be fraught for many, I wish for each of you to find your community that supports and cares for you the way our staff team cares for each other.