Underlying the concept of Oikos is that of networking: not only are we as individuals connected to a small group of other people, but we can be the connector between those people. I had that happen last Saturday. One of the friends who lives at my house was worried because the driver's window on her car got stuck down on Friday night, and she was supposed to go to an event on Saturday required for a class she is taking. I offered to drop her off at a classmate's house and take the car to work with me to get the window up. Also on Saturday, my daughter had picked up her college daughter from Orange County who needed to be home this weekend. Mary missed the freeway turn she normally makes and wound up coming through downtown San Bernardino, and decided, on the spur of the moment, to stop by my store. While they were there, my housemate got dropped off at the store to connect with her car. Michelle mentioned that she was supposed to put together a video presentation for this class, and hadn't been able to make it work. My granddaughter, who is a photography student, said she had her video camera with her and offered to help; and it turned out that her brother had the information needed for the report. So the stuck window and the missed freeway turn wound up connecting several people in my oikos to accomplish something good. And I heard my daughter and my housemate planning to get together and help each other with other things. And I'm sure that the class presentation will include the story of how prayers were answered to get it done, and my grandkids saw God's providence in action. When I realized that Tom Mercer is saying that if the oikos God brings you includes believers, this is a OK, I was relieved. The vision that it gave me was a network of people connecting with each other and helping each other grow. Sharing insights with a fellow believer can help us both in our contacts with other people, enriching each other's oikos, and watching our spheres of influence grow beyond our own reach.
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