It’s common in Maine to go it alone, especially in the frigid and often isolating months of winter. Neighbors — and even family members — tend to keep to themselves. Here, “You mind your business, and I’ll mind mine,” is often more than a motto. If we let it, it can easily become a way of life.

But that shouldn’t be the slogan for the church. Several times this month, I have been reminded of why Scripture says, “Let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another,” (Hebrews 10:25a NLT).

That was me last week: needing encouragement. There was a last-minute glitch that had to be worked out before my book could be sent to the printer. At the same time, my 17-year-old son, a senior in high school, needed to raise $640 for an upcoming school trip to Nicaragua. And there were the ever-present conflicts and struggles that come with raising a family.

From the sidelines, friends sent prayers and encouragement by way of the Internet and e-mail. But I craved the support and strength that come from physically being present in the same room with others of parallel faith.

So I ditched my writing routine one morning last week, wound my way down back roads and pulled out a chair to join a group of women at the Life Church of Bath. One by one, as each woman shared her concerns and struggles, prayer and encouragement were offered — including for me.

The next day, the troubling hitch was resolved, and my book sailed off to the printer. One day later, a dear friend loaded us up with cakes, cookies and cupcakes she’d spent all week baking and our son held a bake sale, raising the amount needed with $2 left over. And as I shared my heart with a wise friend in the faith, she encouraged me about my family.

Does that mean, I can now climb back in my safe little burrow? While tempting, that robs others of the blessing when they need a boost. It also robs them of the blessing of helping. Isolating myself isolates others.

Rather than going it alone, consider how you might encourage someone this week — not merely online, where it’s easy to click a button and forget about it. But by meeting together, wherever that might be.

Find wise friends with a parallel faith. And don’t fall for the falsehood that you have to keep your troubles to yourself. “Share each other’s burdens,” the apostle Paul writes in Galatians 5:2 (NLT), “and in this way obey the law of Christ.”

For the church, it’s not an option. It’s a direct instruction.

Sometimes you are the one needing encouragement. Sometimes you are the one offering it. Either way, it should be a way of life.

Meadow Rue Merrill writes for children and adults from a little house in the big woods of Midcoast Maine.

Her memoir, Redeeming Ruth: Everything Life Takes, Love Restores, is available for pre-order and releases

May 1. www.meadowrue.com