Rich Dixon and Becky Dixon are recovering from the Freedom Tour Classis, which was last Saturday. I’m guessing we can still help.

Last week was the last-minute hustle before FREEDOM TOUR CLASSIC 2026.

Around here, that means boxes of T-shirts & jerseys, never-ending lists of things to do, and endless questions. It seems no matter how much we prepare, these last few days end up becoming a scramble.

As our team works to get ready, it’s easy to lose track of what we’re doing. I thought a lot about this quote from Pope Leo:

When efficiency becomes the ultimate measure of value, people are tempted to see themselves as products to be optimized rather than persons called to relationship and communion.

We need schedules and processes. We hope people care about helping us put on an amazing event. But that’s not what we’re about.

We’re following Jesus, creating a community to surround a group of kids rescued from human trafficking. I chose that quote to remind myself that the people who join us are not commodities.

Community isn’t efficient, because people are individuals with their own needs and their own reasons for joining. Efficiency tends to exclude those at the margins, who often are the folks most in need of community.

I enjoyed Saturday for an odd reason. I couldn’t ride my bike – recovery from elbow surgery. At first, I was disappointed, but then I realized I would have the entire morning to hang out and talk to people. I tried to encounter a few of those folks on the margins, those who might normally hang back in the shadows.

A few weeks ago, I described my vision of the day’s celebration as a big circle with the kids in the center. I said I imagined Jesus high-fiving people and hugging the kids.

I shared that image on Saturday. Hopefully people didn’t think I’m too crazy.

Where are you part of a community that struggles with the balance between efficiency and treating people as individuals?