Hope & Question

December 7 – Community

Prompt: Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?

(Author: Cali Harris)

Are these people reading my diary that doesn't really exist?!

This is a loaded question for me. One that brings mixed emotions.

The good: I'm a part of a house church. We meet in our homes. It's truly a community. My husband and I have walked with people through some pretty intense stuff. This year, especially, I've appreciated having this community during pregnancy, as well as with Jack's birth. Those people gathered round us, brought meals to us the first few weeks, and contineu to walk with us as we navigate this unchartered territory.

The not so good: My husband and I, before we got married, both felt led to live in community with other people. We set goals, both big and small, for what we wanted to achieve by living with others. After we got married, we decided to hold off on living in community for the first year of our marriage. A year and a half into our marriage, we invited a guy to live with us. So began our community living adventure. July 2009, we moved into a three bedroom townhouse. The guy who'd been living with us for 6 months decided to move with us, and another guy moved in as well. The first guy (we'll just call him A), moved out early to get married. The second guy (we'll call him B), moved out the end of September. He moved out mainly because of Jack. When he first signed the lease we made him well aware that we hoped to have a baby within the next year and he seemed totally fine with that idea. Oh well.
Nothing really went as we expected or hoped. All we asked was to share a meal together once a week, and pray together once a week. We were amazed at how hard that was to accomplish. Guy B was better at it than not, although right after we shared with him that I was pregnant, he began to distance himself. Also, around that same time, he stopped paying rent. Awesome. He kept saying he would pay us, and he never did. He still owes us to this day. He's since moved back home with his parents, and it's doubtful we'll ever see the rest of the money he owes us (even though he told us he'd pay us...gotta love integrity).

The silver lining: B moving out made room for my mom to move in! And for that we're very truly thankful. It all happened so fast, but we asked her, she said yes and picked up from South Carolina to live in community with us. We eat dinner together at least once a week. We watch movies together. We laugh together. She gets to vent, I get to vent. She and Shawn get along swimmingly. AND she helps us watch Jack. She adores Jack, of course. Which is so great for us and so great for him!

I'm not sure what community living will look like in the future now that Jack is in the picture, but I'm trying not to close the door on it altogether. I'm thankful that my mom lives with us and am grateful to continue to nurture and grow in my relationship with her. That's my 2011 community goal.

I think life is meant to be lived intentionally with others. Even in the mess, in the pain and hurt, the good times and the bad. We are not meant to live isolated lives. I seek out community for accountability, fellowship, and encouragement.

posted by Loren @ 10:38 AM