Community

We were not meant to live alone.  Cliche?  Yeah, probably.  But I believe it's true.  I do.  I don't think that God ever had in mind that we would live isolated lives that only intersect in superfilicious ways and that we would try to do life by ourselves.  Many of us don't live alone but in our own nuclear family with a spouse and children, but how often do our lives intersect with others in truly meaningful ways.  Where we can be real, vulnerable and carry one another's burdens.  I think we do in snippets and pieces, I hope that everyone is able to experience community to some degree and to challenge themselves to go deeper into those relationships.  Today, I am grateful for community and longing for more. 

I am grateful for an amazing husband and son, who give me so much joy, love and life everyday.  But, I am thankful that our little family can intersect with the lives of others.  With the lives of my brother's family.  That we can take turns "kidnapping" the 2 year-olds to let them share and enjoy life together while letting the parents have a bit of a break to clean, or sort or rest.  I am thankful for friends that I can call or text and share the joys and the sorrows, the good and the bad.  I am thankful for parents who are supportive and are only a call away.  But, I also long for deeper community, to deepen relationships with others.  I desire to be able to share the burdens and joys of others and to become a part of one another's lives, not just in passing but in a truly deep and connected way.  We would do life together.  We would do ministry together, still having our own identities as individuals and families but a community that relies and depends on one another.  I have no idea what that looks like, but we pray and we hope and we dream, and we try, even if it is in small ways to make that happen a little more everyday.