The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
It was His idea, this concept of community, the idea of families–everyone having a place to fit in, to live alongside one another, to share each others burdens, and joys.
I’ve lived in community my entire life and only now, right where I am , have I ever felt this at home.
Community has the power to hold us up, to encourage out hearts, to circle around us and protect us. And that’s what we all want from community.
Safety.
Love.
Encouragement.
That’s what community should be.
I experienced a heightened level of that community last year at the (then) Relevant Conference. I’m looking forward to a second helping of it this year at Allume.
But between then and what’s coming, there’s community right here.
Right across town at my church, the MOPS group I coordinate. The friends I sneak off to have dinner with occasionally, and the ones who come over with their gaggle of kids and we watch the children learn the art of community, while we feast our spirits on each others words, our stories, the sharing of our hearts.
Community’s messy and when we really get involved we get it all over ourselves, but messy doesn’t mean bad. It’s just what it is.
I’ll take the messy over the sterility of shielding myself from connecting.
I lean into the coffee dates-turned-therapy sessions.
I’ll show up. I’ll keep giving all I’ve got, because maybe there’s someone who really needs a piece of it.
Show up.
Be real.
Make friends.
Share your gifts.
Let God use you in His community, and watch what happens. It’s amazing.
{While we’re on the subject~ There’s this little web cast conference happening today, put on by my favorite community, (in)Courage. Even if you can’t attend it with friends, I hope you’ll join in anyway. That’s a community you won’t want to skip out on.}
Joining Lisa-Jo and fabulous others this morning for Five Minute Friday, where we cut the words loose for just five minutes, and see where they fall. No editing, just encouraging the others who play along.
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