family

Growing up, I had a very tightly knit group of friends that we referred to as "the gang." Obviously, not the most ingenious name ever created... But this group was special. I have never, and probably from this day, will never experience the kind of community I experienced with this group. There were about 15 of us, and only a few of them are pictured above. I grew up with a good portion of them - I mean, literally grew up. I have known 3 or 4 of them since probably the age of 2. The others in our group joined in about 5th or 6th grade, and even a few became a part of our group in high school. But we were so close, we were like family. I was reminiscing with my good friend Bethany (who I've known since I was 8) and her husband Jared (who I've known since I was 2) about our group of friends, and how we're hoping to have a reunion next summer with all the spouses and kids. I'm one of 4 people in our group who is still unmarried and without children, so it'll make for an interesting event. But I'm so exicted to see these people... I have such great memories of laying on a trampoline late at night during the summer, having deep conversations about everything from God to relationships. Memories of playing night games at our friend's summer home in Michigan. Camp memories, going to Mexico together, going to each others proms and banquets together, celebrating life together... My years spent with this group of people was so formational to who I am today.

My good friend Brandon also just recently wrote a post about a community we used to belong to (which is actually the reason why I wrote this post). Our community was a group of young adults, those in their early to mid 20s, called "The Gathering." This group was unique, and also formational to who I am today. I feel like I was blessed twice with two different communities to call family. The cool thing is, that's how God wired us up - to live in community. And I feel blessed that I found two different communities that I could call "family." The picture above is the young adult ministry I was a part of, as well as the high school group I volunteered with. We took a trip to Georgia to help the Habitat for Humanity Headquarters get their Global Village off the ground. The Gathering was known for spening many hours at Starbucks (for many of us, including myself, worked there) discussing everything from coffee to how we could better love our community. We had road rallies, trips to the Brownhouse Compound, nights of Xtreme Worship, The New Years Experiement, a trip to hear Rob Bell speak even though we were the odd kids out, lots and lots of Sonlife training, movie nights, Thanksgiving Dinners, Easter Breakfast (with some of the best french toast known to man!), and all sorts of other things. This built-in community was amazing - I knew I could count on them for anything...

But, like all great things, they don't last forever. I am no longer a part of either of those communities... And as hard as it is to sort of "float alone" without a community to call my own, I think it's also a really good thing because I'm starting to really learn what community is, and I'm also starting to learn to lean on God a bit more... I'm still kinda learning what that looks like. I've leaned on my friends for so long that leaning on God doesn't seem to come as naturally for me. But the relationship that has been forming lately has been so awesome. I feel as though I've been able to be really honest with God, open with him, and communicate with him in ways I haven't been able to in the past. It's interesting, and I'm curious to see where it goes. I have been without a community for about 2 years now. I have friends here and there, but not one strong community. I've just recently landed in a church I think I will be able to call home for a while, and I'm excited to see what kinds of "community" await.

Thanks to my friends Bethany, Jared, and Brandon for giving me a good trip down memory lane, and also for reminding me just how good God has been to me in the past in providing family. I can do nothing else but believe he'll provide "family" for me again in the future, and I can't wait to see who the members are!