So It Begins...

It's started and I'm told it'll keep on for quite some time.  I don't mind rain that much, there's something calming about it.  But being told it's going to rain for the next 8 months is a bit different.  I guess there's a reason it's so green in this area of the country.  

Rain has got me thinking about things and the storms we go through in life.  Our church is starting a campaign to embrace the idea of community among each other and to seek the Lord in becoming more of the kind of community we're called to be.  Right now the emphasis has been on love, showing and living a life of love.  This has got me thinking... love isn't necessarily something that comes naturally to most of us.  For some maybe, but I know it's something I have to consciously commit to.  Sherry and I are part of a small group as of about 3 weeks ago.  Small group settings aren't something I'm the most comfortable with, either, especially with folks I hardly know.  The first night the leader told us that we'd be spending the first few meetings sharing our stories as individuals and as couples (everyone's married in this particular group at the moment).  I was admittedly skeptical about being part of this group, but as I've sat and listened to new people's stories I've been absolutely riveted and find myself truly looking forward to Monday nights.  I am so quick to judge and think I can know what everyone's lives are like from outside appearances, but hearing new people's stories has shattered my presuppositions and judgments.  I'm so glad for it.  Almost everyone who has told their story has shared about the storms they've had to get through individually and with their spouse.  We tell our story next week, and I am nervous, to be honest.  It's hard to know how transparent and authentic to be... but that's the name of the game if we really buy into community.  And if we don't buy into community, there's not much good going on in the church.  Community takes so much responsibility from us... It requires me to be real so you can benefit from my story, and it takes me being willing to accept you as you are so I can benefit from your life as well.  How can we preach and teach about being the church as it should be if I'm not willing myself to be real about who I am?  Love really is a commitment and a conscious decision.  I am deciding to love this group of people that we've been placed with and to benefit from their lives, and hopefully they can benefit from ours.  The rain and storms are something we all have to face.  I'm learning to ask for help and not feel weak for doing so, and I hope that makes the community better.  I hope people can ask me for help, because I'll for sure be there for them, too.  I'll commit to that.  I'll commit to community.