Community

So, we are buying a house! It is on Lucas Creek Rd. in Newport News. I am getting more and more excited as the time gets closer.

Along with the excitement is the sadness that comes with moving out of community. For our 4 years of marriage, only 1 has been not living in community. We LOVE community, really. When we first were married, we were living at LivingStone Monastery in a community that flexuated from about 8 people up to 15 or so when we moved out. From there we moved in with my parents for about 3 months, yet another form of community, this one really out of need.

Our year at Saint Andrews Apartments was like being newly-weds again. We were forced into a space of no easy distractions, staring all our faults and annoyances in the face. It was good! Our marriage grew more in that time than any other.

An opportunity arose and we decided to move back into community with some close friends. And it has been good too! Now, don't get me wrong, there have been some difficult moments and we have been living in a construction area for the past year, which is a unique situation in itself. In all this though, I have grown as a person. This has been so different than LivingStone.

For starters, there was no one person (aside from God) or group of people controlling our lives/jobs. My husband was still able in many aspects to be the head of our individual household. This has been healthy community living. It has been filled, for the most part, with joy, healthy conflict and brothers and sisters coming along side one another to form a family in Christ. These people will always be my family, for that I am so grateful.

Now though, it is time for a new season. Adam and I need to get back to the root of our marriage. To stepping out of this unit and finding ourselves as a family. What are ours goals? What is our purpose? Who are we truly as a family in Christ? I think these are all questions we are seeking to answer in this stage. I have a strong feeling we will do community again. I am not sure when that will be, but I do believe it will be good :)

So, people can stop assuming we are leaving because things are bad. Things are just changing, as life changes everyday. We are excited for this next step, but I am being careful to have my eyes and my heart open during this last bit of time in community. God is still doing a good things here and in these people we call family and whom we love deeply.