Learning Community

[Tony] A few people have asked recently why there hasn’t been any posts lately. In response, first off, thank you to all of you who actually are taking time out of your busy lives to catch up on what may be going on in ours. Your thoughts and prayers are a blessing we could not go without. To put it simply, I respond by saying that we are still moving in. When I say this, I do mean it on a literal level, in that we are still trying to fill some large empty floor space with some furniture around the house and we haven’t even started the daunting task of trying to cover at least some of the miles of wall space we seem to have here with some art that speaks to who we are. However, in saying that we are still “moving in,” I also mean that we are still very much in the process of learning how to live with each other. The last month or so that we have been roommates together have been better than I ever could have imagined. Ryan, James, Dan and I seem to mesh seamlessly. I have found that now that I have had a month to live with them, I get anxious if I don’t see them for a couple of days. I would compare it to listening to or playing music (for you fellow musicians), in that after a few days without music, you start to crave it, you look forwards to when you will get to listen or play it again, it becomes a normal part of your life, leaving days without feeling kind of awkward in a way. The short times when we are all together have been rare and short lived lately, but we make the most of them when given the chance. In those times when we are all here, with nothing to do (at least for the moment), we are usually all in the same room. We are still getting to know each other. We are still learning each other’s likes and dislikes, each other’s quirks and habits, and each other’s gifts to the community God has blessed us with.
During times of prayer, God has told me that we need to spend a lot of time with each other right now. We need to take every opportunity we have and use them to grow and strengthen out relationships. The foundation of out community and its potential influence on our neighborhood will depend entirely on the strength of our relationships together. We must grow together as friends, as roommates, and most importantly, we must grow together in our faith. A community built on faith must grow together in that faith. Even though each one of us has our own unique story about our own walks with God, we now also share a new story which we will walk together. This story is just beginning. This is the story of a community, and just like we each have our own unique stories, this community will have its own story and its own walk with God. Right now, we are learning to walk again. We are building the strength of our faith legs by taking on aspects of our faith that we have not ventured into yet. We have only begun baby steps, learning slowly and patiently what it means and looks like to live in community. We are asking ourselves new questions; questions like, what does it mean to own in a community? Should all of our food be shared or should we just have certain community groceries like butter and condiments? These might seem like simple questions (which they are), but asking them now will lead us to all new answers. Just how attached are we to some of the things we think we “own.” What if someone breaks in and steals our things? Do we get better locks and an alarm system to simply make it harder for reality to find us? Or do we start here and now with letting go of our things to the point where our first instinct would be to love a person who would steal our things?
The phrase “honeymoon period” has been used a couple of times to label what stage we are at right now. God is not asking us to do any monumental acts of community engagement. He is simply asking us to learn how to be a community with each other. Our near-sighted goal right now is to learn our own discipline. We are mapping out each other’s schedules to determine the opportune times to become disciplined in our times of prayer, worship, discussion, and interaction with each other. God has made it very well known to us that our living here and with each other is His doing. God has shown us that this house is a gift with a purpose. We were given this place because God chose us to pursue the purpose He has with it. Knowing this, we also know that God will show us how and when we are ready to be a community outside of our own walls. We rely completely on God’s direction here. We rely on your prayers and we rely on the love that we have for each other and the love that we share for God.
Our posts will continue to come. Just know that for a while they may share a common theme of our learning logistics. If you have any ideas or advice for us about our mission here or about community living, or simply want to be involved in the little things that are happening now (and the bigger things down the road), don’t be afraid to email us at ekklesiahhouse@gmail.com. Keep us in your prayers!