What is in Community?

Over the last year I have had lot's of time to think about what community means. Mostly because I was in need of what community is, and as part of my searchings and findings of what it is to be in community I looked it up in the dictionary to see how it was defined and this is what I got:

Community:

1. A social, religious, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.

By this definition community could and can be your coworkers. I used to work at a retirement community as a waitress, and I love all of my coworkers from that job. We would plan to do things outside of work all the time and just enjoyed each other's company. Even after I stopped working there we continued to do movie nights and just random get togethers. We were also a rather crafty bunch of girls (there were some guys to but we ended up doing a lot of girl's nights.) Oh How I miss these people, distance only separates us now.

But community can also be built around a common passion, a common goal in life. I met these wonderful girls in the picture below through an internship I did through Joni and Friends last summer in Virginia. We became known as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" because for a lot of the summer there were eight of us, and we added a ninth towards the end. Over the course of the summer I had recorded several little sound bites on my phone of all our voices, things like us practicing songs we were going to sing in the Dominican Republic, talking about silly things and just having fun together. Whenever I miss these amazing girls I listen to these little recordings, sometimes reading over the list we made of the funny things we said in our delirium. Yes there were times we were delirious, worn out from all the learning and ministry we were doing. And as the summer progressed we became a tight knit community, staying in contact through social media, texting and Skype. The relationships we built with each other will last a very long time.

And there are the childhood friendships that last through the test of time and over vast distances. Yes life gets dirty, it gets crazy, tastes change, circumstances change, but the reason you are friends does not change. And yes there may be seasons when you wonder if the relationships will last, but they do in the end, proving that they are indeed based on more then superficial things. They are the foundational community on which a lot of other communities are built off of.

That need for community hits everyone at some point in their lives and often more then once. It's a horrible feeling to have that there is no one that you can turn to, no one close enough to be a presence, no one who wants to be with you. Or maybe there are people you know would hang out with you but distance or schedule keep you apart. Don't give up hope! You are loved, needed, sought after. All of you are treasured, not only by me but also by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Through the ebbs and flows of having my communities close or far away He has always been there for me, over the last year I have become more and more aware of His presence. At first it was strange feeling which is wrong for any son or daughter of the Most High King to feel. But the more I entered into His presence the more I realized it was His love, His intense love that I was feeling and it was that love that at first scared me to death. It was so intense, so strong, so caring. How could I ever reciprocate it? I wanted to be able to give back what I was receiving and yet so helpless to do so. The more I studied and prayed I realized that it was this communion with Him that allowed me to love Him and receive more of His love. And through this surplus of love I am better able to love others in a way that wouldn't have been possible before. 

Enjoy this beautiful piece of music sung by a wonderfully talented musician, and know that I am praying for you. Yes I pray that your community is strong! I pray that you have lot's of community, but remember sometimes all you need in the moment you're in is a small yet solid community. Have a wonderful week all you lovely people!

Red Fish, Blue Fish

I haven't done a post about my three little friends yet! I am so shocked at myself! I think a little back story is needed first though before I get to far ahead of myself. When I was little I wanted a kitty, a normal wish for a little girl, at least I didn't want a horse, cats are much cheaper, well unless they are my cat then that might be up for debate. It wasn't till I was 10 years old that I got my kitty! A friend of mine had a cat who had had a litter of kittens, and I got to meet them when they were two days old. They were so cute, all of them looked the same at that age, but as they grew older I got to help name them. Well, one night several weeks after the kittens were born I spent the night at my friends house, and the next morning when my mom came to pick me up she told me that I could keep one of the kittens. I was so excited, I even got to take him home that day. Brownie and I were inseparable. My little kitty, who when he was a baby would sleep all day and then keep me awake all night and as part of our nightly routine he would wait till I was almost asleep and then pounce on my feet, grew into the lion you see below. 

For fourteen years the two of us had the time of our lives. We were the best of friends. Eventually we grew out of the nightly foot pouncing to every time I came home from running errands or work he would greet me with a little chirp and walk me to the door. Seven months ago my best furry friend got into antifreeze while I was out of town. When that happens there is nothing that can be done. He had been playing hard to get before I went out of town, so I didn't even get to tell him good-bye. I miss him a lot. I had always wanted to get a fish while he was alive but never did since he was an avid hunter. The first time I went to the pet store after he died was hard. But while I was there I saw the Betta Fish. That day (which was less then a week after my kitty died)  I bought my first fish. His name is Spock. He's the little blue guy below.

My kitty had the bane of being named by a 10 year old, but my poor fishes came along at the beginning of my love for Star Trek. My little sisters were with me when I got Spock (who was definitely a grief purchase, one that I have been blessed by for sure) and they thought, and I think they still do think, that Spock is part theirs. They have certainly given enough interest in him and the others to almost make it seem that it were so. The funny thing about Betta fish though is that you can't just get one. At that point I had watched Voyager and the Original Series all the way through and so when I couldn't help but get another little fish I named him after my favorite Voyager character Neelix, who you see below.

The funny thing is that both Spock and Neelix act just like their namesakes. They both will take any and all attention that they can get, but Neelix will actually try to get my attention. When I chose Neelix I wanted to get another variety of Betta, one different from Spock. Spock is a Veiltail Betta and Neelix is a Crowntail Betta. Reading for them as I worked on homework and watching Star Trek with them made things so much easier. But then I finished Next Gen, and I had another favorite character and space for one more fish. Below you will find Captain Picard, a red Double-Tail Betta.

I know, how does a girl go from loosing her kitty whom she has know for all of his fourteen years of life, and the last fourteen of her own, to acquiring three Betta fish? That is something I am still figuring out for myself. But I am so in love with all three of them. They make me laugh, are always excited to see me and will flare their fins to get my attention. And yes I brought them with me from Medford. They are my little friends, and I don't know what I would do without them. 

Live Long and Prosper

Hurray!!! I have my car back!! I am so grateful to have it back, despite being spoiled with a fancy loaner car the last few days it is nice to drive my own car again. The mechanic said everything else in the engine looked fine and that it was "just" those two major pieces of the engine that were causing all the problems. I praise the Lord for keeping my brother and I safe when it all went down, and for parents who help their kids out when they need a little (or a lot) of help. 

I am starting to be able to get around a little more without Siri's help, although she still comes in handy every once in a while ;) School and work are getting ready to start, I have my first day of work tomorrow (Thursday, September 15th, 2016) and I have a few other clients that I am getting ready to start in a few weeks. School starts in two weeks, and I can't wait!!! I am so ready for any kind of routine to start up again and since I know what to expect with the school/work combo I am excited to get going on that. No more waiting around my friends! There's only so much down time and exploring a person can do. 

I also attended the first night of small groups through church last night! I really enjoyed getting to connect with others from church, the first step in creating community up here. They are a great group of people and I look forward to the next year spending time in God's word with them and fellowshipping with them.  In addition to getting to go and cheer on some friends as they competed in a Crossfit competition. I had a blast hanging with them.

Getting to spend time with fellow Christians was amazing, in fact just getting to hang out with people in general was nice. That has been the hardest thing the last few weeks, is not having that connection with anyone up here, that human connection. A lot of people are working and/or are in school right now and since I'm currently not doing either, I have all this free time when others don't which makes it difficult to coordinate, and gives me a lot of day light hours to figure something out on my own. And for a person who's not used to having so much time to herself having three weeks without something specific to do has been interesting to say the least.

That being said, God has been teaching me a lot the last couple weeks, some of it I would've preferred a different lesson plan, but in the end God's way is always best. And having the time to listen to great music and think on the wonder and majesty of who God is, what life is on this planet and how we can best serve Him even when it feels impossible. The video above captures that feeling that I think a lot of us feel, that feeling of being caught in the eye of everyone around us, without a way of escape, that everyone is watching us waiting for something to happen, but in the end we don't need to worry about what the world thinks we just need to worry about our relationship with Christ and how we carry ourselves through the hard times and the good times. And in our carrying ourselves bringing glory to Christ in all that we do. 

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and if you're ever up this way let me know, I'd like to get together with you.

The Adventure Continues

 Oh the life of an adult. There are things you hear about as a child and you think, "(Insert dismissive  sound) it can't be that bad, and certainly not worth that reaction!" And then you reach adulthood and you go through that certain thing and you then think,"Oh how wrong I was as a child! It is most certainly worthy of that reaction! Maybe not all the time, but there is a time and place for it." Well this last week has definitely been one of those kinds of weeks. While my brother and I were hanging out this last Saturday, my car over heated. Like really over heated. We had to have it towed to the mechanics, and then his girlfriend and her mom came and picked us up from there. Due to the 3 day weekend I was carless till I would hear back from the mechanic Tuesday. In the mean time while I waited to hear back, I decided to explore the city public transportation style.

 I live within a 5 minute walk from a MAX station, so I would walk over and catch the train from there. I have a membership to the zoo so that was my first adventure. I started to get better at public transportation and my excursions took me further away from my starting point and I was able to still get myself back. Then the mechanic called... My car needed a new radiator to begin with. They weren't sure if anything else needed to be fixed, but would know after they put the new one in.

 Ok. So I would have to go one more day without my car that was fine. Meanwhile my knowledge of the system was getting better. And for a person who is directionally challenged this was a huge accomplishment. So Wednesday, I had a couple errands to run, off I went to the MAX station. After accomplishing the first errand I was making my way back to the bus stop, which was across the street. This was/is not just a normal sized street. That would've been nice, but this street is giant. Kinda like if a person were trying to cross the intersections of HWY 99 and HWY 62 in Medford. Only a tad bit bigger. With a lot of traffic. I was almost there and had watched a couple buses come and go before I got there, when I saw a bus headed to that bus stop. My heart sank momentarily because I knew he would be gone before I got there. But then he honked to get my attention. Through  signs we communicated that I was indeed wanting to get on that bus if possible. Well he pulled up to the stop and waited for me!! Then when I got on he said that he recognized me from the other day. That whole thing made my day and helped me make it through the rest of the day.

After the next errand was accomplished I got the phone call that my car needed more work. Even more expensive work. They got me a loaner car through Enterprise that they are taking care of. And they set it up through the Enterprise that was closer to where I was at that moment. I was close enough to walk to that one. Needless to say I had a good cry on that walk. And it was nice because I could just cry and not worry about somebody pulling over to make sure I was ok, the street was to busy, with rush hour, and there was no shoulder or parking lots for them to do so.

When I got to Enterprise the first employee to help me was the one that Subaru had talked to on the phone. He said that he or someone from there would've been able to come get me. Needless to say that not withstanding the disappointment of having my car's repairs cost way more then I cared for them to be, I was reassured that there are more gentlemen out there then the few that I know. I don't care if it is part of their job description, they at least delivered the gentleman-like behavior like it was second nature.

The most recent, as of this morning, excitement came in the form of the neighborhood being searched by the police. Well they didn't go inside any houses that I know of but they were definitely searching for something. They even had one of their search dogs looking around. The excitement never ends.