December 3, 2005

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  Last night was so good. Sophia and I were able to play hostess for the Gulfport group. We really need a nickname, guys. We introduced the guys and Tiffany to While You Were Sleeping -- just about the best two hour investment one could possibly make. Seriously. It was a good time. (this pic isn't actually from that night, and it's only half of our group, but whatever. it fits the theme of this post.)

  
  

  SPEAKING OF GULFPORT AND OTHER COOL THINGS, Tiffany and I definitely made the cover of The Record, thanks to Mary's excellent photography skills. Sorry if I've told all of my friends twice already, but dang it, after two and a half years of Record anonymity, I'll hang on to this for all it's worth.

  
  

  On a serious note, the ramifications of our trip down south have been really interesting. I've talk to many people then, including people who went to other sites, and the topic of community seems to be a theme. I know that I, for one, experienced community in the way it was meant to be when I went to Gulfport. Attending that incredibly thankful church, and spending time with 20 others in service, provided some of the most genuine fellowship I've had in a while. It was refreshing, "joy-replenishing" (chuck!), and kind of enlightening of my life back here at Wheaton. And it's as if, by experiencing this community, I feel more accutely the lack of community that I've always sort of felt here. Community in its truest sense. I have friends. We do fun things. I attend church. We talk about God. But community, guys. Community. In its richest sense, community seems to be a combination of personal relationships that are capable of being both lighthearted and serious, in the context of Christ as the head of the body and ourselves as that body. How many groups of friends am I part of that have fun, and are serious, and take time to actively serve God, all the while giving him glory? I suppose that it helped that our group went south in order to perform acts of service; so that was a kind of a given aspect of the community. But I hope that, somehow, that aspect doesn't end just because we're back in Wheaton.

  
  

  And how do we foster that sense of community? How do we corporately serve God and invest in each other and make sure that we don't just consistently get together for a good laugh but nothing else? Kevin reminded me that it means being purposeful, which is difficult to do. It IS difficult to do. Especially with so much going on here. Time seems to slip away. I feel that as I realize that first semester is already finished. But that's wrong, too -- there are still twelve days until I leave. Twelve days to live and encourage and serve and rest in God!! See, I don't think that I even understand what it is that I'm saying. I forget from one minute to the next.

  • 7:16 pm
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