Picture of Community

Christ calls us as believers to live in community with one another.  This isn’t a new realization to me; however, I will say that I’m still learning, and haven’t always had a clear idea what that might really look like.  This weekend though I saw and experienced a beautiful picture of what this community is suppose to look like, and I just have to share.

Last week I had a friend come to hang out and visit (and introduce me to her new baby boy since I hadn’t been able to meet him yet) and her visit was exactly what I needed.  I had reached a point of being beyond frustrated that I’m still on crutches and stuck in the apartment and not suppose to move much and unable to do simple things easily.  Having her stop by to hang out and talk was a breath of fresh air that I truly needed.  Her visit in itself was wonderful.  Before she left she asked what she could do to help out (our apartment had gotten really messy and dirty… due to me unable to tidy up and Cody being super stressed and coming home late almost every day lately) and I didn’t want her to have to do anything because I didn’t want to be a bother and I was embarrassed by our apartment.  I tried to think of some quick easy little things she could do in the study where we had been visiting. (We had managed to thankfully keep that room and the guest bathroom decent enough.)  She did those few things, went to the restroom, and I was expecting her to be about to leave, when she stuck her head back in the door and asked if we were good enough friends that I wouldn’t get mad if she just went into the living room and tried to pick up a bit for us.  While I was still embarrassed by how our home was, I said yes and she shut the door to our study and went and picked up a bit.  Before she left she asked if her and her husband could bring us dinner or do anything to help over the weekend, and after telling her that actually we’d be gone (Cody to Austin for his race and me to my parents since it wouldn’t have been a good idea for me to stay alone) she asked for a key to our apartment to come and tidy up while we would be gone.

We came home late Sunday evening to our apartment picked up, tidy, and clean.  Her and another friend came and took out our trash, organized, did the dishes and our laundry.  Our home was the nicest it’s been since before we found the blood clot. 

I just wanted to share because I honestly felt like it was a wonderful picture of us living in community.  We didn’t ask them to do anything.  She asked if they could and genuinely wanted to help because she saw an opportunity to do so.  Actually when she asked for our key and explained what she wanted to do, I was really hesitant.  I mean, it was our mess, our home, nobody else should have to bother with it, and I was still embarrassed by it.  She said to me that this is the type of thing community should do for each other and that she honestly wanted to help.  And she was right, that’s exactly what it was -a picture of community. 

We are extremely grateful to our friends for their help, and for giving us a glimpse into what living in community really looks like.