A New Community

On Monday we moved from Zion, Il to Aurora, IL to begin a one-year church planting internship with Resolution Church.  Our move could not have gone smoother: the moving truck was there in time, everything was packed, no rain, traffic was good, and plenty of help on both ends.  As our move is now completed I find myself thinking back to a conversation with Bekki the evening before we made this internship "official."

Before putting in the call to the powers-that-be I asked Bekki what made her most nervous about this transition.  She said, "I'm not really nervous about raising support and renting out our home.  I nervous to leave our friends."  I, on the other hand was nervous about the support-raising and our home.  A beautiful example of how God gives us spouses who compliment us well.

Yet after completing the move on Monday I shared my wife's sentiments.  I felt kind of...alone.  We had so many friends come out and help us on Monday, several of which even made the trek with us to our new home.  These were all relationships that we had developed over our last five years while serving in that community.  In short, Zion/Waukegan/Wesley Church had become home.  It was the community to which we belonged and contributed.  Aurora doesn't feel like our home and I don't yet feel like a belong.  Now I know we've been here just two days and in time we will feel at home and like we belong, but for now I really find myself a bit nostalgic.

I think this illustrates the power of community and why it is so important that we are intentional about developing community with our neighbors.  When we arrived in Waukegan five years ago we didn't know a soul and over time it became our home, but it took some work.  I am finding that the older I get the more work it takes to develop this kind of meaningful community.  When I left home for college sure there was some anxiety, but I was mostly filled with excitement.  When I left college to begin full-time ministry sure I'd miss the community there, but I was filled with anticipation of the new horizon upon which I would embark.  This time it's more difficult.  We were pretty established and pretty comfortable, and perhaps that is exactly why God called us to strike camp, to leave home and to "tent" in a new place.

 I think this also illustrates the power of church: a community committed to bearing witness to the resurrection of Jesus.  So here we are in a new place where we don't know a soul, searching for a new home, striving to belong to a new communtiy.  We have our work cut out for us!