Community

   Most of my life, I've been part of a church that was small and the people are very close and involved in each others lives regularly; not just on Sunday. It's what I know to be life. To me, bringing dinners to those who are sick or have recently had a baby is normal. Stopping by unannounced isn't taboo or shocking. Men helping re-roof a house in a day and the ladies providing lunch is pretty normal. Moving a family can take half to  two-thirds of a day and about 4 trucks; and most likely none of them were rented. We talk a lot about community and I feel like we live it. This week I have seen many examples of community lived out from small things to big things caring for the dying.
   I've written before about our friends who moved to Nicaragua. Well, a couple of them have been back in town for a couple of weeks. The other day the mom of the family stopped by to see me and chat for a few minutes. When she arrived I was folding several loads of clothes I had clean and on my dining room table. She came in and said "Are you folding clothes? I can help." I told her she didn't have to, but she did it anyway and then we sat down talked for a while before she left. After she left, I thought "Wow! You know you are good friends when your friends is back in the states from another country and she comes by to say hi and helps fold your clothes while she's here!"
   Later that night I started having trouble with what I thought was my washer or dryer. (All is well now!)  I could stop doing laundry for a while because I was mostly caught up but I had to finish drying the load currently in the dryer and the load in the washer so they didn't mildew or mold. I couldn't reach my mom and she has lots going on at her house anyway, so I called another friend from church who lives just a few blocks away and asked if I could finish the loads there. Her immediate response was "Sure! Come wash or dry whatever you need to! I won't be here but you can come anyway." At the end of the day I thought "You know it's real community when both of those things happen in a day!" I am so grateful.
   On a much larger scale, there is an elderly man who attends our church. He has known my family since before I was born and has even lived with us at times. He has lived alone for many years and has no blood family nearby. He has recently been diagnosed with advanced cancer in 2 and possibly 3 places in his body. Because he is in his 80's and already lost a lot of strength, some of the normal treatments aren't options. He moved into my parents house a few weeks ago and now he has been placed on hospice care in their home. There has been such an outpouring of support for both this man and for my parents who have the responsibility of caring for him. Different people from church come almost every night to spend time with him and to give my parents some time to get out on their own, as he isn't being left alone at this point. Sometimes people come during the day. I think he feels the love and care of these people in our church. And I know my parents are blessed by being served and carried through this very difficult time as well. And I am so grateful that my parents do not have to carry this alone. That, my friends, is what community looks like. When people just sit with someone who is sick. When they take a shift of care so others can be relieved if even for a short while. When even children are willing to sing songs or read scripture on video so this man can be blessed by God's Word anytime day or night. And when this dying man, who has been an intercessor to a greater extent than anyone else I've ever known,  is waking up praying and weeping for others in the midst of his own trials. That is community.
   All this is good. So good. Life is so full and rich. And yet it is not even the end,  thanks be to God. Today I read this quote by C S Lewis: "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." I am so thankful this is true whether we are nearing the end of life, or in the middle of it, or just at the beginning!