Creating Community 

For months Aaron and I found ourselves engaging in similar conversations with three different couples, wrestling with what it looks like to be followers of Jesus in an increasingly international community rooted in the heart of the Midwest. We had all known of one another for at least a year or two, and had periodically spoken to one another about the tension within our community, our churches, and our own hearts as we discerned how God might be using us and our families in new ways.

As we spoke with each couple in different settings, we sensed kindred spirits on a journey with only slightly overlapping circles: each of us attending different churches, our children attending different schools, our jobs taking us into very different spheres of influence. Despite this, I enjoyed conversations with them when our lives did overlap. I learned from their experiences and spiritual wisdom as I also sought to hear from God on where he was sending my own family. 

I sent the texts separately, inviting each couple to a periodic dinner book club, explaining the vision of wrestling together through issues we’ve been navigating as individual couples and giving them express permission to decline with no need for explanation. The responses were immediate and enthusiastic—yes, yes, and another yes!—letting me know that the Holy Spirit was at work as much in their lives in this area as he was in ours.

Community built around a similar calling is immensely powerful, and I’ve learned to create my own when I can’t find what I need. People are often willing to join when invited, and I’ve become bold in being the inviter. Being in community with one another is critical to our spiritual journey. Our lives lived in community serve as iron sharpening iron, and gathering together brings encouragement and accountability and breathes fresh life into us.

Today’s Act of Friendship: Consider where you are longing for community, and ask God whom you might invite into a book study or semi-regular coffee date around an area of struggle.