Living In Community...

Living in community is about give and take. It is about us and not me or you!

Right now I have three girls sleeping on the floor and sofa in my living room. No problem... I usually hang in the family room. But I have one girl sleeping there on the sofa in the family room. They really need their sleep. They got home this morning at 3:30 a.m. from a day in NYC and seeing Momma Mia on Broadway.

I had planned to work on Caroline's taxes and the FAFSA form today and was going to work in the Kitchen or Dinning room, but the location of the sleeping girls makes that hard! At first, I was aggravated! "How dare they sleep in the common spaces we share!" But then, I thought... I can turn the heat on in my office and go up there to work and not bother them at all! So that is what I am doing!

When we live in community that's the way we must live if it is going to work. We must put others before ourselves. We must give some and take some. We can't always get our way! It can't always be about us and it can't always be about them! So, when we are in community with each other, there is a delicate balance of looking out for one another that must take place!

This is true not only in family community but also in church community.

Often times, when conflict erupts, it is because the delicate balance has been lost. It has become all about one side (person) and there is no longer give and take.