living in community

I haven’t blogged much on my experience of living in community this year. After getting married me and my wife moved in with 5 other people. I remember reading a blogpost, which I can’t find now, by the end of last year where someonw just wrote that “living in community is hard”… I knew I was going to write it at some point, and because of much conversations and much reading before making this move, was expecting this experience. But still, when it comes… well, it’s hard.

Tonight I know, living in community is hard. People get hurt in community. Those with whom you live see you at your weakest times, they see you when you are really really tired. Living in community mean that sometimes hard words get said. That is community. Living in community mean that putting my best foot out all the time is impossible. Living in community takes commitment. A commitment to work on relationships, especially those that are hard to work at.

But, community is also sometimes the place where healing happen. When people love even when they know who you are when you’re at your weakest, the healing happen. When people care, knowing that they won’t quickly “fix you”, then true relationship happen. 

Is it worth it? Absolutely. This is my home, these people are sometimes really hard to live with, but mostly, they make my life full. Living in community is hard, but that’s what we are called to do.

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