a community

Lately I have been thinking a lot about community. When I flew into Cyprus, I came alone. Community, culture, and customs were stripped from me. Until now, I have never seen the power and importance of a true, God-fearing, gospel-pursuing community. Something powerful happens when a group of young people get together- on fire with and in complete surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Yesterday morning, I rolled out of my warm sleeping bag onto the cold tile floor. I put on my running shoes and quietly slipped out of the house. I began to jog- my mind still foggy and my body tired. Putting my headphones in, I began a podcast I had downloaded a while back. The morning sun casts a peaceful glow over the city’s quiet streets. It’s moments like these, where I feel my heart rest and turn to complete attentiveness to His words. Between the shuffling of thoughts and ideas in my mind, a single phrase from the speaker stood out to me, “... nothing challenges growth more than community.” My mind stopped. Oh, how that rings so true in my life.

If I narrow down the growth I’ve experienced these past months to one source, it’s the community built around me. Both inner and outer. As I meditated on that phrase, my mind flashes back to a night spent at the kitchen table with two young men and women and myself. Sharing our dreams and pursuits all the way down to the nitty gritty of our daily lives. Here we were, a group of friends, all from different countries, brought to Cyprus by the will of our King. I am learning that it is so vital- like Jesus who had twelve men He shared life with- to have a core community of people. Before the idea of coming to Cyprus was in my mind, God had set apart myself and these people to be each other's community- brought together to empower and encourage. I am a firm believer the God will never bring us into a new season without fully giving us what we need. Something I heard in a message a while back has become so true to me in where I am, "God brings his people, communities, cities, and nations into existence at His appointed time, in order to accomplish His plan and fulfill His purposes."

We were created for community. We were designed to love and be loved; to know and be known; to serve and be served; to celebrate and be celebrated.