I found myself living in the nation's capital and it was there that the Lord really found me. There is story after story I could tell about how so many of my ideas about this life were challenged and turned upside down, but for today, I'll pick one.
In a home at the end of a dead end street where vagabond young people like myself intersect with the leaders of the world today, I discovered what living in community really looks like. There were 15-25 of us women at any time from countries scattered across the globe, the chasms of language and culture bridged only by the common denominator of God's grace. We laughed, we labored, we fought, we loved.
And then we road-tripped.
Let's just say that locking 10 women, half of which speak English as a second language, in an 11 passenger van, in the middle of the summer, in the south, is perhaps not the brightest idea. It is a bit like putting live lobsters in a pot of boiling sanctification. There was a lot of screaming. But in the end, we all had learned a lot and loved each other more fiercely.
It was on this road trip that we encountered a precious community in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. My heart to this day aches with longing to see the families we met there, the tiny one room church we squeezed into one rainy Sunday, the open doors of families committed to walking through life together. The couples we met lived out a depth of community and accountability like I had never seen before. They welcomed not only each other into their homes but they welcomed us strangers and weekly opened their homes for anyone who needed a meal: the gas attendant, the store clerk, the postman, the people traveling through town. All were welcome.
I left Lookout Mountain and eventually the east coast with my entire view of community altered. I knew I wanted to live near people who were committed to walking with one another, holding one other accountable, raising each others' children, feeding people, loving people, laying down their lives for one another. I believe that this is what the church is called to and yet so many churches are full of people who fill the seats on Sunday and have no relationship outside of that come Monday. Not with their church family, not with their neighbors. The idea of church is so much like American suburbia where people wave from the safety of their cars, drive into their neat garages and close the door to life outside. We choose the comfort of lazy boys, televisions and PS3's, and close the door on conversation, fellowship and community. We close the door on real life.
We joke that subconsciously that's why we bought a home without a garage. (Occasionally when our cars need to be worked on or we want to hide our garbage cans, we second guess this decision.)
We have a little home, with little rooms and a detached garage-turned apartment in our backyard to house vagabonds like I was once. In our first years here I was nervous to host thinking people needed a giant bonus room or spacious living room with actual seating. But then the people started coming and apparently they didn't need a lot of space-- just an invitation, open hearts and an open door. We have been known to pack 20 plus people in our tiny living room during the week for small group, sharing elbow room and our hearts. Along the way, I've learned that the state of my soul is much more important than the cleanliness of my floors and the openness of my heart is much more important than the size of my living room.
Since our gracious Lord broke down the walls of my pride and my misconceptions about what I "need" in order to make people feel comfortable, we've had the privilege of opening our home regularly whether it be for a meal, for a night or even a couple years! Which leads me to the primary reason that my memories of Lookout Mountain surfaced.
Two of the vagabonds in our backyard had a baby last weekend! Ok, they aren't exactly nomads, rather a sweet brother by love and his adorable wife who have been living in what we so affectionately call "the barn" (our detached-garage-turned studio/loft apartment) for a couple years now. We love having them so close. Especially now. Can't you see why?
They welcomed a precious little girl (that makes four little girls on the property!) into their family last weekend and when she's older we will tease her lovingly with "what, were you born in a barn?" What a joy it is to share such a precious season of life with such dear people.
We've also adopted a straggler who is in the Air Force and will be deployed to Afghanistan next month. We love that he, and his fantastic girlfriend who lives not too far from us, can often be found pushing little girls on the swings, being an extra set of arms, or entertainment at the dinner table. They're pretty cute too.
It is a bit like living in a circus, or a zoo, and I will confess it isn't always easy in our little home but in the body of Christ, there should always be room in our hearts, or in a corner of our basements, for vagabonds.
I know that there are seasons, especially with young children, where it seems like everything you've got to make your own family dinner or even change out of your pajamas and it seems overwhelming to think of hosting others. The secret though is that it truly is easier to make dinner when there is an extra set of hands to entertain children, chop vegetables or wash dishes.
We have been blessed tremendously by the people whose lives have intersected with ours at the dinner table. In fact, the joy has really been ours. May I encourage you to roll down your window, slow your car, take a risk in opening your home and heart and ask...
Dinner anyone?
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. ~ Acts 2:42-47
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