Those poor souls had no idea what they were getting into when they invited us over for sledding and hot cocoa. It was only a couple of weeks later that they were watching our kids and helping us move. And as if they hadn’t already done enough… the seven of us (I’m counting the dog) had ourselves a family sleep over with our new friends the day we moved into the hood. Talk about getting to know each other.

I love with amazement our new church. God brought together a uniquely wonderful community of people. And it’s a community like I’ve not known before. Making the move to Imago was a struggle for me (as mentioned in “We aren’t always called to comfort” here in the hood). But you know what…

God provides for us the things we need and sometimes, even those we long for.

As suspected, leaving the old church closed a lot of doors. But waiting at Imago were open arms and people I quickly came to call friends. They keep us on our toes, they keep us real, they have been there when we haven’t even asked, they bring us pineapples (did ya know they were a symbol of friendship?) in the middle of the afternoon, and they put up with, and even like, our four little hoodlums (and isn’t that the true test right there).

In all seriousness, I really am thankful for the relationships. In an effort to live in community and practice all the things we have been preaching, Stephen and I opened our home on Wednesday evenings for “family dinner”. It’s been a fun time of getting to know each other and hanging out, and the kids all have a ton of fun too. We have also been hosting movie night and discussion on Sunday’s after church. We have always enjoyed having people in our home, and we are definitely thankful for a house with enough space to (comfortably) accommodate. (I did have to expand my dining set though, I’m up to 16 dinner plates and 12 of everything else… all matching. 🙂 And while we can fit three tables, we have had to get creative with the chairs; the piano bench, chairs from the porch… It’s on the list of things to invest in.)

Anyhow, all to say that God is good. I was so worried about not having any friends if we went through with it all. As it turn out, God was just waiting to lead us, and to show us, how “community” was really meant to be lived.