I challenge and trust the Holy Spirit

    Community. I preach about it all of the time. I talk about it in meetings all of the time. I pray about it frequently. The biblical references for community are seemingly endless. I love the communities that I have been a part of in the past. I have an amazing support system/community scattered all across the United States. I love the church I serve. I love the town I live in.
   I question the Holy Spirit. When listing my preferences for locations to be placed in I was tempted to check the "open to all box" but I knew given where I am at in life it would be best to stay close to family and friends, so I selected all the regions that I knew I would have family or friends within an hour or two at most. The Holy Spirit however apparently disagreed with my thoughts and placed me much further away from family and friends than I ever dreamed, now yes it is true it could have been much much further but none the less I am still a good three plus hours from family and friends.
   I am trying hard to dig into this community I am living in. I go to the library, I work out at the local YMCA, I am a member at the Arboretum, I shop at the same grocery store every Friday, I go to the farmers market, I have tried out the photography club, and I am just not certain where people find friends in a new town. People love people to whom they have a history. I long for friends who I can call up and say "Let's play games and order a pizza" or "Let's go canoeing" or "Lets go for a bike ride" or "Lets go for a walk." Yes, I know I can do these things by myself but I am really missing people to 'hang out' with, I miss being able to call up friends and make plans on a moments notice.
    The church I serve has been great, I have been over to two of their homes for meals and I have been boating with the senior pastor and his family. Photography club was okay, I was easily the youngest one there by a solid twenty-five years. The YMCA is amazing and I am thankful I get to work out there, but I haven't met anyone yet. I have been to cycling class three times and none of the people were repeats. I went to deep water aerobics and once again I was the youngest there by a solid thirty if not forty years. I don't necessarily need people exactly my age but within ten or fifteen years would be welcomed. I am hard pressed to think of joining a club with meetings and groups that sit around talk, that is the last thing I want after work and going to meetings there. I hear the bar scene in town is good if you are into that, but unfortunately I am not really into bar hoping nightly, now I don't mind getting a drink or two but not getting trashed nightly.
     It is an interesting thing to think through and it has in fact made me think through churches and how often times there is an in group and an out group. I can see how it is uncomfortable to walk into a church and join groups when they are already so tight knit. I can see how people just don't want to do it. Moving and attempting to join another community has given me an interesting perspective on life as of lately. I do give thanks for my dog, Dakota, without her I am not certain what state or condition I would be in. Thanks be to God for canine companions. Thanks be to God for the community of friends and family I have at a distance who support me daily. Thanks be to God for house projects and working out that allow me to stay busy and not dwell. Thanks be to God for strangers who talk to me in the grocery store, the library, at the farmers market, at the Y, and in Target. Thanks be to God for the Holy Spirit who continues to move and breath life into me and the whole of creation.