I’ve been living in Port Huron, MI for about two weeks now. Port Huron is in the “thumb” of Michigan. Across the street from our house is the St. Clair river. Across that river is CANADA. Our house has three floors (one of which is the basement). Each floor has its own kitchen and bathroom. Within the next month or so there will be 13 of us living and working here (the basement houses office space — as do the living room and kitchen sometimes).We all live together in pursuit of community. To learn to live in community is one of the key objectives of the World Race. The Triune God models community for us as he lives three in one, and we pursue community after his example knowing that in service to one another we find purpose, fulfillment and joy. This past Saturday I saw the pursuit of community bear fruit in our little family.
I woke up at about 10 and brewed coffee for the housemates on my floor. Then I went to the living room to watch Survivor on the internet. Maybe twenty minutes into my show, one of the other men of the house came in and started to Google intently. After a while I asked him what he was looking for.
My friend had been talking to a girl he met a few weeks back. He had just received an email reply form her friend telling that yes it would be a good idea to send this girl flowers for Valentine’s Day. We discussed whether it would be coming on too strong to send roses this early in the game. He lamented that the arrangements he wanted to order wouldn’t arrive until the 16th.
When Survivor was over I went to the kitchen to see what Erin was making for lunch. My friend was now in the kitchen, still trying to decide on a floral arrangement. He asked Erin for her opinion. She said, as he suspected, that gerber daisies would be a great idea. Then she convinced him to order the “Better” arrangement rather than the “Good” arrangement (the website offered “Good”, Better”, and “Best” arrays from which to choose).
After I went grocery shopping and returned to the house to eat lunch, I called one of the other guys from my WR squad to see how he was doing. He’s been living in Southern California since the Race. He said he’s been struggling. He wants to be moving in ministry and seeking more of God’s heart, but he feels a little trapped. He said he has lots of college debt and his rent is pretty high. He works on Sundays and doesn’t feel like there are many people around who know him well enough to speak into his situation and challenge him well. We talked for a little while, then we decided to talk weekly. Saturdays will be our day.
By mid-afternoon some World Race alumni had arrived from out of town to visit for the weekend. Their arrival was bittersweet because, while we were excited to have them, the housemate they had come to see had driven 4 hours away the day before because his dad was having health problems. By early evening on Saturday, though, our housemate had returned to see his friends. After eating dinner at the house we went out to sample some of the local brew.
While we were out, the housemate who had just returned received a call from home — his parents’ health had taken a turn for the worse. In tears, he said he was going to drive the 4 hours back home to be with his family. Immediately, one of the women from our house went outside to pray with him. Then a couple that works with the Race up here went outside to check on them. In a few minutes they returned and said that the four of them (the couple, our female housemate, and our brother whose parents were in poor health) would drive in two cars so that our buddy wouldn’t have to drive in such an emotional state and the rest of them could come back the same night.
The rest of us returned to the house and the first thing we did was pray. We prayed for our brother. We prayed for his family and for his parents. We asked God to have his way in their lives. We asked him to bring calm and joy to a difficult situation. We thanked him for friends in community who would drive 8 hours round trip to see a friend through a tough night. After interceding on our friends’ behalf we sat and talked in the living room and enjoyed each other’s company.
This photo is down the street from our house
After most everyone had gone to bed three of us were still up. We had all traveled together on the October ’08 World Race. I talked about the conversation I had earlier with my friend who lives in California and has been struggling to see God’s hand in his life since he’s been home. We stayed up until 1 AM playing Super Mario World on Super Nintendo and talked about how we can best serve our WR squad. We talked about how we can pursue them in love to support and encourage them as we all continue to walk through reentry together.
Community can be hard. You live in close quarters. Some people smell and others use too much toilet paper. The kitchen gets dirty real fast and somebody has to clean the bathroom (and nobody wants to). People want to watch different things on TV, and everyone wants to shower at the same time.
But then you can’t decide what to get a girl on Valentine’s Day and someone is in the next room with advice. Or you’re having a hard time coping with a family crisis and there are people there to hold you up and pray on your behalf.
“How good and pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life evermore.” — Psalm 133
