“Living in community” what does that even mean?? I could picture community living in college; the roommate, the parties, getting ready and going to football games all face painted and dressed in your school colors… you know, everything you see in the movies. But living in community while on a mission trip? No matter what I was told, the only picture I could get when someone talked about “living in community” from a Christian aspect was of me and a bunch of other people walking around in nun outfits constantly in prayer, maybe coming together in the evening to talk about what we had spent the last 8 hours of the day praying about. Even when that was all I could picture I laughed at myself, like obviously we weren’t going to be in nun outfits, or in prayer 24/7… But still I was terrified what living in community actually was.
Now two months in, the picture my mind makes when someone mentions community living is wayyyyy different. I actually love it, even the not so good things about it. Here’s a little insight on what it actually is like and it definitely does not involve nun outfits or hours of silence.
Living in community is sleeping in the same room all together on sleeping pads. It’s having to put headphones in and turning up your music at bedtime because the person next to you snores sometimes. It’s picking up random dishes left out from the night before and washing them even though they aren’t yours. It’s knowing how someone feels most loved and trying to do your best to do so. It’s attempting to make yourself breakfast while there are 4 other humans trying to make their breakfast too. It’s watching sappy romance movies with hot cocoa and popcorn that are followed by cry sessions about how cute the characters love life was and how we wish we had cute love lives’ too. It’s being able to list everyone’s enneagram number and having hour long conversations about it. It’s hearing about everyone’s favorite coffee shop back home or best place to get ice cream or mini donuts. It’s making fun of each other when we eat things that make us a little gassier than normal and stink up the whole living room. It’s scaring the one person who falls asleep earlier than the rest, shaking them awake saying someone is trying to break into the house. It’s sitting down and praying for each other’s struggles as well as each other’s family and friends. It’s having to hop the locked gate because the other half of the team still isn’t home and has the keys. It’s being willing to share and let everyone taste your most recent food creation (aka science experiment). It’s surprising the person who can’t handle spicy food with popcorn that’s been covered in spicy seasoning just for a good laugh. It’s learning to be vulnerable and open up about things that can be hard to talk about.
There’s something about living with a group of people that all want you to be the best version of yourself. They lift you up when you are having a crappy day and they get you out of bed when you really, realllyyy don’t want to go for a run.
