community

So if you didn’t already know, I moved to Florida for three months to work at the DerDutchman in Sarasota. lol which is pretty mush a town of retired or amish and Mennonite people! I have been working for this company since I was about 15/16 years old, and I have been blessed to continue and work with them throughout high school and college. I recently just graduated college from Mount Vernon Nazarene University with a bachelor’s degree in social work. Shortly after finishing up the semester, I took my licensure exam where I passed and became a licensed social worker (LSW). This was a huge accomplish and something that I put countless hours of studying into. I applied to graduate school hoping to attend The Ohio State University for a master’s degree in social work. I used my boss from DerDuthcman who originally hired me for the job as a young teenager which was special. It is beautiful looking back and seeing how far I’ve come since then.

Thank you, Jesus.

Through the grace of God shortly after applying I found out that I was accepted into the ASAP (advanced standing) one year masters program social work. This was tremendous news after a long, stressful, and eventful past semester. After the relief of graduating, passing my LSW exam, and getting into graduate school I started to focus on my future move to Florida.

So, you’re probably wondering what is this post about just a quick life update?

Community

I wanted to talk a little bit about community and what Jesus talks about in the Bible specifically about this topic. First, I wanted to explain that when I got to Florida, I understood that it would be difficult, and I wouldn’t have the same community that I have up north in Columbus. I started my journey down south by attending the passion conference in Atlanta Georgia with two sweet women that I have the privilege of serving alongside as youth leaders at my church.

That was an amazing start to the year to set God first in my life. One of the most cliché sayings that I heard growing up was “the five closet people that you hang around will directly impact you and you’ll slowly become them.” I never thought that was entirely true and thought that no one could simply influence me. However, that’s how it starts right with the small things or small yes’s and then eventually you look back and you’re doing something that you never thought that you would be doing.

Glimpse of Heaven:

Since moving down to Florida for the past couple weeks I have not made any friends. Sure, I talk to my co-workers and the ladies that I live with, but I have not hung out with any people around my age. I saw on social media that Naomi Raine and Phil Wickhem was coming to Tampa for a worship night and I knew I wanted to attend. Even though I didn’t have anyone to go with I trusted God that I would find someone to talk with and sit next to.

As I pulled into the parking lot oh my goodness that church was massive, and I knew this would be a big concert. I filled into the church and went down closer to the stage since I only needed one seat. I eventually found a seat and they seemed a little surprised that I was alone. I sat by a couple and their two children and daughter in law. Their family got up and I was sitting next to the father, and we started talking about life, where we’re from, children, etc. Then the family came back, and I talked to the mom as well before the concert started. I could just tell wow these people really love the Lord and had a pure heart.

The concert started and lasted a little over 2.5 hours. Afterwards I went to say goodbye to the friends that I had made, and they gave me a hug goodbye. I started walking away when the mom came up and asked if she could pray over my life and my future as a social worker. This literally brought me to tears, I haven’t ever had someone just randomly ask to pray for me like that before. I felt a big squeeze and hug from the Lord. Then their daughter said she loved my outfit and has a thrift account where she travels and if she was ever in the area, she would love to get coffee so we followed each other on Instagram.

God just showed me that he is near, and he sees you wherever you are at and whatever you are facing. He will ALWAYS be walking alongside you on this journey through the ups and downs that life will throw at you. Their life made me hopeful. Hopeful for the future, that there are other people out there that love the Lord (duh I knew this already). But it was just reassuring seeing another married couple who both were seeking after God. I didn’t have this example as a child. This moment God challenged me…when have I shown that same love that I experienced from that family to other people? Whether it’s the grocery store, your co-workers, that random person walking on the street, or someone in front of you at the coffee shop?

This brings me to the emphasis on community, haha the hot topic word that is often overused in many areas or seasons of life. But, no community is important because the people whom which you surrounded yourself with will greatly impact your life as mentioned earlier. This is talked about all throughout the bible. People you can count on, build you up, belly laugh, and just do life with. Who are those people that come to mind when you read that? Now what does this and small decisions have anything to do with community. Well in the Bible Jesus talks about the importance of having a community and surrounding yourself with others. You can see in the beginning of Acts 2 how it talks about what a church should be founded on and look like in the community. Matthew 18:20 states, “where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.” This is not to say that you cannot be with Jesus alone by yourself, but just shows that God is also with you in those moments with other people and gatherings. Now that’s powerful. I love when you read the section in Romans titled the Marks of the True Christian which is often a passage that is overlooked or not preached about.

Read Romans 12:9-21

Specifically, Romans 12:16 states, “live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.” This verse is important because it emphasizes walking alongside one another but not to be perfectly like one another. We were created uniquely and have our own differences. In order to get along with other people there has to be humility and empathy which Paul alludes to in this chapter and throughout Romans. Now a days people want to simply look exactly like the influencer they see on social media or think their community can be built online. Which yes, I’m not disregarding that, but when looking for community it’s important to remember you will not always agree, look the same, have the same upbringing, have the same passions, etc. The important thing for sure is that you all can come together in the name of Jesus.

So, who is it that you are surrounding yourself with? How are they impacting your life daily and from a larger picture view of your life? I challenge you to find those people who fill your life and challenge you as “iron sharpens iron (proverbs 27:17).”