Commmunity, (in)RealLife

The beautiful ladies behind the ministry of (in)courage posed this question as part of a 5 week check in from (in)RealLife:

What does community mean to you?

I've thought of this often, especially in the years since my daughter breathed her first breath outside my womb.  Because, community has been my rock and my fortress in the midst of this crazy journey called motherhood.

And this space, my little home on the internet, where the words of my heart spill forth on this page, is a beautiful part of that community.  The love that pours out from women all over the world as I share my story, the real me, messes and all, has been one beautiful part of my healing from the captivity of a depression and anxiety that robbed me of so much joy. 

I've also been blessed with a church family filled with young moms on the same journey as me.  Twice a month, we gather together for community.  While a sweet young lady ministers to our little ones, we enjoy sweet fellowship, sharing our hearts, our tears, our fears, our triumphs, and our joys.  We listen, pray, and hold each other up through every trial and storm.  We laugh and cry and our lives blend together in a beautiful tapestry of why God created friends.

Community is also found in the close knit family God so carefully chose for me.  Sitting at my grandfather's bedside, then my grandmother's, and most recently my great grandmother's is just a beautiful example of what community means in a family.  Because, no matter how busy our lives our, no matter how many miles separate us, our hearts are still connected, and we will drop anything and everything for one family member in need.  We loved on the grandparents who taught us what being a family means, held their hands until the very end, and held each other up as we figured out how to do life without them.  Because that is what family is for.

Last year, I felt the Lord gently nudging me to find another community through a local MOPS group.  I was completely blown away by the women He brought together at our table, at the way our hearts and our journeys blended together so effortlessly.  I barely knew these women and yet they helped carry my burdens, loving me with the most beautiful Christ-like love.  They embraced me for who I am, not despite my mess, but because of it.  They helped me see the beauty in the mess and prayed me through to healing.

Community is part of my story, because it is one big piece of how God took my brokenness and made me whole again.  Just as Deidra so beautifully wrote, "This heart, all tender and broken and split wide open, has been filled with breath and life and hope - hoisted on the shoulders of women who love well with bruised hearts of their own." That is exactly what God created community for and it is the most beautiful thing.

So, what does community mean to YOU?