Instant community – just add water.

College has been one of the greatest experiences of growth in my life thus far. When you enter as freshmen, you start a completely new way of life. New friends, new studies, new insights, new adventures, and new choices come your way. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Your options are endless and community is simply a byproduct of being a student. Seriously though…with the hundreds of things to be involved in it seems almost impossible to NOT be part of a community.

You live on a hall in the dorms with 20 other guys or girls? Community. You joined a club at the club fair? Community. You got a scholarship to be part of a sports team on campus? Community. Enjoy singing in the school choir or playing an instrument as part of the band? Community. You meet other people who watch Doctor Who and will geek out with you? Community. Find a group of people who also study best while at the closest Starbucks to campus, latte in hand? Community.

Get the idea?

The months that followed my graduation from college were low points in my life, ones that left me feeling alone, worthless, and lost. In a matter of weeks I realized the harsh reality, that by graduating college, I had essentially left my entire community of four years behind me. In the blink of an eye it dissipated into thin air. The pages of my planner were blank; the late night hangouts disappeared; the daily run-ins with friends faded fast. Instant community turned into gradual isolation.

In the past few months I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of a community of incredible people. Our connection is that we attend a local church together, having come to know each other through community groups and Sunday services. It’s a community that wasn’t handed to us, but rather cultivated by the time and effort we put into it. We come from various walks of life, different work places, and live in towns scattered all over Orange County. Our lives wouldn’t cross paths as often if we weren’t determined to get to know one another outside of our initial connection point.

You can find us talking about the importance of practicing prayer in our community group during the week, discussing the challenges and rewards of being a leader in small groups, and find us gathered to worship on Sunday evenings. But…you can also find us line dancing on a Saturday night, grabbing food together after church, hiking through the hills in Yorba Linda, going to the movies and taking up half a row, gathering together to celebrate birthdays and holidays, you can find us in community everywhere we go. 

We do life, together. 

That’s what community is all about.

In some cases it seems like all it takes is to “just add water” and poof - community, but there is also a beauty to cultivating and developing a community that holds roots, as it grows deeper.