Community

So if it is okay, I am going to wax a little sentimental tonight. We had the chance to get together with some friends of ours from our previous church. These are not just friends, but more. They are the friends who are like family, in fact we almost consider their kids our own. We always try to get together with them when we are home and so tonight we hit one of our favorite restaurants BW3's for some wings and fellowship.

I'll be honest. I really miss this type of community relationship. We have been at our current church for almost two years now and we still only have one couple who would fall into that category. I sincerely wish there was more, but I don't know what to do differently to achieve it. We try as hard as we can, we invest in the kids and their parents as much as possible, but it still feels like all we are doing most of the time is damage control. There are times when I really feel unwanted at our church. It really can be discouraging and I think this lack of community is one of the things that contributed to my thoughts back in October (see the archives for my testimony). What can we do differently? Do these people understand how lonely we feel in ministry? Would they listen if we told them?

Okay I know I am whining, but I really need to feel this community again. Sorry for being so blunt, but as I said back in October I am tired of hiding how I feel and pretending like everything is always okay. Sometimes I hurt, sometimes I am lonely and now is one of those times. I am thankful for the ones we have, and I know God wants us to stay where we are in ministry, but I long for community and am not sure how to find it. So please pray for me.

Longing for community...
-Matt

PS. I removed the post from yesterday about the lady from our church. I posted the thoughts for humor's sake and the situation is nothing strange to our church, but I removed it because it could have had the potential to hurt someone's feelings and that would be the furthest thing from my mind so I removed it.