Have you ever been surrounded by a sea of people and still felt alone? Have you ever tried to fit in but you couldn't help but feel left out? You may have felt like the gray crayon in the Crayola box; there is room for all the crayons, but you often feel like you don't belong next to all the "pretty colors".
Of course, this is just your feelings, and not to say that your feelings are not valid, but more likely than not, our feelings are not 100% reliable. That is my experience anyways. There was a time in my life that I went through a season of loneliness. But it was in that time of despair that I felt the most loved. Why? Because I was weak at that time, and in my weakness, I saw how small I was and just how big my God was and always will be.
An answer to many prayers during that season was the gift of having a community on campus eight months later. (If only I had more time to tell about how God worked during that of waiting.) Yes, I still had a church family (and I am involved in the church still), but I was now living on a college campus and I couldn't see my church family every day like I use to. I needed a community that I could live life with daily. I needed a community that would pray for each other, hold each other accountable, and to celebrate life with. That community formed organically as we met with a group of people that I found common ground with. It all started in apartment 1301, (rather, in between apartments 1301 and 1304 :) ).
Google defines "community" two ways: a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common, and; a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.
I found that community when I moved into my first apartment on campus in 2014. Five girls in one apartment might sound scary, but 1301 was different. I found community in my apartment; a community who welcomed each other as we were, so, naturally, the love within our own apartment community grew. That is how we met the neighbors: food, fun, and music (Sorry to mess up the alliteration, Haha).
We would hang out together, and soon, we started to worship together and study the Bible together. Our community became a welcoming place for anyone on campus who didn't have a community to belong to. What made our community so special and organic was that we didn't intentionally plan a community like this, it just happened. It wasn't forced. And the people who came were people who wouldn't have normally crossed paths with each other. That is the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives as the church. Jesus died for EVERYONE, so that we could be ONE body in Christ.
Just as your body has different parts to function differently, the body would not function properly without the arms, legs, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, brain, the joints, the organs; every part of the body is what makes the whole body able to function. That is community; that is how the church functions. We have different functions (gifts, talents, skills, intellects, hobbies, language, preferences), but we have one thing in common, one foundation built on Jesus Christ who is the "cornerstone, whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple" (Ephesians 2:20-21).
Our community came to be known as the Hedge, because we are a hedge of people who fellowship together and surround each other with faith and prayer so that we will be the generation to change the world for Christ.
We served, loved, helped each other, encouraged each other, and we celebrated big moments in each others lives. It was this community that God used to move me from my fear of graduation. Everyone is going there separate ways, but no matter how far we all go we still have a community that prays for each other. We might not be on the same campus anymore, and we may all be scattered across the world, but we will always be family.
So I just want to say thank you. Thank you for spurring me on to pursue Christ more. Thank you for loving me as I am. Thank you for teaching me how to love people. Thank you for celebrating life with me. Thank you for helping me see the adventure in the unknown. Thank you for your patience. Thank you the late night talks, the snow day memories, for the movie nights and ice cream runs. Thank you for the laughs we've shared. Thank you for being my family. Thank you for being my community when I had none. I love you all very much.
