I had a chance to give the Monday morning devotional at work this morning. We gather at the front of the floor each Monday morning around 7:30am and have a departmental devotion to kick the week off. I had signed up on the list like three months ago. I honestly thought that four and a half months would be long enough to get settled in & for God to show me some grand new thing that I could pass along to everyone. What happened instead was that God showed me that He was still teaching me the same lesson as He has over the past year. 'Community' has been the spiritual buzz word in my life, it seems, since early on in 2004. God really started to create a hunger in my soul for a deeper relationship with other Christians about that time. Part of it, I'm sure, came from the dilemna of being on church staff & feeling as though I didn't have a lot of people I could be totally transparent with. God blessed me with a few really good guys from our time in Kansas & Oklahoma with whom I could really open up. It was good. Bridgeway was a good community transition place for us, as well. Our house church really motivated us to be more transparent & open with other Christians.

The lesson is the same for us now. Sure, we are probably more aware of our need for community for the simple reason that we still don't know a lot of people around us. We are trying to get to know new neighbors, workmates, church members & friends. It's community that doesn't come easily or quickly, either. But I think it is more than just a knee-jerk reaction to feeling alone. Andrea & I both have a larger desire to know some people on a deeper level - not just make a few acquaintenance or friends. Craig & Barbara Webb are two of those people that God has crossed our spiritual paths with whom we are getting to know better.

It's a difficult place to be. We are more dependent on Him & on each other because of this transition in life. But God has blessed us so much and it is still an adventure - even if it is a scary one, at times. Someone at work prayed it today - "God, thank for adventures and that You don't allow us to sink into the ruts in life." Thank you, God.