This morning’s sermon tied in nicely with some thoughts that have circled around in my head for the last few days.  I’d been thinking about a post on community, but I hadn’t quite figured out where I wanted to go with it.  This morning, one of our ministers pointed out that we, as people, are not called to live the life of an individual but instead to live in community with others, caring as much for them as we do for ourselves.

One of the things I like most about living in Suburbia is that it provides me the opportunity to build relationships with people, to share in their lives and to have them share in our lives.  We moved here ten years ago from Houston, and, while I liked many things about city life and had a number of friends there, I found life in general to be a much more anonymous experience than life in the small city where I had grown up. 

“What I like about living here is that I run into people I know at the grocery store,” said one of my new acquaintances from Junior League a couple of weeks ago at a leadership social.  And she’s right.  I often see people I know from church, or the kids’ activities, or from work around town as I go about my daily life.  It creates the sense of connectedness that was missing before.

Now, I know that it’s possible to develop this sense of community in larger cities as well.  We likely would have had more connections with people as our children grew older and their activities increased.  But there’s something special about this place, this community.  It’s the kids from kindergarten to high school wearing the same school colors and rooting for the same team; it’s the fall carnival where hundreds turn out for food, fun, and games before the football game; it’s the homecoming parade. 

And, as special as all that is, I realize that I’ve built another type of community as well, a community I’ve belonged to since 1995 when I was expecting Gym Girl.  Back when all the pundits were discussing how isolating technology and the Internet were, a group of mothers-to-be was busily building lasting relationships which started with nothing more in common than our shared experience of being due in August 1996.  I’ve learned so much from these ladies, not the least of which is how to start a blog!

So today, I’m thankful, for my community in Suburbia, and for all my friends in cyberspace.  My life is richer from living it with all of you.