Lego Lesson

Saturday I had the privilege of playing with my nephews.  Two of them have become enthralled with Legos.  As I was getting ready to leave, they asked me to help them build a house!  (I can't resist their requests most of the time...one look and I'm sucked right in!)  I sat down and began building a house.  I'm sure most of you are aware of how to build a lego house (I mean it is the same with bricks or stone on a real house!) but today, I was mesmerized by how sturdy the house became; each row of Legos/bricks overlapping the seam of the row below it.

  If we just stacked blocks without overlapping, each separate tower would easily crumble, but when we are overlapped, the Legos become a force not easily broken.  As I thought of this, my mind was flooded with applications and lessons. (Too bad the flood didn't wash away some of my over analytical dramatic thoughts...) 

The first thing I thought of was a song by Casting Crown, Broken Together. Lately, this song has been in my top 5 and played multiple times each day!  (I know it was intended for a couple/marriage...but in my singleness, I find it applicable to all relationships.)

The lego pieces don't change when you put them together.  Neither do relationships.  We don't become complete just because we are united. In fact, just as the song says, maybe we are meant to be broken together. As I've been thinking about the Legos and the song I have been evaluating relationships. I'm broken...I've got faults! (Yes, I am aware of many of them...) I bring my brokenness and join with others. Connected with others I am able to continually strive to be better. 

Summer has come to an end and each of us has experienced very different things this summer; some exciting times (new babies, weddings, fun adventures), some of us have experienced heartbreak or unfortunate events.  No matter what we've dealt with, it is time we come together to touch the lives of our students (and one another). We must allow others to lean on us while we also lean on others (Overlap those bricks...it takes more than one person.)  We must be aware of our mistakes as we become aware of others.  We must forgive even when it's tough (a wise friend said those very words to me tonight!)  Not one of us can stand on our own so after we rely and intertwine our lives with God, let's support and encourage each other! 

Communities...Always Evolving

I grew up in the small town of Guymon, Oklahoma! It was a great little community where everyone knew you. You played sports, went to church, went to school, and worked along side one another. I moved from that community to the private college community of Southern Nazarene University.  In both cases, my communities were dictated by geographical boundaries.  I loved both communities and both provided my foundational values and beliefs.  Once I left those communities, I was in search for another community to belong to.  Although life has changed, I've found myself a part of a variety of communities.

But really, what is a community? A group of people bound together through physical boundaries? People connected through support groups for similar situations? People with similar backgrounds?  One argument for communities discussed by Renninger and Shumar (2002) says a community is something "with a shared set of physical resources and needs; mutual interdependence; and complex social organization including kinship, political, economic, and administrative layers."  A community is a group of people who come together and work together to support or learn from one another.  

The definition above allows for multiple types of communities.  In fact, there can be physical communities that join together face-to-face as well as communities in a virtual world.  In today's fast paced society, many times we don't make time to connect within our communities defined by geographical locations; instead our communities come from our work areas, church, or within our children's activities.  If we still do not find what we are looking for in a community we have the option of turning to the Internet in search of a virtual community.  

As I read this week, one of the things that stuck with me was the idea of communities being for a stage in life rather than life-long. How true is that? Those stages may be during soccer season or during the school year.  Maybe the communitiy is other grad students who understand what it is like to be going back to school.  But sooner or later, your community will change.  Yes, I said change...and believe me, I hate change.  I struggle when my community shifts no matter the reason. 

Since change within communities is inevitable and because we are shaped by our communities, the question I pose is this: what are you doing today, to impact the community you are a part of? Are you  leaving something to be remembered by?  Are you loving those within your community and learning from them while you have the chance whether it be in a physical community or on a virtual community?   Are you sharing your wisdom with those around you?  Whether you join a physical or virtual community, you can make a difference!  So be intentional about how you interact within your community!