Wow -- I am so impressed today! My community group (twelve people I see at least once during the week to "do life together," including sharing about our lives, studying the Bible, and praying) came over today to work on my house to get it ready to sell. I had been putting it off since it was so overwhelming to me. I had never really painted before, and I had not even considered the extreme yardwork exhibited today. I had planned for a day of mostly painting with a little bit of shrubbery-trimming, but what I got was far more than that. I am so thankful to my group and grateful for their wide-ranging skills.
- We painted the inside of the house including the garage (which had not been prepped and was rather scary). It looks beautiful!
- Replaced outlet covers, furniture, and blinds after painting
- Replaced sprinkler heads
- Adjusted and cleaned drip heads (term?)
- Thatched the grass
- Edged semicircles around the sprinkler heads to allow for proper watering
- Re-mounted birdfeeder
- Installed missing smoke detector
- Radically cut back the mesquite tree
- Moved the compost bins and killed the underlying cockroaches
- Cleaned all windows and screens inside and out
- Cleaned the entryway to the house
- Trimmed at least twelve bushes, including the two rosemary ones I was unable to do
- Vacuumed/blew away yard waste
I am so thrilled that everyone came from my community group (except two people who were out of town) and even some of their kids came and helped. It was also a beautiful experience, not just because it was on my house but because it was lots of people working together to accomplish a goal. Some of us talked about how in the past people gathered for barn-raisings and other farm activities that needed to happen together. Not only did we benefit by the company but we also each had different skills and tools. I'm not suggesting that we spend eight hours at our neighbors' houses every weekend, but on a modified scale it makes sense to do more things together.
I am also really beginning to understand that this new phase of my life is necessarily one of community. I am not going to Argentina on my own, and everything surrounding this journey is part of others' lives as well. Last week Chrissy (in my community group) wrote to me about what today's activities meant: "I do not want you to rebel against that high calling of needing us, of needing me. I cannot go to Argentina, though I might desire to. I desire that I could somehow be a part of the going. I do not want to be robbed of the gift of being a part of your going-- of our going. I get to come and be a part of it on Saturday. I hope that you can see this "need" of yours as more a high calling than a burden or an anxiety or something to apologize for. That way it can be beautiful for you, and me, and all of us who get to be a part of this grand thing that He is doing."
The high calling of needing others -- something to ponder.
