Shiny Pans

I think I romanticized what it would be like to live in Christian community before Mission Year. I first thought about living in community because it would be economical. Living with people means you don’t have to spend as much money on stuff because you share what you have. I don’t think I realized how hard it actually can be to share your things. A while back I noticed that my pans were getting really dirty. I would always put foil on them to keep them clean. It was just what I did. I noticed that some of my housemates did not put foil on the pans and they started getting really stained. I was kinda mad, because these were after all my pans. I like shiny things! Well, I guess I’m not that good at sharing after all! Shiny pan or stained pan, it’s still a pan and it still helps bake my cookies. If you really share what you have you have to, in a way deny your ownership. Or at least realize that is just stuff!

Figuring out how to share, my things, my space, my time, has been much more challenging than I ever thought, but most of the time it’s so worth it. I am so thankful for my roommates. We have so much fun together. Zach and Margareta have a huge 84 Caprice. This car has to be the greatest Mission Year car ever! A couple weeks ago we all piled in the Caprice and made the short trip to Alabama for a night of wings and bowling! For some reason the guy that worked at Wing Stop gave us 50 free wings which brought our total wing consumption to 100 wings!!! Wings, black light bowling ,and old country music made the night fun, really fun.

In a few months when this year is over I know the thing I will miss the most about this year is living in our home. After about a month or two the excitement of community wore off. I wasn’t sure if we would ever really function as a family. But now, most of the time, it’s one the best parts of my year. The community we have in our house is real. The friendships we have made with kids in our neighborhood are real. Even though I sometimes get tired of answering the doorbell, I am lucky to live in a place where my doorbell constantly rings. It’s good to be needed, and loved.