Community After Graduation.

After graduation, I expected to miss seeing my friends everyday but I had no idea how much.

I used to see my close friends nearly every day of the week and I miss that but even more I miss the sense of community at RC.

I had no idea how much simply being in and around that community impacted me mentally and spiritually.

Nobody told me that after graduation I would feel isolated.

The community I found at college was one that reflected the church in Acts and one that should be a model for relationship and community beyond college.

• Eating together 
• Talking daily with one another about life, work, and God
• Rejoicing and mourning with one another 
• Challenging each other to grow and learn
• Having intergenerational mentoring relationships (with professors, staff, and students)
• Joining with one another in service and worship of our awesome God

Having this kind of community for 4 straight years was a glimpse into God's Kingdom but it left me wanting more. 

More community, more conversation, more worship, more. 

I am now trying to figure out what community can look like for me now where I am at (an hour or more away from most of my friends). Building new relationships is a lot harder when you don't "have" to be with people everyday. 

Getting involved in local (and not as local) ministries, going to work, and going to church doesn't mean that you automatically have community. Simply being with people doesn't create relationship--meaningful conversation does. 

I love being with people and having good conversations, but I'm not good at starting them. I don't enjoy going up to people and trying to start conversation; it's a challenge for me. 

In the midst of this time of transition from college student to "adult" but still living under my parents roof, I am trying to see what God is doing and preparing me for. God has placed community on my heart as a deep desire and I have no doubt that community and fostering community is part of my vocation. 

Though I feel as if I am in a bit of isolation now, I don't want to say I just need to sit by passively because "it's not time for my community yet," but I do believe this is a time of waiting and preparation (how appropriate for the advent season coming up!). It's a time of rest, of learning, and of patience. 

I thank God for the community and relationships I do have and the time I had at RC that deepened my desire and knowledge of community.

So in this time of waiting and preparation, I want to challenge myself and anyone else struggling with the post-graduation-community-blues to step up and out into the lives of those right in our local communities. It will look different for each of us and it's certainly not as easy as when we were in school but I believe that it is totally possible to have a college-like community even after graduation.

Peace and Blessings to you all in this Holiday season!