Thursday, April 26, 2012

Loving the Messy Bits

So let’s spend our five minutes of writing today, sharing about COMMUNITY. Fight it, love it, hate it, hurt or healed by it, we were certainly built for it.

Set a timer and just write. Don’t worry about making it just right or not.

We couldn't be more different. Yet, every Wednesday we land in the same apartment on the same street in the same city that we have for the past 2 years.

And, it's another version of "home."

We no longer knock. The door's always open. Dress clothes or sweat pants, sweaty, work-out clothes or heels and pencil skirts - we curl up on the couch, cry, laugh and dig in to the only thing that gets us through our crazy, beautiful weeks.

The Word is our mainstay. Our second thing in common.

Over the last 2 years, we've grown in our differences and discovered more similarities - same taste in guys, a love of food, and a preference for FRIENDS.

Some are no longer with us. Others have joined the crew. We morph, we change, but we continue to grow. Our stagnant stages are met with ferocious opinions to fight harder, grow stronger, be better.

Community isn't pretty. Like the clothes we wear through the door, the relationships and experiences we each bring to the table, and our many differences, community is messy. It isn't a pretty package. It's raw, sincere, frustrating, and beautiful.

The command isn't to make everyone FEEL better but to encourage one another to BE better. Community- pushing each other when we want to quit and loving one another through it.

These women influence my life every week, and I'm so thankful!

Linked with the Gypsy Mama.

6 comments:

  1. "The command isn't to make everyone FEEL better but to encourage one another to BE better." Love that!
    and love that you have community like that. What a blessing!

    So glad we're neighbors this week in the Gypsy Mama community!

    Wonderful 5 minute write, Kariss. Thank you!

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  2. "Community isn't pretty. Like the clothes we wear through the door, the relationships and experiences we each bring to the table, and our many differences, community is messy. It isn't a pretty package. It's raw, sincere, frustrating, and beautiful."

    always amazes that community can be all that... and so much more!

    lovely post and sounds like a truly special group of women God has given you.

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  3. I love the title! The Messy Bits. :) That just about sums it all up. Not to feel better but inspired to BE better. I'm learning this. I used to hide from relationship but now I'm leading women into better relationships to live out loud and be real! Great post. 
    Jessie at JessieGunderson.com

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  4. I LOVE this :) And we love YOU Kariss!! Our community is like family. 

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  5. I loved this so much!  "The command isn't to make each other feel better but to BE better."  And yes, that does make for messy, doesn't it?   Being better sometimes means stripping off what looks good on the outside in order to expose the inside and fixing that.  And that really gets messy sometimes.  What a wonderful group you have there.  I lingered over your picture and loved the genuine happy eyes and smiles!  Thank you!

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  6. What a great reminder that community is what we make it! No matter where we are in life, we always need to have those people who push as when we need it and love us when we need it even more!

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