Community. What an interesting word. What is community? I mean, we all live in a community, but then we also talk about being in community, or we feel the community support.
So what is a community? Is it where we live? Is it a state of being? Is it feeling?
The answer is “yes”. A community is a place we live, but it’s also a feeling of closeness we get when we work with and support each other. To sum it up, a community is a support group. Communities support each other when they lose everything due to a disaster, they celebrate with each other through life’s joys, they are shoulders when you need to cry.
That is what we strive to be here at The Family Center. Whether it’s a bag of food, a computer to use, an ear to listen when you need to talk, or just a warm place to do some work or read a book, we want to be there to support you. To be a community. Welcome home to community.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Start of Something New
Service. Community. Family. Grace. Acceptance.
If you spend any amount of time around us, you will find that these are words that we throw around quite a bit. But what do they mean? How do we do it? What does it mean to me and to the staff here at the Family Center? What does it mean to those that we serve? We want to explore those things here on our blog. These terms are so central to who we are, it would be imprudent of us to not help you understand those terms.
Why a blog? Well, it gives us the chance to tell you about what we do, why we do it, and what makes us, as an organization, tick. So, while you will hear mostly from Ashley and me (Joel), The Family Center is so much bigger than just the two of us, so we want to make sure that you get to hear from other people as well, and a blog just seems the best way to do that.
Our goal with this blog is not only to define these terms for you, but to also give you a place to see these terms lived out. So you can expect to find stories of events, ideas, endeavors, and lives that have been changed. We are excited to share with you our journey to serve the community.
We will be posting every other Tuesday, so be sure to check back here, or on our Facebook page, for new posts!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Our Backyard.
When you think of your backyard, what comes to mind?
Do you think of your children and their friends that play on the swing set? Do you think of time spent with your spouse taking in the beauty of a sunset or your shared time of silence while you enjoy a book?
Do you think of a mess that you have to clean up or a project that has been put on hold and still needs finished?
When you think of your backyard, does it light up your face or burden your mind?
At The Family Center of Gap, our backyard is huge. Many times, all these scenarios can be captured in a day's time. That's what makes it feel like a living, functioning community here and that's what we love.
You never know what will walk in the door on any given day but you know that each person presents a way to serve in some capacity whether it's a simple smile, a spoken "good morning" or "have a nice day" and sometimes the more in-depth "what's going on in your world?".
We see many things here in our backyard. Some things that would break your heart and leave your mind spinning for days and others that would bring joy to your heart and a satisfaction that you had the opportunity to share in a monumental moment in someone's journey. We count all of it a blessing because we know these are the ingredients to making a living, functioning community. We're sharing life together. And here, in our backyard, that's a beautiful thing.
Do you think of your children and their friends that play on the swing set? Do you think of time spent with your spouse taking in the beauty of a sunset or your shared time of silence while you enjoy a book?
Do you think of a mess that you have to clean up or a project that has been put on hold and still needs finished?
When you think of your backyard, does it light up your face or burden your mind?
At The Family Center of Gap, our backyard is huge. Many times, all these scenarios can be captured in a day's time. That's what makes it feel like a living, functioning community here and that's what we love.
You never know what will walk in the door on any given day but you know that each person presents a way to serve in some capacity whether it's a simple smile, a spoken "good morning" or "have a nice day" and sometimes the more in-depth "what's going on in your world?".
We see many things here in our backyard. Some things that would break your heart and leave your mind spinning for days and others that would bring joy to your heart and a satisfaction that you had the opportunity to share in a monumental moment in someone's journey. We count all of it a blessing because we know these are the ingredients to making a living, functioning community. We're sharing life together. And here, in our backyard, that's a beautiful thing.
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