Putting away the shirt...

Lynn is a wonderful staff veteran from Illinois. I had the honor of having her as my mentor and roommate for IVLI. She is a fantastic person with a great personality. At the beginning of week 2 I noticed she had begun snooping around unoccupied student rooms (girls rooms ^_^ ). I decided to let it go and see what plays out. Later that day I saw Lynn walking around with a different shirt

**Lynn wearing Abby's shirt :) Crazy Kids**

on...which was a high school shirt. I asked her about it, and discovered that apparently it is customary that she "steals" a shirt (about every day after the 1st week), and wears it for the day, seeing if the true owner notices. It was fun hearing her stories after each day, explaining the "Ah haaaa" moment each student would get when they realized she was wearing their shirt.

So, of all the things to talk about IVLI...why do I share this? Because this is a picture of the closeness we had as a community there. Lynn kidnapping shirts was a fun way of binding with the female students and getting to know them. It was a way of adding more fun into a very intense month, and caring for others' well being by making them laugh and inviting a culture of jokes and fun. Lynn was very good at this, and it opened great doors of community with the students, as well as other staff we didn't know well.

Something God has been bringing to light in me is how much I crave the kind of biblical community that is exhibited in Acts. A place where followers of Jesus earnestly care for and pray for one another, share there things...perhaps even give them away, hold open doors for meals and company, enjoying one another and living with on another as one body. God used IVLI to help me see how this can look in our world today. I made friends with people from across the U.S., we prayed for one another, we played with one another (Euchre being a past time favorite along with settlers of catan XD), we worked with one another, and we were living in true community with one another. I felt so cared for by many people there, and there was a great freedom of being yourself and feeling welcome everywhere you go. Now I'm not meaning to glorify the culture of IVLI. It is a community of broken people in a broken world, and not perfect. However, it is a community of a large group of people coming together with a common purpose. Through this kind of environment we learned to live with each other, and not just to put up with one another, but to love one another. It was a beautiful thing that I wish everyone could experience.

Coming back to WV I felt a strong pain of leaving those from IVLI. I had made so many wonderful relationships, and I loved the openness that was there, and I was missing it greatly. I've gone through withdrawal before with church camps, but this seemed insurmountably greater.

I took time this past week talking it over with God and Lynn (facebook is a wonderful thing!)...but mostly God. In that time He helped me see that this kind of culture is not just meant for camps...or even just IV, but for the whole universal church body. God began showing me areas I have been isolating myself from such a community here at home, and revealing where I should be seeking it out. He's also been helping me see ways that I can help develop the kind of culture my soul craves, that usually tends to be lacking in "the real world".

I'm not meaning to bash the church...if that's how it sounds I apologize. It is a wonderful place with wonderful people, but just as IVLI was full of broken people, so is the church. There are areas that are great and wonderful as far as community goes, and there are areas of growth to be had. As I continue to journey through this thought of what a true authentic Christ centered community looks like here in Morgantown, I pray that God continues to show me the good things in it, as well as areas I, and others, can help it continue to grow to a more true form.