Tight Circle

Do you remember when you were a kid and the adults told you to leave the room so they could talk privately? What about going to a parade and being too short to see over the crowd? What about being on the playground and the cool kids were all in a circle and you weren't included?

I remember those times. I wanted to be included, to see what was going on, to feel a part of everyone else.

That is how we feel living here. We feel that way. This isn't a complaint or whining.

In KC, none of this mattered. There were thousands of people and our lives intersected with many others at any given time. It was a common thing. Social groups and communities were completely different there and usually open.

When we got into the church, we found that to be a little different. But even so, there was usually an open group of some kind once we were more known in the church.

There's a good reason we really do want to stay here. We've seen this community and we love it.

We've seen them in tragedy and in everyday life. They exude this deep love and compassion for each other. We've seen multiple generations of families and friendships made generation after generation.

It's not perfect by any means. It's a small town with small town problems. There's gossip and occasional back biting. But, the love overshadows it all.

We want to be a part of that. Who wouldn't? It's beautiful to see a community so engaged with each other.

I've talked with a very minimal number of outsiders, people who have moved into this area. They see it too. They also feel like we do, on the outside.

We've talked about, tried to figure out how to not be on the outside. I've looked for books. I've asked a trusted few. We've tried inviting people to dinner. We've tried accepting every invitation we are given. We've tried the most popular suggestion....time. It's hard to quantify that.

Our attempts, mine especially, have failed and sometimes in epic ways. Even though our attempts have failed, it's truly a compliment to the people in this community. We are saying, we see why you have and we like it. We like it so much, we want to be part of it.