“I’ve never felt more at home than I do in Guelph,” I recently shared with my husband one evening when the kids were in bed.
Our neighbourhood feels cozy, with its massive trees bursting in fall colour, and homes as old as my grandparents, some left untouched and others modernized and magazine worthy. Our neighbours are warm and friendly, and we are always there to help each other out if needed.
But the feeling of stability and comfort we get extends beyond our doorstep and even our neighbourhood, and includes our city as a whole – a place where we manage to bump into someone we know at nearly every place we go.
Recently we discussed the fact that we know so many people in our cozy city, but we don’t have strong and deep friendships with many. It’s hard when you’re parents to young kids to find the time to meet regularly and establish that type of friendship.
Then, we had the brilliant idea of creating a group within our church, a community within a community. We would meet every Sunday evening and share a meal together, with our kids. We would have time while the kids are being minded by hired and trusted teens in our community, and we could connect as adults – something that parents of young kids rarely have time to do.
This past week was our first time meeting together, a large group of nearly 40 adults and children, and in many ways it felt like coming home. There were new faces and familiar faces, but I knew instantly that this group would form those deep roots that we had been craving. Sitting together eating a meal that many hands had prepared made me realize the importance of shared meals within a community.
Once the kids were dismissed, the adults had time to really connect and get to know one another. How rare it is to have an uninterrupted conversation with an adult when you have young kids! It was a refreshing and rejuvenating experience, and the perfect way to end the weekend and enter into a new week.
Our new community group reminds me of the importance of coming together as a village. We aren’t all the same, and our differences make our group shine brighter. We all have something to offer one another, and it’s that collective time together that allows us to grow individually and as a group.
The night after our first time meeting together, I said to my husband that creating this group was the absolute best thing we could have done for our family. In our culture it feels like the single-family unit is responsible for carrying the weight of their home and family life, but I don’t think that’s the way life is meant to be lived. Meeting with our group, I can see how we will all carry one another, breaking down the walls of the single-family unit, and allowing each other in.
I don’t think that this type of lifestyle or opportunity is only available within a church community. Throughout our city there are groups that gather together and break down the wall of traditional family: We see hockey families, train-buff families, hiking families, and crafting families. Common interests bring people together, and that craving for community allows strangers to become family.
Are you a part of a close-knit group in our community that feels like family? Share in the comments below!
