What happened to the Front Porch Society?

There have been a lot of changes in the Aune household lately. Still waiting on all of the changes to be revealed at work with Ingram's reorganization, but interestingly work is becoming less important to me lately. Hard for a workaholic to admit but true. We have also begun the process of our church becoming a new Lifepoint Church campus and we are very excited to see what the next two months brings for both congregations. Kristin, Kyndal and I attended our first service at Lifepoint yesterday and I totally enjoyed myself. Someone asked me what I thought as I was sitting in the cafe between services and I responded that I loved the feeling of community in the building. So many people talked to us and welcomed us we felt at home. I can not tell you how much that meant.

The word community seems to be resonating with me this week. I was given a great book yesterday about building small groups and connecting people. One of the key points in the book is that people were not created to do life alone or isolate themselves. In Genesis 2 God says it is not good for man to be alone, and we often hear this in relation to mairrage but God also meant this in regards to life. We were designed for relationships with others. Yet, our society has become just the opposite. If you ever see how older homes were designed they often were built with big front porches. In the evening and on weekends people would sit on the front porch and invite those passing by to sit and share stories, drinks and life. Today..... we sit at work all day and barely know the person sitting next to us. Then we drive home on busy streets and pull in our garage shutting the door behind us, only to drop down in front of the TV. If we do go outside it is to the back deck not the front porch.

It is easier (for me especially) to isolate myself in the house and be comfortable. If you never put yourself out there, you can not get hurt. However, there is great reward in investing in other people and knowing they are doing the same for you. I am not saying it is easy, we all know difficult people and can be one sometimes as well. What I am saying is that it is worth it. Relationships should be cherished and are valuable. So, the next time you wonder if you should talk to someone, invite someone and especially forgive someone do it. These get progressively harder I know but God forgave us and he continues to each day, who are we not to extend that to others? Something to consider......

--Bret