Our Time at AFAC
As a followup to David’s recent post, “RAC serves AFAC”, I thought I’d just share what hanging out and serving together meant from a communal perspective.
Getting to know other people is just hard. And getting to know people in DC is harder (at least for me).
I read a book recently by Lauren Winner in which she suggests that only when we live normal, everyday life together do we truly know one another. Going to to the grocery together, watching movies together, eating together, serving together…it’s doing those things side by side that seems to engender what’s needed for the more vulnerable conversations.
Yesterday afforded us the opportunity to not only serve, but also just get to know one another. Side by side, we cleaned toilets, removed dead mice from their traps, sorted rotten pears, mopped floors, cleaned cans, and those of us with exceptional hand eye coordination even drove a palette mover thingamajig. But more than that, side by side we built community.
- I learned that Tom was a commerical realtor, has four kids (2 girls and 2 boys), he has connections to Minnesooohhta (where my wife is from), has six siblings, and is all around one of the kindest people I’ve met.
- I learned that Jim and Jan like to ski in Montreal and they both know people on the board of my wife’s workplace.
- I learned that Jeff doesn’t have a car, and usually would rather ride his bike than metro. He is also completely fearless of dead mice.
- I learned more about Conally, George and Anne living together in close community — and what happens when someone (Anne) brakes someon elses (Conally’s) camera.
- I (re)learned that Daniel’s family is from China and Michelle’s family is from Korea, and Daniel and I both get really grumpy and ineffective at life when hungry.
Serving is meant to do just that: serve. However, there is a communal aspect that shouldn’t be overlooked. Getting to know one another in an intimate way doesn’t just happen over repeated trips to the bar and coffee shop, it also happens when hanging out and serving together side by side. I’m looking forward to more!
– josh chambers
February 15, 2009 @ 7:43 pm
Josh, great post. I totally agree. It is opportunities like this that let us get to know one another. Daniel and Michelle also seem quite gifted at finding great places to eat. I’d like to hear more about Anne breaking Conally’s camera 🙂
Great job guys. Thanks for leading our community as we seek to love Arlington.
February 16, 2009 @ 6:53 pm
Michelle and I learned that Anne is a lifelong Arlingtonian and that the Hanke’s have similar unwelcomed squatters (of the small, furry persuasion) in their home as we do.
Truly enjoyed our time together!
February 23, 2009 @ 7:07 pm
I agree, Daniel, the whole thing was great!
Okay, so here’s the deal about the camera. Since the title of this blog is about community, i’m going to make reference to Community Living, the new favorite topic at our house.
Soon after Connally moved in (and i think it was before George joined us, but Sam was still home— I’m just setting the context) her camera was on the kitchen counter and I was not paying attention. I was emptying the dishwasher, and I accidentally swept it to the floor. Ugh. Pause. Hmmm. *&^%
We realized that sooner or later, someone was going to break/damage/destroy/wreck/lose something of value that belonged to the other one. And it’s different when the person is not a family member, somehow. Not sure how, but parent/child and parent/parent is distinct from housemate/housemate. So, we figured it out right away: I paid for a new camera. No, duh. And she began to be aware of where she put it. And i began to pay more attention. Connally also decided to upgrade cameras, so i contributed roughly the price of the first one.
Obviously, this is not rocket design work, but it does make you pause and slow things down and deliberately realize that we’re in this for the long haul, accidents will happen, and it matters how you handle these things. Sweeping them away or minimizing or negotiating for ‘grace’ doesn’t work. Don’t forget Who is living in the house, too.
I remember feeling like we’d accomplished something good: what to do when there’s a surprise fast depreciation of some THING we value. Not super-important, but how we approach it makes a big difference in establishing and growing trust on both sides.
Is this too long for a comment? Seems a little stupid, now that i read it, but i’m going to post it anyway and get all the way wet in this pool.