Living in a Fishbowl

When I heard the name of our community, it kinda made me laugh. A Fishbowl? Really? But I get it now. Our community is one that is special. We all live very close to each other. In a circle of houses, especially those with kids. We live in a community that shares their food, shares their homes, shares their washer/dryer, share their talents. We barter for most things instead of paying. :)
We live in a community where our children become like sisters and brothers. We live in a community where the adults become like sisters and brothers. We live in a community where kids gather for birthday parties and to sing and dance and sleepovers with pajama parties. Our community is one where bonfires late into the night are very common. Bonfires and baby monitors, that is what we love.
We live in a community where all our dreams and aspirations are the same. We were all called by God to serve Him, to love Him and to follow His way. Yes, we all fall short of this at times, but we are all here to pick each other up.
We are in a community where moving trucks are common. Every year, we have families moving in, and families moving out. Summers are the most exciting times for families. We have new students starting who are most excited, most nervous, and most welcomed. We have Seniors moving out who are ready to start their new adventure and their new call. These people I can only imagine are most excited, most nervous, and a little sad to leave this Fishbowl. Then there are the interners, who I am sure also go through all these emotions. There is one class who stays put and that is the upcoming Middler class. This is where we stand. We don't move this year which is a relief. We got to welcome all the new students and their spouses and families, which is always wonderful! And then there are all the good byes. This my friends is the hardest part of Seminary and living in the Fishbowl. We know that wherever our friends are going, on internship, on first call, we will always be a part of each other's lives. But the goodbyes are extremely hard.
One thing I have contemplated is not letting anyone get too close. But then I realized that is just silly. I think each of us will leave footprints at this place. We will have relationships, circumstances that occur and each one of these things is like a footprint. We gather as a community and leave footprints on each other's hearts. Then we leave, on internship or on first call. But I believe these footprints will bind us and bring us closer, and always lead us back to our community and friends.
Our neighbors and friends moved today and it was the hardest day since I have been here. They have been our rock since moving here. They have been one big foot print, or many little footprints in the last year. From letting us use their washer/dryer when we moved here without one, to letting us bathe our children at their house when our hot water ran out, to dinners together and those awesome bonfires. They have been there for us when things were tough. Our children all became best of friends and I can't imagine this place without you! You will have an amazing year and I am very excited about that. We will visit as much as we can! And we will always make sure our footprints bring us back together. ;)
Van Kleys, you rock!