The day I closed on my new home, my daughter gave me a gift. Not the cleaning supplies I posted about yesterday but a gift from a group of people.

In the gift bag were several items for my new home and a frame packed with gift cards.

Tears.

I didn’t look closely at the moment, because (1) time was limited and (2) I knew I’d cry.

I looked at the details later. And I cried. It was a community gift of support and encouragement. It was abundantly generous. I didn’t expect it.

I haven’t taken the gift cards out of the frame yet. I will soon, and as I do, I’ll pray for the people who gave them, even if I don’t have a name attached to each one. I’ll pray as I use each card, and I’ll pray as I use the purchases over the years in my new home.

That’s how community works and how generous gifting works. It cycles and multiplies into the future. The people who gave these gifts have been in my life for a brief time and for years. I’ve given to them, and they’ve given to me. We’ve served and lived alongside each other and will continue. We don’t expect the giving and receiving from each other, but we appreciate each other and every exchange of generosity. I don’t think I’ve given to any of them in ways worthy of their gifts to me. Like most gifts, these are undeserved, yet appreciated.

I will live in my new home by myself – a situation I didn’t anticipate – yet I feel as if my home is filled with the community of friends and family I do life with every day.

Life in community with others can be messy but deeply worthwhile.