June 15thA World of New Possibilities
The lawnmower hummed in the background, sometimes quieter and other times louder as it drew closer. The lawn had needed cutting, Janel knew, and was surprised when a boy from the neighbourhood knocked on her door and asked if he could cut it for her. His offer was a pleasant surprise.
“We’ve just moved and are now in a different community,” Janel says. “Through our ReLearning Community weekends the term family on mission has stood out to me. How does your family work on mission? How do you show your community life on life?”
Janel, a part of the Listowel Mennonite Church ReLearning Community team, has just finished the two-year intentional time of retreats and teaching. The team has learned discipleship concepts, and even a new vocabulary. Unable to apply all that they have learned immediately, Janel is excited to find opportunities to interact with her new neighbours.
“An example of life on life is simply bringing people into your life or home and having a meal with them. It is showing what our family does – we pray, sit down together and we talk at a meal,” Janel explains.
Excited by the discipleship training they have received, Janel also notes that there is another side. “It’s exciting but it is also scary,” she admits. “People in my new neighbourhood have no idea who I am so there is a fear about how they might judge or view me. On the other hand, I’m excited because they do not know who I am and therefore I carry no baggage with me.”
As she and her family settle into their new surroundings, they wonder how God might lead them. “We haven’t had a chance yet to connect with many of our neighbours, but we are ready to roll with it,” she says. “God has a reason for us being here – to show God’s love to our community by showing life on life,” she says.
As the lawnmower fades into the distance and moves on to the next neighbour’s lawn, Janel heads to the kitchen to take care of that baking she promised to the one who cut her lawn. She looks forward to sharing it with him and his family.