Sleeping with Bread: Connectivity

One day late and two interim posts later, I am finally getting this post written. As I look over the questions, I am struggling a little to settle on a set. The week is a little hazy. One highlight stands out, so I think I will use it to get this post going.

In the last week, when did you feel most connected?

10 years ago, I started a small group at my church. It was intended to be a family group with the kids having joining the adults for part of the time and having their own little group the rest of the night. The group eventually grew fairly large and the joke around church was that it was its own church. More time passed the the group shrank (shrunk?). There were about five families who stayed together, though, until the last year and a half. Since then, kids' schedules, overwhelming jobs, you name it, it just became too difficult to get together. So I officially pulled the plug a few weeks ago. Everyone was sad but everyone was just holding on because of the history and relationship and we all knew it was time to let go.

Saturday night, a few of us got together for a potluck. It was a relaxing time of talking, eating BBQ tri-tip, kids running around. You know that feeling you get when you walk in the door after a day of work or come home from vacation. That sense of "Ahhhhhhhh." That's what it felt like. Coming home.

In the last week, when did you feel the least connected?

I think I am feeling a general sense of disconnectedness these days. One of my main ways of keeping in touch with people was the phone. It just doesn't work that way right now. I go days and weeks without talking to close friends. My grad classes, which were providing me with a new circle of friends, aren't providing that this semester. One class is online and the other one is tutoring and lecture with no real breaks. By the time we get out of 3 1/2 hours of class, we all head home as quickly as possible. On top of that, Paul was out of town all week. It is much easier to deal with his trips now that the kids are older, however, it was one less adult to interact with. I need people!!!

Don't forget to check out other Sleeping with Bread posts here. We've had some new participants in the last couple of weeks. Why don't you go see what they have to share.