{"id":1619,"date":"2013-10-18T16:19:47","date_gmt":"2013-10-18T20:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oshetablogs.wordpress.com\/?p=1619"},"modified":"2013-10-18T16:19:47","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T20:19:47","slug":"lessons-from-the-laundry-day-eighteen-of-finding-my-tribe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/shalominthecity\/2013\/10\/lessons-from-the-laundry-day-eighteen-of-finding-my-tribe\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from the Laundry: Day Eighteen of Finding My Tribe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"laundryblog\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hey Everyone!\u00a0 I\u2019ve missed y\u2019all but this week was unusually crazy.\u00a0 My kids were off Monday and Tuesday, I had my oldest home on Wednesday, I wrote yesterday for a friend of mine, and today\u2026ah today\u2026I had laundry.<\/p>\n

Which, coincidentally, is today\u2019s Five Minute Friday\u2019s word prompt: Laundry.\u00a0 But remember this month, I\u2019m trying to make the prompt work for this series, \u201cFinding my Tribe\u201d. At first, I we worried, but as I was sorting and gathering the laundry I had a great idea to talk about my local tribe.<\/p>\n

So far, I\u2019ve been writing about this tribe\u2019s distinctions in a hope to gather women who resonate with the ReKnew Manifesto<\/a>, Anabaptist tradition, and working from a Jesus-centered hermeneutic (view of the Bible) globally.\u00a0 Today I want to talk about gathering, connecting with, and doing life with my local tribe\u2014the girls on our church plant\u2019s launch team and my closest friends.\u00a0 Gathering local women has been on my mind all week as I just registered our church, New City Covenant to host an IF:Local gathering<\/a> here in Boston!\u00a0 Tribes both locally and globally are dear to me and I hope this post encourages you to gather and love on your tribe.<\/p>\n

Lessons from the Laundry:<\/p>\n

GO<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I think about going to the Laundromat, I get this pit in my stomach.\u00a0 \u201cUgh, again?! It feels like I just did laundry! Why can\u2019t everything stay clean or at least not get so dirty so quickly!\u201d\u00a0 I mumble as I step over wet towels on the bathroom floor or bundle up the linens kicked to the edge of the bed.<\/p>\n

The intentionality about going to the Laundromat that\u2019s so similar to putting myself out there and getting to know other women it\u2019s uncanny.<\/p>\n

Anytime my tribe gathers, I sit at home mere minutes with a pit in my stomach minutes before it\u2019s time to leave and moan to myself, \u201c Ugh, again!\u00a0 It feels like I was just at mom\u2019s group?\u201d,\u00a0 \u201cWhy do we have to have a girls night out every month?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cReally?\u00a0 A conference?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m the first want to plan these types of events, but I\u2019m constantly attempting to blot out the stubborn stains of insecurity and fear from my mind that feeds my anti-social tendencies.<\/p>\n

When I think about going to the Laundromat, I have to take care to sort the clothes well.\u00a0 Linens, dedicates, and socks each get their own basket.\u00a0 They gather together, mingle around one another in their funky dirty states.\u00a0 They\u2019re ready to go through the agitation and cleansing process of the washer.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m reminded of the times I force myself out and around the table we bear our hearts.\u00a0 We put our \u201cdirty laundry\u201d out for all to see.\u00a0 Ones child caught her and her husband arguing.\u00a0 Another\u2019s daughter caught them making love.\u00a0 One wonders if the weight she\u2019s gains since having the baby has affected their love life and another pushes her pasta, around her plate and tells us about her teenage battle with anorexia.\u00a0 But we come together, mingle around one another in our funky, dirty states and open ourselves to the cleaning process of being real and honest with our tribe.<\/p>\n

When I think about going to the Laundromat, I think about the crisp, hopeful smell of new clean clothes.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019m reminded of the settled, satisfied, known feeling I get when I come home from time with my tribe and I feel hopeful and ready for a new day.\u00a0 Someone loves me.\u00a0 Someone cares about me.\u00a0 I am not alone.<\/p>\n

These are two of many lessons I learned today from the laundry.<\/p>\n

STOP<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"IMG_3712\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to join in the fun?\u00a0 There are some truly entertaining and special posts on laundry.<\/p>\n