Life with...

Last night at the Spanish church, my students were talking about "Convivió." My poor partially-Spanish-educated mind spun its wheels on that term. "Con" means "with"... I reasoned as best I could, and "vivió" means "lived," unless they put the o on the end to make it a new noun... but as one word, what does it mean? So I asked.

"Ummm... like small body...? together?"
"Like go to house, eat food, family, amigos..."
Somehow through translation, the concept came through: Fellowship!

What a neat way to word it, too. "Doing life with others." I love the first description of it too - "small body." Of course when I first heard that, I thought she meant little people, another word for kids. And was completely confused. But after getting the true meaning, "small body" seemed like the perfect way to explain it. Especially when I got to go be a part of it.

After class, we went up to the little white house on the other end of the parking lot and had "convivió." Inside was one table set up with chairs around it (and a shorter, kids table close by), and a kitchen overflowing with an assortment of latin foods. There weren't a lot of people - maybe fifteen with the niños - and we "squished" together, as one person said, around the one table. There was a blend of rapid Spanish and broken English (and broken Spanish, on my part), lots of laughing and sharing and cheek-kissing and blessing... just a natural, beautiful example of doing life together in a way that brings glory to the Lord.

Jesus told his disciples (and therefore, us) that the world would know we are his followers, that we belong to him, by the way we love. What does "Convivió" look like in your home, church, and community? How do you authentically live life with others in a way that reflects an intimate and personal relationship with the Lord? How are your "every day" relationships making an eternal difference and bringing glory to God?