When Jay and I lived in Pittsburgh, one of the first activities we did with our community mates were 10 minute stories. We laid on blankets at a beautiful park overlooking the city and shared our life stories with one another. This has been something we have carried into every community we have lived in since in some capacity.

Photo Credit: www.nannygoatsinpanties.com

When we moved to Liberty, our little community shared 10 minutes stories in the same way as in Pittsburgh. It looked a little different because everyone knew each other a little more than our community in Pittsburgh where we all just moved in together with no history. In Liberty, the stories took a deeper level. Each person shared with the community personal details such as things we struggle with and how we wrestle with our faith. It was a beautiful way to understand our community mates a little better.

Now that we are part of Spare Key, we wanted to incorporate this somehow. Some of us realized that we have spent over two years sharing life with one another but still lacked an adequate understanding of what each person's day-to-day lives looked like. So, we began "Day In The Life" stories. Over the past several months, each of us have taken turns sharing what a day in our life looks like.

Ryan's story included a panoramic picture of his workspace for the City of Springfield. Rob showed us around the Watershed Center and Jay showed us a video of him teaching at OTC. For my Day in the Life a few weeks ago, I let the teacher in me show. I made this timeline to show what my crazy days look like right now.

So, why do we do this? In John Gottman's book, 7 Principles of Making Marriage Work, he talks about the importance of enhancing your love map of your mate. This principle (and many of the other 6 principles in the book!) applies extremely well to community and relationships in general. Learning what the day-to-day looks like for our community mates helps us understand them better. It enhances or love maps.

I have very much enjoyed hearing everyone's Day in the Life stories. I'm grateful to get to spend my days with such cool people. What else can we do to enhance our love maps?