My
name is Haley Gillilan, and this is my story.
I
have been going to Lakeland Community Church for as long as I can remember. I
am one of the few who has had the pleasure of going to Sunday School on a
tablecloth on the floor of a movie theater.
I was itty bitty then, and my favorite thing to do, alongside Ryan
McCrary, was climb under the movie seats after service and dig for spare
change. That is disgusting to think about now, but we loved it. We would always
come up with an unusual amount and spend it in the sticker machines in the
lobby. After all these years, I learned that Ryan’s grandpa had actually put
money under there for us to find. In my experience, community is like that: it
always snuck up on me in times where I least expected it. Times where I thought
I could do something by myself, but in reality, the community – God through them – has been lifting me up the entire time.
I
have had almost the exact same group of girls by my side all through
elementary, middle and high school. I’ve
babysat children, served at the coffee bar, and attended youth group for the
better part of my life. I have been
brought up on Surrender, Together, Love. This church has raised me. As someone
who has seen the church go from its restaurant days, to its movie theater days,
to finally this beautiful church building, I will be the first to say that this
church is not just a place. It’s Sue Swick who hemmed my prom dress. It’s everyone who came to see my shows while
I swayed in the back for 6 years, and were there when I was front and center.
It’s Jason Lahey who taught me to play guitar. It’s Julie Theismann and
Michelle Bledsoe who led my small group.
It’s Megan Hunter who helped me shop for my college audition outfit. Most
of these things didn’t even happen in this building, but they happened because
of this church. Through
community, God shows Himself to me more clearly than any other time. The
community has shown up for me, time and time again, even when I may have not
deserved it. One particular story we explored in my small group with Julie is
the book of Hosea. It tells the story of a prophet who was called by God to
marry a prostitute. The whole thing is a parable for God’s relationship with
Israel, and how just as Hosea married a woman he knew would be unfaithful to
him, God knew that he was loving on a people who would not always love him
back. As we talked about the story deeper, the girls and I realized how much of
a choice that love really is. Being a community is not easy one hundred percent
of the time. There are times where I have been ungrateful. Times I’ve been
dishonest. Times I didn’t show up for someone else when they needed me. But I
have learned that with each new day we can make a choice to engage and let the
community show us a love that God is desperate for us to experience.
Our
God is an active God. He is constantly calling us to go outside of ourselves
and to show love to others the same way that He shows love to us. My choir teacher once said, “The more
sensitive you become to things that are beautiful, the less likely you are to
take beautiful things away from someone.” The deeper I immerse myself in
community, and the deeper I immerse myself in my relationship with God, I find
a greater desire to make sure everyone around me is experiencing what I
have.
Two
days ago I graduated from high school.
So this fall, for the first time in 14 years, I will be going to a
church that isn’t Lakeland. I’ll be in a new place where I don’t know anybody,
and I’ll have to build my community from scratch. This is actually what I am most excited
about! Based on my experience here, I
know I will be able to recognize community and build it wherever I go. And there I know God will keep loving on me.
My
name is Haley Gillilan, and this is my story.
