Home. When you walk in the front door that is always
unlocked, you immediately sense it: You are welcome here; this is your home.
Your eyes are drawn to the beauty in the artwork that is on the walls, the
arrangement of the furniture, the care and purpose in each nook and cranny of
the house.
True to their mission, Riverbend Commons is a place that is committed to hospitality, creativity, simplicity and Jesus. You can tell it from the moment you set foot in their driveway. Once the physical space has welcomed you, in the entry way, you are greeted with a joyful, “Welcome! I’m going to hug you!” as the aroma of delicious food wafts in your nostrils.
We first visited Riverbend when Drew and Nancy, one of the founding couples, weren’t at home. Sheri and Nathan, two of the current “homies,” welcomed us in, allowed us to pepper them with hundreds of questions, fed us good food and invited us to stay at the table chatting until the sun started setting (you see the themes emerging here?).
One of the issues that plagues intentional community is learning about the people you live with and then living well with them, even when they drive you batty. The question becomes: How can I get to know the people I live with and understand them well enough to cut off the inventible friction at the pass? As current teachers and past leaders at GFU, we have been exposed to multiple personality tests—Strengths Finder, Animal personalities, Color personalities, Multiple Intelligences, etc. Riverbend uses the Enneagram to guide how they get to know each other. There are 9 personality types on a circle. People are one of the numbers but have characteristics of the numbers on either side of them. We both found this to be far more helpful than other tests that we had done because it identifies the deeper motivation of why a person responds a certain way, typical struggles that person has, and also behaviors and strategies for moving to health.
As they spoke, it became very apparent how useful this tool could be in an intentional community setting: by identifying people’s strengths and weaknesses, they are able to play to each other’s strengths and be patient with each other’s weaknesses. But more than just being patient, they know how to come alongside each other and walk together towards health. For example, Bethany tends to be a 6. Her strengths are organizing, analyzing being incredibly loyal. However, when things are beyond her control, she tends to become afraid and panic. To move towards health, she needs encouragement to choose to trust and to make s plan for what she can control or for what she will do when things do return to stability, or to create to stability in the way that she can in the moment. This makes her a good science/math teacher because she can anticipate all the problems before the lab begins and allows her to work well with at risk students because she is dedicated to them to the end and provides structure and stability that allows them to function well in. Becca is a 7 that tends toward at 8. That means she is an adventurer who loves lots of experiences, lives in the moment and is very adaptable. She’s a good choir teacher because she sees what needs to happen in this very moment and knows how to make the moment count. Those of you who know Becca, have experienced the 8 in her. When you give her direct instructions that she does not agree with, she is more than willing to rise up and do the opposite thing just to make you mad (i.e. Bethany to Becca: Bec, I want to figure out what number you are. Becca: I’m not going to let you—which also is 7: you can’t put me in a box!) Commitment becomes a struggle for the 7 because they do not want to miss out on any opportunity in the moment. The opposing piece has other obvious downfalls. (Love you Mom!) :)
In the days since we were at Riverbend, we have noticed ourselves meeting people and immediately looking to find their strengths: What are they good at? What makes them tick? I've found myself appreciating people for who they are and what they bring to the table and being more patient with them when they doing something that would otherwise drive me crazy. At Riverbend, this attitude of purposeful interaction with each other creates a safe space for everyone to be themselves while also being supported to become a better self, more of who Christ created them to be. And into this safe space, all number of visitors are able to also come and make themselves at home.
True to their mission, Riverbend Commons is a place that is committed to hospitality, creativity, simplicity and Jesus. You can tell it from the moment you set foot in their driveway. Once the physical space has welcomed you, in the entry way, you are greeted with a joyful, “Welcome! I’m going to hug you!” as the aroma of delicious food wafts in your nostrils.
We first visited Riverbend when Drew and Nancy, one of the founding couples, weren’t at home. Sheri and Nathan, two of the current “homies,” welcomed us in, allowed us to pepper them with hundreds of questions, fed us good food and invited us to stay at the table chatting until the sun started setting (you see the themes emerging here?).
One of the issues that plagues intentional community is learning about the people you live with and then living well with them, even when they drive you batty. The question becomes: How can I get to know the people I live with and understand them well enough to cut off the inventible friction at the pass? As current teachers and past leaders at GFU, we have been exposed to multiple personality tests—Strengths Finder, Animal personalities, Color personalities, Multiple Intelligences, etc. Riverbend uses the Enneagram to guide how they get to know each other. There are 9 personality types on a circle. People are one of the numbers but have characteristics of the numbers on either side of them. We both found this to be far more helpful than other tests that we had done because it identifies the deeper motivation of why a person responds a certain way, typical struggles that person has, and also behaviors and strategies for moving to health.
As they spoke, it became very apparent how useful this tool could be in an intentional community setting: by identifying people’s strengths and weaknesses, they are able to play to each other’s strengths and be patient with each other’s weaknesses. But more than just being patient, they know how to come alongside each other and walk together towards health. For example, Bethany tends to be a 6. Her strengths are organizing, analyzing being incredibly loyal. However, when things are beyond her control, she tends to become afraid and panic. To move towards health, she needs encouragement to choose to trust and to make s plan for what she can control or for what she will do when things do return to stability, or to create to stability in the way that she can in the moment. This makes her a good science/math teacher because she can anticipate all the problems before the lab begins and allows her to work well with at risk students because she is dedicated to them to the end and provides structure and stability that allows them to function well in. Becca is a 7 that tends toward at 8. That means she is an adventurer who loves lots of experiences, lives in the moment and is very adaptable. She’s a good choir teacher because she sees what needs to happen in this very moment and knows how to make the moment count. Those of you who know Becca, have experienced the 8 in her. When you give her direct instructions that she does not agree with, she is more than willing to rise up and do the opposite thing just to make you mad (i.e. Bethany to Becca: Bec, I want to figure out what number you are. Becca: I’m not going to let you—which also is 7: you can’t put me in a box!) Commitment becomes a struggle for the 7 because they do not want to miss out on any opportunity in the moment. The opposing piece has other obvious downfalls. (Love you Mom!) :)
In the days since we were at Riverbend, we have noticed ourselves meeting people and immediately looking to find their strengths: What are they good at? What makes them tick? I've found myself appreciating people for who they are and what they bring to the table and being more patient with them when they doing something that would otherwise drive me crazy. At Riverbend, this attitude of purposeful interaction with each other creates a safe space for everyone to be themselves while also being supported to become a better self, more of who Christ created them to be. And into this safe space, all number of visitors are able to also come and make themselves at home.
This is us with Sheri and her son Caleb after a lovely chat and dinner.
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