Small Group

When we moved back to our hometown, one of the hardest things we had to do was leave our small group.  We had gotten extremely close with each other and knew there was going to be a HUGE void to be filled, especially on Wednesday nights.  Wednesday nights were our chance to come together, dive in to and dissect scripture, and, for me, to ask ridiculous questions that no one ever made me feel were ridiculous.  There was no judging, but there was accountability.  There were some tears.  There was a whole lot of laughter and plenty of good food.  We knew about each other's struggles and joys.  We did a lot of praying and even more rejoicing.  We still stay in touch with our small group, so we didn't completely leave them behind, but we no longer regularly meet with them.

Some of the members of our "then" small group in 2010.

 A void that I wasn't sure we'd be able to fill.  That's all that was left on Wednesday nights.  So, we prayed.  And prayed and prayed about it.  How would we ever find a small group like this again?

We searched for a while and found a church we started to enjoy and eventually asked about small groups.  We were told that we'd likely enjoy meeting with the group that comes to the church on Tuesday nights.  We were willing to give it a shot.

We walked in and there were 30 people.  THIRTY!  Mostly our age.  All couples, most with young children.  This was hardly what we were used to.  It took thirty minutes just to do introductions and I barely felt comfortable doing that.  I was completely overwhelmed and kind of disappointed.

Eventually, that group broke down into smaller groups.  Three couples from that large group were going to be the smaller groups' leaders.  We were to choose a couple and that'd be our new group.  We really didn't know these people - moving back to a small town, you'd think we would - and didn't know which one to choose.  We prayed about it, but neither of us felt a clear indication as to which group we were to choose.  We talked about it briefly and chose a couple we thought we'd click with best.

We started to attend small group at this couple's house.  We only knew one of the four couples who came, and we really knew nothing more about them than that they were from our hometown.  We were excited about making new friends, but it felt like starting all over and I longed for the effortless comfort and ease of our original small group.  A part of me was excited about it, but a bigger part of me was just sad.

Slowly, we started to gel.  We started learning more about each other through our Bible studies and the couples became more than just the people in our small group.  They were our new friends! 

Our small group's story got so cool and God's plan was revealed so clearly.

See, we knew the leaders were expecting a baby, but what everyone else didn't know was that we were expecting, too.  I think that's part of why we chose the leaders we did, although neither Dan nor I talked about that being a reason.  One night, as everyone was mentioning the highs and lows of their week, another couple told everyone that their high was hearing a heartbeat.  They, too, were expecting!  In the coming weeks, the fourth couple announced that they were pregnant and a couple months later, the fifth couple was, too!  Five healthy babies born in nine months.  Our "small group" became so much more than that!  It became my sanity, my new mom sounding board, the people who understood my situation in life the best.

It's fun to get together and I look forward to my Wednesday nights so much.  I genuinely miss the couples and their babies if we or one of the other couples can't make it one week.  Studying scripture has gotten a little more challenging with five babies, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  

I'm so thankful for each of the couples in our small group and I'm even more thankful that God brought us all together.  I'm thankful for God's timing and that we visited a few churches we didn't like before we found one we did - mostly because if we would have discovered that very large "small" group much earlier, I know I would have given up on it.  I'm thankful for God's nudge to our new small group.  I'm thankful for new friends-ones who pray for me and can provide mommy advice at any time of the day or night.  I'm thankful for five healthy pregnancies and five healthy babies.

Our children's paths will all be different, no doubt, but I can't help but hope that they'll all grow up to be best friends and we'll be taking a picture like this before they head off to prom together.  Until then, we'll take it week by week.  :)