A New Small Group!!!

To continue my story a little bit we have to catch up with where I am now.

After my pastor died in the small church that I attended in Corinth, I moved back to my previous church. I didn't want to go back, I felt like I would be going back to Egypt. The Holy Spirit continued to guide me back there and so I went. I renewed old friendships, I renewed a friendship with someone who became my downline for my Creative Memories business, I got closer to my Pastor and his wife than ever before but I still felt like it was only for a season.

In the meantime, my oldest daughter had started visiting a church near where we live. She asked me to visit with her. I really liked it - its a non traditional Southern Baptist church but it's HUGE and almost everybody there is college age! Matt, the pastor, said that if you are over 30 then we have prayed for you to come! lol

So since I was going to my former church by myself and really felt like I needed a family connection, I started regularly visiting with my daugther but looking backward - like Lot's wife. I was comparing this new church to my previous churchs. I felt like the current church isn't spiritual enough, the music wasn't what I liked, there are too many people, etc. Why do we look back? Why do we look back at things in our lives that cannot be changed. The death of my pastor really threw me into a tailspin. I had a million questions. Why would God give him a ministry and then take him from us before that ministry was built up? Why didn't our former church help him get him ministry started? Why did God make him struggle so hard? Why do we look back and use that lense for what we did like and then compare it to what we don't like? You know what - if I don't know the answers now, I won't ever know them. Who am I to question God? I have to keep moving forward because like Lot's wife, looking behind only leads to pain and death.

At this new church, I was still unhappy for about two years. Since we are so big, we only have the same service over and over during the weekend to get 5000 people through the campus on weekends. There are no midweek services. To connect with each other, the church wants you to join a small group before taking a membership class to make sure that everybody is on the same sheet of music. Where is joining a small group biblical? I like to throw out the biblical part when I don't agree with things!! I didn't know anybody - because I didn't volunteer for anything. The only people I met were all my daughter's age and as much as I would like to be 20 again....that just wasn't working for me. Oh poor me!! Do you want some Whine with that Cheese?

So, the pastor's daughter in law from my previous church invited me to a stamping party at my former church. I went and at the end of the party, the consultant asked me if I went all the way down there to church (because she lives near me) and I said no, I go to church in the town of Highland Village. She said she did too. I can only believe that was God's way of sending a rep from my current church to me at my former church to ensure that I knew I was in the right place! Thank you Lord for that!

I don't know what has keep me from joining a small group. I didn't feel led to join any specific group. I didn't want to get to know more people, I felt like I had enough friends in my life. But when I got right down to it, I didn't have contact with people in a real setting. All my friends seem to be online. I am not living my life with any other Godly women in real time. I finally decided that I was missing that in my life. Maybe a small group would be the perfect thing for me! It was time to start moving forward again.

I went online and found a group and shot off an email and got a response the same night. So off I went on Tuesday to my new group. They are ladies in all stages of life 35+ and I had an awesome time. They all know each other already so I just have to jump in and get involved in the things that they do together outside of the small group - like cooking classes, Ranger games, weddings, etc.

I really don't have friends that call me up for movies or shopping. I have lots of scrapbooking friends but we don't hang out together outside of scrapbooking. I need people to live my life with. I think real life can't be replaced and should not be replaced by online life. I haven't had a best friend since high school. I need in person friends. This is going to be so awesome! Ladies to pray with, to grow with and to walk through life with. I only hope that they like me as much as I liked them. We filled out prayer cards on Tuesday so a brand new person is praying for me that I didn't know before Tuesday. I am lifting up someone else in prayer that I didn't know before!

Isn't God awesome? I think he is all the time!!

Please keep praying for my friends Marie and Tracey. Keep praying for Wendy (Stacey's Mom who is battling cancer). The Coppell Relay is coming up, they are on my heart everyday!!