Day 18: Small Groups

Over the past thirteen years I've been blessed to be involved in gatherings with friends with the intentional purpose of being community to each other, studying the Bible and praying together. Each of these groups have been quite influential in my life and tonight I'm feeling especially thankful for them.

1997 - 2002ish?: I'm having a hard time remembering how this group formed or even exactly who was in this group. Over the years friends involved were the Sonja, Amy ("the other Amy"), Greta, Jon O, John S., Dave... others too. We met in each others home and studied books such as "The Jesus I Never Knew", Devotional Classics and more. I attended many of these friends weddings while we met together and have enjoyed seeing them start families. I remember their incredible support while I transitioned into my job in Residence Life... such good memories when I take time to tap into them!

2003ish - 2005: My friend Annette invited me to join a small group with some folks from her church and a few others. After a year or so together our group dwindled a bit but a small, small group was created out of it including Annette, Lisa, Justine, Carleton, Jerry and myself. What a great group this was!! The six of us fell on a spectrum of theological and political beliefs but agreed on some core beliefs. I think this made our group so much stronger as we would process through different passages and look at them from different angles. Although the six of us didn't do an incredible amount of social gatherings all together -- we did take an infamous winter weekend get-away to a cabin in northern Minnesota. Oh, the memories. And, the laughter. I was so sad to leave this group when I moved across the country.

2005 - 2006: The year I lived in Philly I met with a home group through my church. The Fairmount home group provided much needed friendships in this city full of strangers and am so thankful for friendships with people such as Lise who is still influential in my life today. What I loved about this group is how singles, marrieds and families so easily were part of community together. Shouldn't it always be this way? I do think so! But, for some reason it's hard to find.

2006 - 2008: For my first two years in Grantham I met with three new friends from my new community Cindy, Abigail and Rhonda for intentional time of prayer and community. What incredible women each of them are! We were/are different in some ways but our journeys have so many similarities and there was an immediate spiritual bond. These moments were sustaining to me, especially when I first moved to this town. There were also times of deep laughter and the beginnings of true friendships that I'm so thankful for today.

2009 - today: Some of my friends from my 2002-2005 small group started meeting together again this past year and have graciously included me in their meeting times together via cell phone and skype. What a blessing this has been and it has filled a gap for me. Yes, it would be so so much better to be in the same room with these friends (or friends here in PA) but in the meantime I'm thankful for some consistency in meeting together, reading the word, and prayer. I'm also blessed to meet up with these friends most times I'm back in Minnesota -- I can always count on a joyful time together and at least one deep laugh. One summer when I was home went on weekend-cabin-"retreat" which turned out to be a highlight of that summer and part of the return of this group. What actually drew me into memories of how meaningful small groups have been in my life was meeting with these friends long-distance tonight.

So many blessings have some from each of these groups. And, there are so many ways I've been impacted by the people represented in the words above. Again, I'm especially thankful for each of these groups tonight.