Blessed through community

Every Tuesday I wake up earlier than normal (which is really not early for most people) I try to wake up and prepare my heart and mind for worship in a short amount of time, I climb up the stairs with sully in my normal grumpy morning attitude, feed him and wait for my fellow small group members to come. Many times when I'm reading and studying to prepare for group or trying to wake up in the morning I feel somewhat burdened and sometimes wonder if life would be easier if I didn't have this group to go to. If I could only sleep another 30 minutes and have my normal every morning routine things would be so much better! At about 8:15 every Tuesday morning I thank God that I got out of bed and I thank him for the wonderful group of people I spend every Tuesday morning praising him with.

I joined my first small group in the fall of 2007 and immediately fell in love with this wonderful group of people. I spent almost a full year with them before moving to Lynchburg and leaving them behind. I struggled in Lynchburg because I was having a hard time finding a group to study with and I truly missed that aspect of my life. After a year in Lynchburg and no luck because of the fact that all small groups and bible studies seemed to be in the evening, I felt called to start a morning study that other people like me who had mornings off could attend. I prayed a lot about this and was nervous about leading and that maybe people wouldn't come. I have never thought of myself as an organized leader and I have never lead any Christian group other than FCA for a couple of months before bible study. The mere thought of leading a bible study took me way out of my comfort zone. Through prayer and sheer desire to serve and have community I decided to try it. It has turned out to be more wonderful than I could ever have imagined. We have wonderful in depth talks about life, the bible, and sometimes just silly things. Everyone is always very respectful of others opinions and I always leave feeling accomplished and warm and fuzzy. I has made me feel closer to God in many ways and has definitely built an amazing support system in my home in Lynchburg.

Bonding over God is an amazing experience. You can have different opinions, backgrounds, ideas but one thing is common... you all love the Lord with all of your heart and want to love and serve him with everything you have. When you have that drive and purpose the conversations that you can have with others are uplifting, sometimes challenging, but mostly wonderful. The feeling I have of bonding and studying with these individuals is hard to explain but I know that it is a blessing that I never expected to be this wonderful. The Lord is good all the time and all the time the Lord is good. He provides what we need and answers our prayers. If he isn't answering your prayers it's because he has something much bigger planned for you that he hasn't revealed yet. My something bigger in September while all year I was praying to find a small group, was to start one in my very own home and lead others in learning about Jesus and I too am lead by Him and can't do it without Him.

"It is not the greatness of my faith that moves mountains, but my faith in the greatness of God." Unknown

It's not important who does the planting or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one to waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.
1 Corinthians 3:7-8