“I have had the immense privilege of being a part of my Small Group here at Resurrection for almost six years. To be completely honest, I was fairly hesitant to join my group at the beginning. I think I did it more out of what felt like moral obligation, or that sense of “this is the right thing to do”, than out of a belief that this community would truly matter. What I have found over the years is that this group has transformed both my life, and the lives of my group members. We have become different by knowing one another. We have carried one another through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Our children have their own little people and get to watch how to build authentic relationships. The list really goes on.
To dive a little deeper: Almost exactly one year ago, we had a member of our small group tell us that they were getting a divorce and almost simultaneously we learned that the wife in a couple in our group who had just gotten married received an unexpected and terrifying cancer diagnosis. Our group immediately shifted our meeting format, our focus, and our support to try to meet our friends where they were. We brought back Zoom to ensure our friends could always participate, even while quarantining during chemo treatments. We had one meeting at our friend’s house to help her pack up her belongings to move out of her home. We shared Scripture, worship songs, and food whenever we could. A year later, these problems haven’t been solved and unfortunately, we’ve added a few more, but isn’t that life? In the words of Frederick Buechner, “Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.”
Knowing that I have this group of incredible people around me, that God has gifted me with such community, means that I (and hopefully all of us) can venture more fearlessly through life and when the hard things come, we’ll have a support system that will walk with us every step of the way.”
