Hi everyone- It seems that we have all been going in a million different directions lately. The small group communication has all but stopped. I know that especially at times like this, I need fellowship and worship. After talking to Emily, I have agreed to take over the leadership of our small group. We have had lots of "we are going to do this, we are not going to do that..." talks. I know from experience(3 small groups in 12 years), this is only headed in one direction...down. Don't get me wrong, I love the dinner and fun times that we have, but I yearn for a closer relationship with my peers and God.
I am posting to let you know of some changes for this small group. Others in the group have vocalized these ideas, too. This is not coming out of left field and from just my own head. The small group as it has been is no longer. We are going to be meeting on Friday nights from now on around 6:30 or 7ish. Since several people in group have to work the week-ends at church, Friday nights just seem to be more practical. No school, either. We won't be as time crunched. It has also been expressed for us to get together more often. So, starting this week, we will meet every Friday night. We will still munch on goodies, but grow deeper in Christ together. I know this is a high level of commitment. If you feel like you are not up for it, or the time doesn't work for you, there will be no hard feelings. Because of the sensitive nature of many of our discussions, if you are going to continue with the group, you will be expected to be at small group. It seems that it is not always comfortable to air your "dirty laundry" with someone that you are not truly building a relationship with.
This has been something that has been weighing heavy on my heart for quite some time. I hope that you understand that this comes from a place of love and a desire to grow closer to Christ with others that share that commitment. I have enjoyed getting to know each of you and hope to know you better as the years pass with our group. Please publish to the bloc and let the group know what your decision is going to be. Thanks for your patience and understanding. My prayers are with each family as you decide what to do with this information. Remember, for those who Friday will not work, or don't want such a high-level of commitment, perhaps you could still meet on Sunday afternoons. I will leave that for someone else to decide.
We will host the first meeting of the newly refreshed small group this week. If a weekly commitment is what you are interested in on Friday, show up around 6:30. Just know that you will be making a committed decision.
Love to you all- Angie
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Sorry that I deleted my first comment--it didn't make any sense! Here goes:
We think that this is great news, too! I remember at our last meeting, Friday nights (with more frequency) was sort of decided upon. So, we are glad that it will now be happening. It seemed like we weren't all seeing each other enough to really be effective. And, this way, it won't feel as though we are trying to "squeeze" small group in at the last minute on every other weekend. Sunday afternoons and nights, I think, were becoming hard on everyone. This should be more relaxing--in a good way--in a way that makes us more ready to be a group! We will see you there.
Chad & I have really enjoyed the group, and Fridays will work a lot better for us than Sundays.
However, we do have to go out of town some, since both of our families live out of town (Chad's parents are 4 1/2 hours away, mine are 7 hours away), and I also have to travel for work (usually includes weekends). For all of these trips, we'll be gone on Friday. So, we can't truthfully say that we can commit to every week, but we can commit to the weeks that we're in town. We're usually in town at least 2 weekends a month, as we have nursery duty at the church.
Unfortunately, we'll both be out of town this Friday, as I'm traveling for work, and Chad has a commitment to participate in an alumni weekend at Ole Miss.
The weekly meetings will give us a better chance to attend a lot more of the meetings (seems like a lot of the meetings fell on weekends we happened to be gone). But, if the group needs more of a commitment than we can make, we'll understand. We would definitely love to stay in the group, but we'll leave it up to the rest of you to decide if you will be comfortable with that.
Amy & Chad
You should not feel like you have to write anything at all, right now! Take care, and know that we are all with you and praying.
We will see you folks on Friday. We are excited about the opportunity to grow and develop deeper relationships with God and the group.
We will be there!
Stacy and Ryan
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