Community

The community of people we have in Murray is really important to us. It's awesome to have a small group of people we've known for 10+ years, a core group that went to college together and have ended up here in Murray. Our cell group at church that meets on Wed. evenings is pretty big now as more families have joined and families are growing. We currently have 19 adults, 9 kids ages 4 and under, and 3 babies due in the next few months. One thing our group has struggled with is how to have a meeting, feel like we're being productive, and really just be able to concentrate and have some worship time. The solution we have now is to have two older couples from another group watch the kids on a couple Wed. of the month, then two moms take a turn, then two dads. This is working pretty well. The adults get some time to worship and pray, and the kids get time to play and run around together.

Pup and I started reading this book called So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore by Wayne Jacobsen after I read a book by him that I really got a lot out of. It's a fictional work about a pastor who starts to really question what he's doing in ministry and an account of his conversations with a stranger he comes to know and thinks could be John the beloved. (It's fiction, remember?:))

Anyway, the pastor and his friends end up starting a home church that seems a lot like our cell group. John comes to talk to their group and answers questions about what to do with the kids in a way that surprises them. He pretty much tells them that maybe their meetings should look more like a family getting together than a meeting. If they are just having a meeting to feel productive, don't bother. God wants relationships and He wants us to be sharing our journeys with each other. I've been mulling this over.

Saturday night several of us from cell got together at Aaron's house for a bonfire. It got rained out prety quickly so we all made ourselves comfortable inside, the kids with a movie, the girls chatting, some playing cards. Kristin and I started playing cribbage, then others started dominoes. (We're a wild crowd, huh!) Later, Luke came up to the table and I asked if he wanted to play with us. We taught him dominoes and he actually did a good job playing. The whole time, though, I was appreciating that I could sit with my girlfriends on a Sat. night and they not only welcomed Luke joining us, but encouraged him as he played. I appreciate that he's getting big enough to play with us. I appreciate that we're spending time with people who are good examples for us and our kids.

That book I'm reading kept talking about not focusing on a meeting so much as sharing life together, the life we live in the Father. That's how I felt on Saturday evening when I was with my friends. To me, it was a better lesson for Luke to see us all playing and listening and talking about real things than most Sunday school lessons. These are just some of the things I'm pondering lately...