Our Small Group

This motley crew of 12 individuals. This assortment of friends only GOD could arrange so wonderfully unexpected. We who have committed to walk with each other through good and bad; this marriage of sorts. This "dynamic dozen", this "6 pack of married couples"; This group we jokingly call "The Remnant", these strangers that have become friends, these brave souls that share, these scuba divers that swim deeper parts of the gospel together, this place of deep waters and light laughter, this home of people; this marriage of 3 years now....(NOT ONE COUPLE LEAVING)..this cocoon of growth, this windy place of freedom and revelations... secrets and mysteries; this banquet table; this gift.
It's not all roses and pansies. We have struggled together and separately. Each bringing expectations and insecurities. Some expectations and disappointments sit lonely in the back of our hearts unheard, unexpressed. Baggage and sin. pride and shame. It is a struggle to always be at rest with each other. But EACH have committed to be a resting place. It is a struggle to trust. It is a struggle to get to each other...babysitters need to be called and paid, babies fed and put to bed, work and schedules tug at sleeves and pull away. But somehow, tattered and worn we come. For 3 years now, we have come.

I am getting to know these brave souls better: KEVIN, BILLY, CHARLA, HAL, TIFFANY, EMILY, DAVE, PAUL, TALITHA, KELLIE,and JEREMY. i see the transformation happening in each one.."The good work begun is being finished, and we get to work out our salvation together. I'm learning that is what it is...a working..a yeast spreading through dough.
Burdens have been carried, meals have been brought and shared, tears have been richly spilled, stories heard, respect grown, disappointments surfaced.. but we have not shy-ed away. Doubts of faith shared, questions asked and gently cared for. Among this family of friends; jobs have been lost and gained, leaps of faith taken, family members lost, 6 new babies born, pets purchased, houses moved out of and into, children prayed for, sickness suffered, stories shared, hopes deferred, hearts that are healed with revelations, songs have surfaced and art has been made, music produced, beats and rhythms on stage, late night studying, soccer games, nursing programs, tests, diets and cleansing, financial mending..taxes. seminary classes, preaching and lessons, creativity spilled and organized, motherhood and fatherhood entered into... and i am silenced.

All these years...i know it's a gift. I can hear the clock ticking. Time is tick- tocking. How long do good gifts last? Only the Giver knows. He gives and takes away. When and if He takes this away i think i'll fight Him tooth and nail. I will fight like a toddler red faced and clench fisted...angry at the Keeper for taking away his gift. Or maybe i wont. Maybe He will prepare us gently for what is next? or Maybe He will never take this gift away, and we will walk all our days together?

Tick Tock. Tick Tock. For now i rest in the rhythm of the tick and the tock, and in the keeper of the Clock. i rest with this group. This gift.