Home groups

Our new pastor (and friend) and his wife invited us over last night for a potluck. To me, when someone invites you into their home, it's an open door invitation to get to know them more personally. They are inviting you into their sacred space, where they eat, sleep, and play. We have been to a gazillion churches in the past and have never once been invited into the home of our pastor. Several of those places we did not even have a chance to talk to the pastor. In many large churches, you kinda just feel like a number. And sure, there are all kinds of group to join and participate in, but there still always seems to be this distance. So, to be invited into someone's home and to have the chance to get to know people on a more personal level means a lot to me.

Being a stay at home mom, I find it hard to meet new people. Because I am alone so much with the kids and don't have a lot of adult time, when I am in groups of new people I find myself struggling to interact. My youngest spent most of the evening hiding behind me and I didn't blame him. Sometimes I feel like hiding myself. But I know it's not healthy, so I am trying harder recently to step outside my comfort zone and make some new friends. Home church groups are a good way to do this. Sometimes being in a church I get overwhelmed by the amount of people and can't focus in on trying to get to know one person at a time in order to begin to form relationships. It's more comfortable and easier for me to get to know people in a smaller and more intimate group while in a comfortable and more relaxed environment. The papa also struggles with interacting with others. He is always either at work or at home with us and finds it difficult to meet people as well. I am hoping that this will be a good way for both of us to get to know some new people and build a few lasting relationships.

Moving closer to our families and then away again has also been difficult on me because I don't have the support or help here that I had gotten used to. I know that it's important for us to find a support group here. I'm learning the older I get that family can be whatever you make it. Friends can become such an important part of your life and the lives of your children, that they become an extended family. That is my hope for us.. to find a group of extended family and support network here.

Although I have several close girlfriends, they are scattered all over the place. We get together occasionally and talk through e-mail or on the phone once in awhile. But I am craving more regular, weekly interaction with people who share our beliefs and our struggles in parenthood and life in general. A group that comes together to talk, laugh, eat, and pray. I realize too how important it is for our children to also have this sort of interaction. I am hoping to build relationships with people whom I will eventually feel as comfortable leaving my children with as I do my own family. This is something we have never had as a result of moving so much. But, I realize more and more how much we need that sort of support group in our lives right now. I really believe in the saying that "it takes a village to raise a child". I love the idea of community living and will blog more about that soon.

I feel so thankful that God has listened to my prayers and brought a young couple into our lives, who so warmly welcomed us into their home. I am really looking forward to getting to know the people within our new church in hopes that we will begin to build lasting relationships. :)