Why LifeGroups?

Have you been personally asked to join a LifeGroup this fall? The answer is YES because I am personally inviting you. Right now, I, Emily Turner, am asking YOU to join a LifeGroup. Yep. I sure am. Why? I knew you might push back, so I figured I'd better be ready.

Stories are often how I relate to people and I figured you might be similar in that way. When my husband and I got married (in 2009), we were babies. Not really, but as people in our 20's and me being new to Tuolumne County, plus the bonus of having no idea how to be married well, we needed community. We were starting new in so many ways. At that time, Sierra Bible Church didn't have many younger families and so the three of us couples (just kidding, I'm sure there were more but it sure seemed like there were only us three couples) decided to start meeting weekly. Over time and with the addition of babies and changing work schedules, our days and times had to adapt but it also made sense to eat together so we didn't have to start so late. For 10 years we met. At one point, the group grew to 6 couples, 9 kids and a partridge in a pear tree. We had seasons of in-home babysitters or no sitters and the kids going crazy. Our group worked through the divorce of one of the couples, hardships in work environments, job changes, loss and grief, and so much more. At one point we helped the token single guy make a dating profile and were there with him at his wedding. Looking back over those 10 years, I not only grew in faith and knowledge of the Scripture, but we grew together in friendship. Our group became people we depended on when one of us or a parent was in the hospital, when our marriages felt turbulent, when children misbehaved and we were at a loss. We made meals for each other and prayed over the phone with one another. There were early morning walks and late night visits to check in on one another. We took a chance on each other and over the years, became family.

It may be that you have given yourself every reason why not to dive in and take a chance on not only other people, but also on yourself. Your reason may lean toward feeling unseen or less than, which completely shatters my heart to think about. Your reason may be the lack of time and margin in your life as you've said "yes" to so many other people and situations. Understandable. Your reason for not joining a LifeGroup may likely be a myriad of intertwining reasons that keep you stalled out. Dear friends, you have a place here. You have value in a LifeGroup and there is a story, I believe, you'll tell one day about how your group became like a family for you. And I can't wait for that day- to hear you and celebrate with you!

Can I encourage you to take a chance? Can I urge you to lean in to one semester of LifeGroups and see what God does?