I felt so lonely when we first moved.
New pastor’s wife to a new community, a small community.
None of my usual comforts nearby. No church friends. No work-out buddy. No library with an awesome children’s section. No new YMCA with its handy child-watch room. No Wal-mart for last-minute needs.
Hardest of all, no family.
And I needed a way to connect, to meet some like-minded women, to make friends, especially mama friends.
So, without really knowing what I was doing, I started a group for moms. The first year was hardest. I felt so inadequate and out of my element, a leader who didn’t really trust she should be a leader just yet. But the Father kept encouraging, keep at it.
The second year our group actually fizzled out. I didn’t know what to do, how to “fix” it. So, I cried out for help.
The loneliness returned and I despaired.
Then a neighbor invited me to join a group of women who were going to clean up the community parks. We spent the summer scraping paint, picking up trash, using our shovels, and dreaming up grand plans. With sweat on our brows, we chatted and laughed, stopping here and there to calm a needy child or give some correction. They became friends to me, these volunteers, these giving women.
So that Fall, I decided to try once more for that space I wanted, a space to just be real with some mama friends – no need for makeup or jewelry, clean houses or nice clothes. Just some adult conversation in a comfortable place – an informal gathering for an informal crew.
Now we gather, almost every week.
We aren’t many, but the fellowship is sweet. We talk of babies and toddlers, problems at school and problems at home. We talk of husbands we love and house chores we hate. We even talk politics sometimes. No subject is off-limits.
And lately we talk an awful lot about Jesus, too.
It’s so simple, yet so much more than I planned from the start because it came from Him, these gifts -my friends, my people.
We gather,
and He blesses every time.
Jen 🙂
I’m joining back up with the Five Minute Friday group this week after a looooong absence, and boy do I feel rusty! If you’re new around here, FMF is when a large group of us free-write on a one-word prompt for only five minutes (well, some of us are known to stretch the rules a little) – no planning, no editing, no stressing. 🙂 If you want, come join us over at Kate Motaung’s place!
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