A season of change

We made a decision.  A big one.  Not related to babies, surprisingly.

After 2 1/2 years, we are leaving our small group.  I know.  I have tears in my eyes as I write this.  These brothers and sisters in our small group are true friends, coming alongside us, giving hugs when tears won’t stop, helping us fight for joy, and along the road providing plenty of joy to our hearts.  They are what our hearts desired for so long.  True Gospel friends.

Why?  Many reasons.  Too many to list, probably.  In a time when we probably need them the most, we know that the Lord is leading us elsewhere.  Talk about a hard reality to swallow. 

For the past year, Alex and I have missed downtown campus.  We’ve both been at Bethlehem for almost 8 years, members for almost 5.  We “grew up” at downtown campus…we miss it.  Most of our small group lives south of the river, so we attended south for community.  But it’s not the right fit. 

We also have realized that this place where we are isn’t fitting as well as it did before.  You see, we’re the barren in the basket of fruitfulness.  My heart is burdened by the fact that the others would profit from conversations regarding parenting that they probably wouldn’t have with us present.  I don’t want to hinder a brother or sister.

Lastly, our small group was close to splitting and by leaving we pray they would have far more months together to fight for joy as one.

We’ll miss these great friends, partners in Jesus, but are thankful for the relationships we have made that we know extend further than Tuesday nights. 

Praying we find a group we fit in that can benefit us as this one has…a great feat to be sure.

we’ll miss you.