Family and Fellowship

It really is something special to find where you belong. To find a community of people that love and accept you and share your values. People that strive to live out these values together, building each other up and encouraging each other constantly. It’s a rare gift that not everyone receives, to find a body of believers that understand how the Bible calls us to live as a family.

Mike and I are extremely privileged to have found that at the Fellowship, and even more specifically in the 1:17 life group (well…now two life groups…). It’s glaringly obvious to me how God is powerfully at work in both our church and this adoption ministry. The growth in the lives of these people in the past year or so is so evident and the bond is strong. What started as a small seed of faith, a willingness from one couple to listen and respond to the Father’s call to care for the oppressed, has blossomed and grown like a weed.

In January our group multiplied into two groups in order to welcome new families and spread our message of love for the orphans. It was a bit painful, the idea of not meeting with everyone weekly, but it was a good thing. Both groups read the fantastic book Adopted for Life by Russell Moore, which I highly recommend. Last week our two 1:17 life groups recombined for a potluck supper. Then we were led in sharing the Lord’s Supper together, right there in my kitchen. Not something I ever would have predicted doing in my house, but it felt totally right, even reminiscent of the first church of believers breaking bread together as they figured out how to do the work Christ began.

On Saturday we gathered again at a local park for a picnic with all our kids…we have a lot of them. The families in this group love kids. We celebrated the birth of a brand new baby to one family and the homecoming of a precious daughter from China to another family. The guys played football, the gals talked adoption logistics, and the kids followed a family of baby ducks around for hours. Only about half of all the families in 1:17 could make it, but we took a big group photo of those that could.

On Sunday we saw a short video montage of some of the work our church has been doing for the past eighteen years. It was really encouraging to get a glimpse of how deep and wide the reach of the gospel can be through the faithful work of the Lord in a small group of disciples. Sometimes I think our church isn’t as impactful being in the midst of our super affluent community as it could be if we were working with poorer people, but that’s one of those lies the enemy would have us believe. The good news of God’s restoration is just as needed in the families of Cinco Ranch as it is anywhere in the world, and the resources he has provided our people with are being used not just here but in Indonesia, Mozambique, Guatemala, India, Brazil and beyond.

So yeah, I love Jesus but I love His church too. Don’t give up on the church…He certainly hasn’t.

13 thoughts on “Family and Fellowship”

  5. This is such an amazing gift, and something I’ve really struggled with over the past years.  We love our church as far as the leadership, the missions, and the message, but have really struggled to find a place where we feel like part of the community.  I tried volunteering for awhile, hoping to connect, but that didn’t really work out.  And we never were able to join a small group.  It’s something I’ve really mourned because I love love love love love my church.  I just sometimes wished it would love me back, LOL.  Anyway, I’m rambling, but reading about this gives me hope that we’ll be able to find a community like this to connect with when we move.  Best of luck to you guys on your adoption journey.  I’m so excited for you!!! xoxxo

  6. This is such an amazing gift, and something I’ve really struggled with over the past years.  We love our church as far as the leadership, the missions, and the message, but have really struggled to find a place where we feel like part of the community.  I tried volunteering for awhile, hoping to connect, but that didn’t really work out.  And we never were able to join a small group.  It’s something I’ve really mourned because I love love love love love my church.  I just sometimes wished it would love me back, LOL.  Anyway, I’m rambling, but reading about this gives me hope that we’ll be able to find a community like this to connect with when we move.  Best of luck to you guys on your adoption journey.  I’m so excited for you!!! xoxxo

  7. Let me encourage you Ashley! It took us a pretty long while to feel like we fit. We were there well over a year before this group was formed and we joined in. We talked to other small groups and intended to join one, but it just didn’t work out. I’m confident that’s because the Lord was holding us back until 1:17 started. I volunteered a bit, went to a couple of ladies ministry events and Bible studies but things just didn’t quite click until this. Also it’s not always perfect, far from it! And I even have moments when I feel completely lonely, like I don’t even quite belong with these folks…that’s TOTALLY the whispers of the enemy. 

    We had this once before, two churches and a whole decade ago, but we had to move and lost it. We never did find it again with our last church as much as we tried. So keep praying for it and keep making the effort to connect…I think sometimes it happens in the most surprising ways. 

  8. Let me encourage you Ashley! It took us a pretty long while to feel like we fit. We were there well over a year before this group was formed and we joined in. We talked to other small groups and intended to join one, but it just didn’t work out. I’m confident that’s because the Lord was holding us back until 1:17 started. I volunteered a bit, went to a couple of ladies ministry events and Bible studies but things just didn’t quite click until this. Also it’s not always perfect, far from it! And I even have moments when I feel completely lonely, like I don’t even quite belong with these folks…that’s TOTALLY the whispers of the enemy. 

    We had this once before, two churches and a whole decade ago, but we had to move and lost it. We never did find it again with our last church as much as we tried. So keep praying for it and keep making the effort to connect…I think sometimes it happens in the most surprising ways. 

  9. Yay!! This is the second child from China to join a family in our group in the past few months and they are both just adorable, precious kiddos. We also have families preparing to foster, adopting domestically, and waiting on children from Ethiopia, Korea, Russia and Haiti. It’s an avalanche that started just about two years ago 🙂  

  10. Yay!! This is the second child from China to join a family in our group in the past few months and they are both just adorable, precious kiddos. We also have families preparing to foster, adopting domestically, and waiting on children from Ethiopia, Korea, Russia and Haiti. It’s an avalanche that started just about two years ago 🙂  

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