Lifeline

Last night we had our Lifeline small group over to our apartment. It was a bit of a challenge to fit all eight of us into our tiny place, but with minimal squeezing we were able to make it work. It was a great evening. We made stuffed hamburgers (stuffed with bacon and cheese), grilled sweet potatoes, and a toasted almond, cranberry, gorgonzola salad. One guest brought along our good friend Schlafly, and the evening was made complete.
I love our Lifeline. There are four couples, each of whom are involved in youth ministry leadership in some capacity. Since we each are able to spend a lot of our time studying and teaching God's Word, we decided to let the emphasis of the group be our friendships. This has been a wonderful plan. The first couple months of our time together we spent just telling our stories and playing games together, simply building a good relational foundation. We've been intentional about sharing a meal together in each others homes so that we can get a glimpse of what everyday life looks and feels like for each other, and it's really payed off...its amazing what you can learn about a person from their decorating styles. In the most recent months however, we've been doing much to move into deeper conversations about the real substance of our lives. Its been neat to see the ways our friendships have grown to naturally have personal conversations grow out of our hang out times. Last night, I was able to talk a lot about the various fears and doubts that I experience as we struggle to find ways to pay for school and look forward to raising our support. I think it's hard for me because my background has not been one of being financially dependent of God's provision. These last three years of seminary and the next couple decades of our work have been and will be another story. It's hard to trust God's provision when I haven't experienced a personal history of his faithfulness in this regard. I say this not to express doubt in God's ability, but to show a weakness in my own faith. That said, the other couples in our group were hugely encouraging in sharing their own stories of God's faithfulness. It is a blessing to be able to rest on the experiences of friends around me when my own experience is still new and weak in certain areas. Being in this Lifeline group has done much to show me the importance of intentionally building strong friendships around my life. I very much look forward to how God will grow and develop these friendships, even though some of us may eventually move to different locations in life. These friendships have been the tangible hand of God in my life, and I have been hugely blessed to have these brothers and sisters stand with me as we serve alongside each other.

Drew