Today I'm thankful for the thousand ways God has used LifeGroups to connect me to people who have shaped and transformed my life!!
- Rachel's Group ~ Women's group in Midwest City where I met Eva (pictured left below) and Gwen (right)... Eva had an obvious deep and real walk with God. Just listening to her talk made me want to be closer to Him! Gwen was the first to reach out one on one and mentor me (she was 31, I was 21). She was a huge Joyce Meyer fan and loaned me her Beside the Still Waters tapes - so fantastic! (I'd seen Joyce at a conference with Josh but hadn't heard much of her since then.) For the next few months, I got a new Joyce tape or CD set every week from Gwen, and soon started buying some of my own.
- Chad and Angie's Group ~ Randomly found them online and joined when I moved to Tulsa in 2007. This is where I met Kristin and Cassie. Kristin and I are still close today - I was in her wedding last year - she's been a huge encouragement to me spiritually. And in 2008, she introduced me to Laura Allison, who is one of my very best friends! Cassie invited me to the CLS (Christian Legal Society) parties, and since I was desperate for friends after the letter, I went. The first event I went to was in September at a creepy house where she was house-sitting for her boss. I was half ready to leave, but decided to stay since I heard there was a 'surprise party.' The party was for the CLS president, Malori Riah. Cassie decided to hang out outside, and thanks to the biggest spiderweb I've ever seen, I chose not to join her. So I stayed back and listened to Malori telling stories that made everyone laugh, thinking to myself that she was obviously the coolest person there. (This was September 2007 - it was a belated surprise birthday party for Malori because her brother died only a few days before her birthday that year. I was there because all my friends had abandoned me and I needed to branch out and try to connect with new people. And God knew what He was doing the whole time. I love that!!) I could go on for pages about how Malori and Laura have changed my life - I love them both and thank God for them!
- Ruth's Group ~ I heard they were doing Beth Moore's Daniel study and decided to join! (Mom had done it earlier that year and loved it.) The first night I'd planned to go was June 12, 2007 - the exact day I got the letter from JMM. Mmmm, God's timing! This was a group of one mother, three grandmothers, and me. But it wasn't ever awkward and they never made me feel out of place. No, they listened to me and prayed for me and encouraged me through all the confusion, pain, and drama of that year. The fact that they were older and had some perspective on the fact that life goes on after broken relationships was really helpful. Ruth and Charlotte are both awesome and fun and encouraging, women I'm truly thankful for!
- Diving Deeper Group ~ Kristin, Bobbi, and I co-founded and co-lead this group in the beginning. This is where I met Chet Lee, my healthiest male friendship to date. And through this group, I met Jeff, Liz, Nathan, Jennie, Sarah Heiskell, Mindi, Caleb, Karli, Steve, etc. This has been my core social group for most of my life in Tulsa! Leading the group through John Eldredge studies and planning Eugene Field parties and micromissions forced me to step up and be more confident.
- BattleCreek Community Group ~ Through this group, I met Brittany Bolt, an awesomely confident and Christlike woman who became my friend and eventually my roommate. Through knowing her, I learned that her sister's home was destroyed in the Joplin tornado, and got a joint LC/BC group together to go and help.
- Diving Deeper Women's Group ~ This group is where I met Talhia Hodges, Lindsay Johnson, and Kelly Hall! Talhia is my 5k running buddy and has quickly become my closest married friend. :) Lindsay started a mentoring group where we meet with her mom a couple times a month to ask questions and learn from her. And Kelly has been kind and genuine and encouraging from the beginning. I'm also thankful for the opportunity to share my testimony with this group (click my picture to the right for a recap).
- Cameron's Women's Group ~ I only went to this group one time. It was December 2011, as Mom was still recovering from their major car wreck. I needed some encouragement and heard they were studying Captivating - and no one loves John Eldredge more than I do! :) During prayer requests, one of the girls mentioned looking for a new job. So I said I wasn't very happy with my job either, and had thought of going back to school for Psychology/Counseling. Cameron's mother (pictured with her below) just so happened to be a psychologist who had graduated from SNU, so she told me all about their awesome one-night-a-week program. Less than a month later, I was enrolled and preparing to start school!!
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