A few m

onths ago I was speaking with a friend of mine about our values. As the converstation went a long we spoke about the small groups(life groups) in our church. He saw life groups that met in homes during the week as social time. Since he got social time on other nights, he felt no need to go to a group during the week. This kind of puzzled me.....I mean, I've grown up with these groups since middle school. They were a priority; important for growth, accountabiltiy and fellowship.  He felt that since he already lived with two christians that keep him accountable and had other christians come over what else did he need? We went back and forth about pros and cons on the whole life group thing when we just agreed to disagree.

 

I started to think about the times I had had in life groups. My first one was when i was in 7th grade. My leader was amazing. She was more than a leader.  She prayed for me, encouraged me and spent time with me. She answered any questions I had about the bible or life in general. She showed me how to have a quiet time. She was the first person to see leadership potential in me and foster it; although I didn't really think I could be a leader. Along with that I had such a close knit circle of girls who truly cared about me, who I could share with and and who knew me inside out.  In high school, my leaders were a husband and wife who poured into me. They spent time with me, prayed for and with me, led me spiritually and had fun with me. They pushed me into small leadership positions. They checked in with me during the week.  They expressed the plans they knew God had for me to succeed and step out/stand out in life and once again I avoided fully doing so.

 

It wasn't until I was getting out of high school that I really started to understand the plans God had for me. It all started to dawn on me that I had had people mentoring and encoraging me on to this point. That's when I truly realized the importance of having a mentor/personal leadership/encouragement. I whole heartedly believe in it because it has greatly influenced everything I do and have done.

 

This fueled my feelings about life groups. It's not just about fellowship it's about having people/persons who will pour into your life on a regular basis, more than just on Sundays or Life group days. I believe that everyone has potential and that everyone can grow when poured into, encouraged and ushered to do so. I believe in mentorship. I believe in encouragement and that seemingly a little goes a very long way. I believe in community.  That is what I believed my friend was missing out on. True connection beyond Sunday mornings. True community with belivers in as well as outside of church that goes to a deeper level.

 

So now I see how I have practice those values. I led a middle school with a group of girls and now they are older and out of highschool fulfilling the potential I encouraged them in. Was it just me alone? no.  But it was a seeds planted and nurtured along the way untill they bloomed into what God clearly had for them.  The picture above is me and a group of life group leaders, life group members and mentors that I have known for years, specifically within the college ministry now, that have been pouring into me for years. We do life together....inside and out of church. We keep each other accountable and spur one another on. I fully believe that this is why I myself am a leader of a group now and why each of those different people are as well, one person who encouraged  and motivated one person who encouraged another.....and so on! I'm so thankful.