Holding onto Hope

I am in the Young Careers Sunday school class at First Pres and that alone is blog-worthy...but for another time. Today, I am instead gushing about the women's small group that comes out of the Young Career class. We met last fall every other Thursday, but just couldn't get the ball rolling because everyone is so busy...so we tried to switch to Monday nights and it was apparent last night that that works much better for more of us (especially me since I usually go to the Harwood's on Thursday night for dinner with camp friends!)

Lisa Franklin (Jonathan Franklin's mom, for those of you who know J-Frank and Ted Franklin's aunt, as well as Nurse Lynn's sister--so many connections!!) leads the group and she is so honest and vulnerable with us and I just love this group of women. Here are her list of requirements for the group:

DO NOT RUSH in order to get there. Wrecks happen, traffic, children get sick and so do we. Come anytime from 6:00 on.

NO GUILT if you can't make it, don't feel well, or are just having a bad day and don't feel like seeing anyone else; don't feel guilty about not coming. I lived too many years doing things out of guilt and it's NOT worth it. You will not hurt my feelings if you can't make it. Just be honest.

DON'T WORRY if you haven't read the chapter; we are going to read it out loud together and talk about it. I know all of you are working very hard all day and you don't need another thing "to do". I want this to be a joy and a time of refreshment.

IF YOU NEED TO LEAVE EARLY, do. As for staying later, I'm ok until about 8:30, but night time is really hard on me, and I tend to get over stimulated and then don't sleep at all.

I love that she did this before we even started. It just serves as a reminder that small groups are supposed to be refreshing, not yet another stressor in our lives.
We finally got started on this book last night and it is a story about a woman who loses her baby girl, Hope, to a disease that has no cure. In Nancy Guthrie's book Holding on to Hope, she parallels her story of loss to the story of Job in the Bible, who loses everything but somehow continues to praise God through the whole ordeal. I am very excited about this book and this time together with these women. I'm sure I'll talk about it later, but I was so filled by the Spirit after leaving last night--what a rare joy to feel that full in Him!