Sunrise, Sunset

"We fear change." - Garth Algar, Wayne's World.

We've been in a small group Bible study through our church for the past three years. It was a very serendipitous series of events that lead us to the group that we ended up attending. I won't bore you with all of the details, but suffice it to say that we were very happy with the group. Up to that point, we really hadn't connected with people in town and were happy to even have people that we could name that I didn't work with. Very quickly, we were doing social events outside of the weekly small group: going out to eat, watching sporting events, play dates for the kids, etc. However, it is looking as though this chapter in our lives has come to a close.

We always knew that our group would most likely be temporary. In fact, it was stated as such at the beginning. We would stay together for a few years and then we'd branch out into other groups. After all, our church had just started trying to get people in to small groups and there was a strong need for more group leaders. That was the plan and we knew it from the onset. That doesn't mean that I have to like it, though.

It's not as though our group remained the same through all three years. One couple that was at the initial meeting decided that the group wasn't for them, so we didn't see them the next week. Over the three years, we added two new couples, a total of six new kids, and one more baby sitter. We've seen each other through ups and downs in our personal lives. We've spent more time talking about the collective labors and births than the time that was spent actually in labor and childbirth. We've laughed together, cried together, prayed together, and eaten a lot of desserts together. Now the time has finally come where it's time to branch out. It's time to multiply our groups so that others can be involved in small groups as well. So that they can have the closeness and the friendship. I'm just not sure if I'm ready for it to end.

I've used Garth's line from Wayne's World many times over the years because it is a quote with which I strongly identify. I've always been resistant to change. I think it has something to do with my upbringing. I lived in the same house for nearly the first 19 years of my life. In that time, I attended the same church, went to the same school with essentially the same classmates and had the same haircut. I had the same girlfriend all through high school along with the same best friend. Hopefully, that helps explain my aversion to having anything in my life change.

Again, I point out that I completely acknowledge the need for the group to split. We need to give others the opportunity to join small groups so that, as a church, we can have sustainable, personal growth in our faith. We need to make sure that people feel welcomed and "plugged in" at the church.

I'm just saying that I'm really going to miss that guaranteed time with some of my closest friends.