Community Bible Study

This morning I attended my first Community Bible Study. I have not participated in a group Bible study since Carter was a baby, back when we lived in Oregon. That was 6-7 years ago! I have been wanting to join a study for sometime, so I am thrilled to finally be a part of one! A few of my friends, neighbors and acquaintances recommended this study to me, and I am so thankful that it has worked out for me to attend.

So I went this morning, hoping for the best, but unsure of how it would go. As an introvert, walking into a large room full of people can be quite intimidating. And I can sometimes be awkward in unfamiliar social situations. In addition to the social aspect, I was also concerned about how my children would do when I dropped them off to their classrooms for childcare. My twins always cry when I drop them off at our church nursery, and my three-year-old Claira is an unpredictable, strong-willed red-head.

So, I was pleasantly surprised at how well things went this morning! First off, none of my children cried when I dropped them off! The twins happily walked into their classrooms, with big smiles on their faces. (They always cry at our home church!) I was shocked! For moms with littles, you know how huge this is. It's never fun leaving your child crying. So this was a great start for us!

So after dropping off the littles, it was my turn to face the large room of mostly unfamiliar faces. I spotted an acquaintance/friend and beelined to sit with her. After a quick chat with my friend, I began to introduce myself to the woman sitting right next to me. As it turns out, this woman was someone I actually knew, but had never met in person. In fact, I had prayed for her over the past two years, and she had prayed for me and my family when Carter was sick! You see, this woman had learned about Carter through mutual friends, and had followed my CaringBridge site. She read my journals and prayed for us, without ever meeting us! Wow! But there's more... ! Not long after Carter passed away, this woman was diagnosed with cancer herself and started her own CaringBridge site. A couple years ago a mutual friend sent me the link to her CB site, and since then I have been reading her journals and praying for her. Crazy eh? It was such an amazing thing for me to meet her! I think we both felt like we already knew each other. When you read someones blog/journal for so many years, you often feel like you know the person, even without having ever met. Out of all the women in that room that I could have sat down beside, God had me sit next to her. Wow!

And there's more...! After the large group session, we broke up into smaller "core" groups. Each small group has a leader. When the leader introduced herself, she shared a little bit about her family. She briefly mentioned that one of her children was sick and currently in treatment. She said that she would share more about it in the future, when time allowed. Of course, I was curious to know what her son was in treatment for. As we left the small group time, one of the other woman shared with me what our leader's son was in treatment for. Cancer! Wow! I was once again amazed at God's hand in this! Out of all the small groups for me to be placed in, I was placed in this woman's--- a fellow "cancer mom." I believe that God placed me in this particular group for a reason!

I am really looking forward to what I will learn and how I will grow as I participate in this Bible study. I am so thankful for how well today went. And I am amazed at God's hand in so many of the details!

~ Wanda