How might you imagine God could use you, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to change your part of the world for eternity?
God is so good and He sends grace when we ask Him to work in our lives. Eight years ago, I was feeling lonely and unsupported in my stage of life. I knew that fellowship was what I needed, but I didn't know of a group or Bible study where I would find like-minded friends.
So, as I had learned many other times, if I wanted a group, I knew would have to start it!
And so I put out an announcement to all the people I knew from various activities and invited moms in for a Bible study, snacks, and friendship at my home once a month.
In the first year or so, my little group grew to become a roomful. We started at 6:30 and shared snacks and talked and talked. Then we did introductions to find out where everyone came from. A chapter discussed from one of my books, discussion of the verses in the back of the book, prayer, and more talking followed. Sometimes I would say goodnight and go upstairs to bed at 11:00, and still mamas would stay and talk with each other!
Eventually, we ran out of room in my living room, dining room, and entrance hall combination, and finally people started sitting all the way up our front stairway!
These were the sweet women in my life, many who became my closest friends. So fun and sweet. I loved having them in my home. At one point, we had about 70-90 coming regularly at a time! Our largest group was 180—don’t ask how we managed—we just all sat close! That meant lots of cars. Finally, the police came to my door and said, "If there are this many cars again, we will have to fine you $1000.” Whoops!
So, we approached our church and said, "Could we begin a mom's Bible study at church by hosting my home Bible study there and asking if anyone else is interested?"
When we held our first meeting, 260 women showed up! We made circles of chairs and placed moms at tables, so everyone could have a small group of women to meet and talk with.
I have written 24 books that can be used as a basis for discussion and learning in a small group-it’s what we call Mom Heart Groups.
What about you? Do you have community already? So many people are missing it, but haven’t stepped out to try creating one on their own—and this has always been key in my life. Perhaps you’d like to start a Momheart group! Just pick up one of my books, invite some people over who are interested in friendship and reading, and make a pot of tea and maybe some cookies. Sometimes people are just waiting to be asked. You never know what God might do if you take initiative, step out in faith and see how He may use you to change your world. Everyone needs a support group. How about this fall?
Clay and I wrote Taking Motherhood to Hearts, a book to help moms run their groups — you can order your copy below!
