Confessions of a church staff member....

I confess. I was not excited about small groups for a long time. There were several reasons why I guess; but the heart of the matter was that I viewed it as a burden. I felt obligated to go.

However, as I'm on the edge of praying about my new leadership role as a small group leader, I have been challenged by how God has used my small group leaders in my life over the last few months.

I want to be that kind of leader. One who is committed and unselfish enough to help others grow.. That's really where we get caught up in our testimony, in our service, in our ministry, in our jobs...we are selfish. It's human nature. It's because we have sinful nature.

In February, my parents were visiting from Ohio. My dad ended up in the ER after a very scary situation. I was a mess by the time we got him there. The short drama:
2 AM, and we have no land line. Cell phone to 911. They keep disconnecting. But now I know it only takes 9 minutes to get to the hospital. I literally thought I would lose my dad that night. I found out I'm not good under pressure. Ten minutes after we had arrived, I'm still pacing the ER and turn to see the doors open. My small group leader, Gail, and her husband are walking in the door. It was the final straw, I cried because they cared and loved us that much that they got up at 3AM to make sure we were okay.

The last few months, we've been in a couples small group. Sally and Greg, our leaders, have become our friends through a series of situations. One being that Greg is my doctor; and Sally is equally as brilliant in her health recommendations. So the week after I had started my EDS awareness tangent. I had just found out that "my disease" had t-shirts and awareness bands to help raise money for research. I walk into small group and realize that Sally had ordered her self a t-shirt off the national website. She was supporting what I affectionately call "my disease". Again, tears were in my eyes at the love that they showed to us.

So I think it's that simple. Jesus said the greatest commandment (Matt 24: 36-37) was to love the Lord your God with all your heart and then that we love one another. Yes, we tell them that they need to have a relationship with God. That they are sinners saved by grace. But, we have to show love. Unconditionally. Compassionately. Unselfishly. In the big and little things...