The Home Group

 When I was growing up I had three big brothers and a mom. My brothers were several years older than me. My two oldest brothers were constantly in trouble. Drugs, alcohol, jail, prison. My mother was married several times and she ended up divorced and single by the time I was seven. She never remarried. She worked hard at cleaning houses, then moved up to a cook in a restaurant. Life was not easy for us, not ever.
Life now, is very different. I have my husband and my children that I see daily and love so much. God has blessed me with a beautiful family.  And, I have my home group, this is my study group within my church. These are my friends that we meet with every week. We eat dinner with them and we study God's word with them, I love them like family. I connect with them. Soon, we will be parting ways, and I will be finding that hard. We have laughed together, prayed together, cried together. We have had many meals together. These are the friends that have watched me learn to cook, they have eaten every morsel of food I have put on the table, good and bad. They have showed up. They have loved me. These are the friends that read my posts, they encourage me, they laugh with me, they help me. I love them because they tease me, they play twister with me, they talk to me, they steal my chair and buy me peace belts. I love them because they eat my fudge bars and bring me honey and throw away my trash. I love them because they buy me coffee and meet me every week at Starbucks. Yes, I love my home group because they love my God and I know they will be in His Kingdom with me and we will be an eternal family forever.
Jesus, Say That Again to me, you have blessed me with a chosen family my home group, so that I can know how much I am loved by You. Thank you dear Jesus!