ONE WEEK TILL ZOE CONFERENCE! :)

Scott and I have been truly blessed in life to have a great set of friends surrounding us. They are an amazing support system. They have prayed for us when we needed prayer, they have encouraged us, they have challenged us.... This summer we all decided to start a Sunday night Bible study together. We had all been in various small groups-- some of which worked well, some of which were scattered and unorganized.... But, we all felt this deep need to establish this group and take our relationships to an even deeper spiritual level.

All of us are now entering the "30-something" stage of life-- kids, job/career choices, house choices, church choices. Basically, we are all "growing up" and starting to realize just how important our spiritual walk is and how desperately we need good friends on the journey with us-- people we can be real with and share ALL of our lives with-- a level of intimacy which totally surpasses purely social interaction. We want our kids to grow up together, playing, etc. but we also want them to see us trying to grow closer to God as we strengthen the ties with each other.

Yes, our lives are crazily busy and our schedules are maxed out-- but meeting each week is a priority for us... the cost of NOT meeting is simply too great. We are trying to hold each other accountable to this commitment and to be very disciplined about it.

We are studying "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge which has proven to be a great book for where we are. The basic premise is that we all rob ourselves of the true abundant life that Jesus came to give us because we aren't aware of the many ways we live in denial-- we hide behind masks and emotional/spiritual indecision rather than acknowledging our real reason/purpose for living. God has called us to a life fully alive in Him, and when we hide behind our masks, we rob Him-- and others-- of His glory.

It is so incredible how our group has melded even over the last few weeks once we have started to drop the "masks" and to get real about where we are on the journey. Once you decide to surpass the social appearances and lay everything out on the table for all to see, relationships quickly deepen. People begin to see "Hey, they struggle with the same things we do!"; "I feel the same way at times in my life."

It is no wonder that James tells us in chapter 5 that confessing brings about healing. We can only begin to heal those things we are honest in naming aloud to each other. I am so thankful that we have a safe place in which to do this! I can't wait to look back in 20 years and see how God has been working among us and to see all the ups and downs we have helped each other through. Community is a good-- and necessary-- thing.

ZOE conference is coming up NEXT weekend! Can't wait to worship with everyone! It truly is one of my favorite times of the year! God is so obviously present in the hearts of all those who come to seek Him. We were all practicing last night, and it just felt so good to know that these songs will minister to people in ways we can't even know-- but that at the same time, it isn't about us. There is so much freedom in that!

Safe travels for all of you who are coming! Can't wait to see you-- or to meet you! :)