life. group. {as in people i walk with}

Wednesday, November 28


the day kevin and I returned from our honeymoon
we were greeted with 2 homecoming gifts:

1) a flooded home 
and 
2) a small indonesian man that wanted to say with us for 2 months 

let's just say i cried a wee bit. 
{that is a story for another time!} 

anyway.....
we also came home to a community that had virtually moved away. 
living in southern california has its advantages, but one disadvantage is that it is a very transient place. 
people come and go like nobody's business. 

so kev and i felt a tad friendless when we were first married. 
i seriously stalked married people at church, like it was my job. 
ring? CHECK! 
gotta get to KNOW them. 
a little pathetic, i know. 

in light of realizing that being a stalker wasn't going to cut it, 
 kev and i got on our knees and began to pray. 
for a group of people that we could 
DO
LIFE
WITH. 

and not just meet once a week and never see each other, but like live, and breathe, and talk, and WALK through everything with. the messiness. the JOY. the heartache. the celebration.

and the mission. 

we prayed for people with hearts that broke for 
the poor. 
the forgotten. 
the marginalized. 

and over a year later, we're living in IT. 
we never advertised our group, God just brought everyone of us together by word of mouth. 
and it's freaking awesome. 

we are called by God to live in community. 
community is a place that SHINES bright the love of Christ. 
like a taste of heaven, now. 

people can actively and tangibly see Christ's love
through people,
when they are living breathing LOVE to each other. 

in John 13:35 it says...
"This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

isn't it beautiful that our love for one another is a powerful witness to the Gospel? 
and truly, I feel so blessed to be a part of a community that does love one another. 
and deeply. 

as I was scrolling through some recent pictures, I realized that almost everything I was doing in my "life" involved someone from this group. That every inch of my life was lived with one of these precious people. 

so here are a few life moments with this crazy group that God has gifted me with. 
{at the grand opening of James and Amanda's new store}
{girl pile on our kitchen floor at life group} 
{watching the dance performance that Meki's student's put on}
 {attending an essential oils workshop at Amanda's store!}
{us wifey's cheering the boys on at their basketball game!}
{thanksgiving! after we raided the closet at the beach house, of course}
 {Hillary came to join us Cooks for Thanksgiving! LOVE HER} 
{brotherly love} 
{this man is in my life group forever and amen} 

praying sweet community surrounds you today:) 
and if you don't have a community, pray for it! 
i guarantee you praying is a lot more effective than stalking! 

love Katie 

9 comments :

  1. LOVE this post. I am involved in a small group in the Christian fellowship on my campus and I am really starting to learn the importance of it now, and especially once I'm done college. So joyful to hear how God provided for you!

    -Sarah

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  2. ahhh the girl pile picture makes me soooo happy!!!!!!! and the one of you and hill in dana point is so gorgeous!

    love youuuuuu!

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  3. I love that you guys prayed for it and here you are.
    what an amazing group of people you have in your life :)

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  4. I am so inspired by you! We are having a similar story here where the LORD provided a house for us just two doors down from some of our good friends so we really get to do life together. Then He keeps bringing in more and more people and it is so incredible. And it is so true, people really see Jesus when they see our love for one another.

    PS: We are coming to Disneyland, Lord willing, In march!!!! We must meet!!!!

    Love, Anna

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  5. SOOO greatful for this group that yall have. god is so faithful.

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  6. So awesome having that group of people who you do life with!

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  7. You are blessed! So glad answered your prayer for a group to do life with! They look like a fun group of people. Can I come join? Haha. :)

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  8. Hey, nice site you have here! Keep up the excellent work!
    Yüz Germe

    ReplyDelete

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