no.24 130524 Thank you for my life group

Colourful mugs at Indigo the bookstore. One of my favourite stores.

I've joined life group that my church offers. It's a Bible study group, but I guess my church just calls it differently. I joined one last year for the first time, and this is my second year being a part of great fellowship, time of learning and reflection with fellow Christian girls.

A couple of years ago, I wanted to be involved at my church, and be a part of some sort of Bible study because I was yearning for more of God in my life. By mid 2011, however, due to hardships in life, I felt lost and I started to wander aimlessly. When I think about it now, I'm not sure why I didn't try to hold on tighter to God when the times were tough. I know God wanted to continue our relationship, but I kept rejecting Him. I guess I didn't have much faith back then. There was absolutely no growth in my spiritual life during that time. My heart no longer sought after a personal relationship with Him.

By 2012, I came to realize that it was unhealthy to live life this way - living a life that's distant from God. Thankfully, something made me realize that I needed to get back to Him. In the midst of finding ways to rebuild my relationship with God, I found out that my church offers a life group. At first I was hesistant if this could help, but soon I decided to join.

Even after participating in a life group, I still struggled to get back on track and set my life focus on God. There were some days when I didn't feel like going. Actually, I think there was a time I just didn't go because I didn't feel like going. Most of the times, I forced myself to go. You might think forcing myself is probably as bad as not going at all. But at the end of the meeting, I always thought to myself "I'm glad I came out." The life group meetings came to an end at the end of the year. At that point, I took some time to look back to the past year. I realized that I didn't grow spiritually as much as I wanted in the beginning of the year. I was disappointed in myself but I wanted to keep trying.

This is my second year joining a life group at my church. The people, the atmosphere, the dynamics, the materials we cover are all different from last year. But the motive is the same - striving to have a closer relationship with God, to get to know Him on a personal level and to live a godly life. I am much more motivated this year than the last. It's still difficult to live a godly life, to pray and do quiet times consistently. However, I know I'm not alone. God has provided me with my life group girls - experiencing similar challenges in life, as well as in our spiritual life - to keep challenging myself to grow more and more, and to be there to encourage me when things are hard. Today, I am thankful for my life group (I'm just coming back from our meeting!), and I praise God for these wonderful ladies in my life.