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

Nov 28

Written By Katie Cook

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

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.