A New Small Group

Last night, we went to our first small group through our new church - HTB. The group met in the leaders home, they're an American ex-pat couple with three kids. When we talked in the door, I introduced myself and her first comment was "With a name like Sarah Catherine, you *have* to be from the South". In the next ten minutes, we made the following connections:

- She grew up in Huntsville, Jones Valley to be specific. She lived next door to the Clouds (my dad's sister and her family) and she thinks she might have baby-sat for them years ago.
- She knows Nashville well, as she has extended family in Brentwood.
- Her brother went to Auburn, her sister-in-law went to Alabama. They understand the Iron Bowl and the passionate rivalry therein.
- He was a preacher/missionary kid who spent some of his growing up years in the Cleveland area.
- They met at Wheaton, and spent several years post-college in the Chicago suburbs. She attended Wheaton Bible Church for years and was very familiar with Park.
- She knew Big Idea and had several friends who worked there over the years. We did the whole "do you know?" game and she knew a couple of my former co-workers.

Honestly, by the end of that first conversation, I was a little weirded out and felt like we'd be living some sort of strange parallel lives or something! But it was fantastic to walk into a home that felt like a *Southern* home, to hear a voice with an accent that sounded like an old friend, to be surrounded by Alabama hospitality when we were nervous and feeling out of place in a new group of people.

The rest of the group arrived, and all were different nationalities... Aussies, Kiwis, a Malaysian Chinese, a Japanese Korean. There were several singles and two other married couples - both in their twenties. We were the most recent arrivals in the UK, so there was the usual "How do you like the UK? How's your adjustment been so far?" Everyone in the group could acknowledge how different the English culture is, even if the language was the same as the one they grew up with. Becky served dinner for everyone and as we ate, there was much conversation about traveling and different places we had all visited. It was great fun.

The discussion after supper was on Colossians 3, the wives/husbands, parents/children, slaves/masters section. The conversation took a few tangents but in all was fairly focused on applying the scripture to our lives and the leader did a good job pointing us back to the Word when we got off-track. Her husband was actually in New York for work, so we look forward to meeting him and several others who weren't able to be there.

I think we'll be back next week, even though we have to hire a sitter for Brooks. I sense that this could be a good place for us to find friends and get plugged in at church and we're both eager for that to happen soon. Thanks for your prayers - and please, keep em coming!