Never mind Wimbledon, or indeed the start of the summer festival season.
Being at our place for our weekly church group is the place to be!
Or so we’ve said…but as our little group changes over the next few weeks, it’s one way to keep things simple.
This week saw one group member return to the Czech Republic with her husband, another (Brazilian) return from an extended humanitarian trip, and a new member join who’s Finnish, and doing a study placement in Edinburgh over the summer.
Meanwhile, another former group member and her husband have had their first baby, back home in Australia; and others have bought their first house, down in deepest England.
New group members do find themselves getting an introduction not just to who’s there that night, but who is currently part of the group, and who has been that we might mention in conversation. I’ve been thinking of commissioning a blog from Dan as a way to keep that wider community together…
Whether people are from the UK or elsewhere, with English as first language or another in their collection, somehow we retain some key things: sharing our stories, and what God is doing in our lives; looking out for one another, and keeping cake on the menu as often as possible….
Whether we get to know each other for a short time, or longer, it’s great to see how we do learn to ‘weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice.’ We see breakthroughs for each other; we also share ordinary frustrations at work, or other situations that concern us.
No tent or wellies required.