To my small group

To my small group,

I am honestly still in shock and having a very difficult time processing all of this. I have gone to send a text in the group chat over and over and just don’t know what to say and I really just don’t want to have to say anything. I want things to go back to normal. This new reality that we have been thrown into so quickly has been so tough. I miss everyone so much and it’s only been like two weeks since I have seen everyone.

As I am writing this, it is Thursday. The day we all get together at 5:30 despite our crazy busy lives. We get to hug each other when we walk in the door. We get to hang out around the table for at least 20 minutes before we even make our way into the living room to start a bible study. When we finally make it to the couch or the floor for most people (haha), I try to get the computer to hook up to the tv and it usually makes me mad and I have to keep trying it. Then, I click on to the enneagram slide for the week that we all look forward to and to see how accurate it is for our lives. Then, we would get to write out our prayer requests to someone that would be praying for us the whole week. The next (at least) 25 minutes is spent with us going around the circle saying our high’s and low’s and the weird ice breaker questions I have planned for us. After all of this, we get into the topic for the week. I know some days we thought we would never actually get to the topic I had planned for us because we spent so much time talking to each other. And oh my how I wish I could go back to this time where we would just talk with each other. I wish our apartment could be full of different conversations and laughter. I honestly do not remember what we talked about each week, and I planned them all. But what I do remember is how you all made me feel. I felt loved and at home. I felt so thankful to have a group of friends that could love me for who I am and that we could spend time together each week to talk about Jesus. We were able to come together in the name of Jesus to grow spiritually with each other. And I know that my relationship with the Lord would not have grown as much as it did in the past year without the community of each one of you.

I never anticipated this, but nobody did.

I did not think that two Thursdays ago would be the last time we would be able to meet this semester. If I did, I think I would have tried to soak it all in a little more.

This small group that the Lord led me to start has given me the most beautiful and amazing friendships. I am so thankful that we have been able to meet once a week for over a year. I am so thankful to have had you all as my rock during one of the most crucial times in my life. College has not been easy for any of us and we have all worked so hard to get where we are, and I know that I could not have done it without every single one of you. I know that life won’t be the same for the majority of us after this season of life. Many of us will be graduating soon and starting our careers. Many of us will move far away from each other and only talk through texts or calls every now and then. This is not how I pictured this semester to end at all. I thought we would have many more times to be with each other. I thought we would have many more high’s and low’s to talk about. I thought we would get to talk and laugh with each other until this semester ended. But that is not the case. I just wanted to write this to let you all know that I am extremely thankful for you all. I am proud of you and how far you have come.

I have been trying to think of some ways that we could still have community and talk about scripture and Jesus each week. Please let me know if you have any suggestions on how we can do that. Thank you all for being such great friends and I am so excited to see the plans the Lord has for us in the future. I know that we are going to all have very different lives in a few years, but I pray that we can all still remain friends. If you need anything or just someone to talk to, please call me. I have been at home, so trust me you won't be bothering me. I would love to talk. I will be praying for each of us and our families to stay healthy during this time. Good luck with the rest of your classes this semester. Hope to see ya'll soon. In this stressful time for us, pray without ceasing and remember this verse:

2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness, but of power and love and discipline.

Stay in touch.

xoxo,

Madison