You Get More Than You Give!

By Carroll Weyrich

In the midst of the 40 Days of Purpose last spring, several men at Central invited me to join their small group. At first I resisted, since a certain degree of "transparency" would be involved. To be honest, I just did not want to bare my soul and innermost thoughts to anyone except the Lord and my wife. Boy, was I wrong in that initial decision!

But Chris Carter was persistent. He kept bugging me until I threw up my hands in surrender and said, "Yes." Now, each Thursday morning when the alarm sounds at 5:30 am*, I roll bleary-eyed out of bed. Once I'm moving and showered, however, the adrenaline begins to flow as I drive to meet with an absolutely great group of men at Panera Bread.

In all of this, God knew my needs better than I did. Just after I started participating in the group, my wife and I found out that she was facing a life-threatening medical condition. The Lord has really blessed us, however, in the unconditional love and prayer support that we've received from these guys. The experience has been greater than I could ever have imagined!

When originally asked to write this article, my response was that, due to my wife's medical problems, I had too much on my plate. During the Annual Congregational Meeting, however, Doug Turner reminded us that what we do is not about us. It is about God-and how we can, in any small way, seek to serve the Lord. How could I, after what the Lord has done for me, our family, and Central, possibly say NO to Him? Obviously, I could only say YES.

So now let me ask you: If you are not currently in a small group, when will you stop making excuses-like I did-and join one? Once you do, I'll give you an iron-clad guarantee that you will ask yourself why you didn't do it sooner! You will most certainly GET more than you GIVE!

*Editor's note: Rest assured that not all small groups start at such an "obscenely early" (to use Carroll's phrase) hour. Groups meet every day of the week and at various times a day.