Us 2

The very first church that I ever got plugged into was Flatirons in Lafayette, CO, way back when it was on the south side of the road in a shopping mall between a bowling alley and a liquor store. They had this saying there, “Me Too.” It was a simple saying, only two words, but it meant a great deal more. It meant that no matter what you were going through, what you were dealing with, there was someone else that could raise their hand and say, “me too.” It helped you to realize that you weren’t alone in your struggles or your strengths. You weren’t alone in your frustrations or your praises.

I’m dealing with loss of work.

Me too.

I’m dealing with the loss of a loved one.

Me too.

I’m dealing with adultery in my marriage.

Me too.

I’m dealing with sexual purity.

Me too.

I’m dealing with cancer.

Me too.

I’m dealing with a lack of faith.

Me too.

Empathy is powerful.

I first started going to Flatirons when I was 18 and I did all that I could to get other people to come along with me. Part of it was simply because this church was like no other church I had ever been to. Part of it was because I did not want to go alone. But a large part of it was because of “me too.” I knew that other people were struggling, battling, and up against things and most of the time were doing it alone. Maybe it is a pride thing. People don’t really like to admit when they are having problems with something. Often times it is accompanied by guilt, shame, disappointment, and a myriad of other emotions that are easiest to avoid by not telling anyone what is really going on. Maybe if we don’t talk about it, it will go away and fix itself on its own. Yeah, that’ll work.

This has been a bit of a crazy end of the year for me and Mandy. After we finished our foster baby-sitting training, we took a bit of a hiatus, not necessarily intentional, but it occurred nonetheless. During that time, I was starting to get frustrated because back in September we had taken the classes to become members at our church. With the classes, you took a few assessments to figure out where in the church you would best be able to serve. We were told that after the class, the information would be given to the church leaders and we would get contacted. Several weeks had gone by, and we had not heard anything.

That was a bit discouraging. I really wanted to get plugged in, whether it was worship, or prayer team, or whatever. I just wanted to do something again. I haven’t been involved with a ministry since we lived in Colorado. I needed to do something. What I would later discover through this time of waiting (and I learned this from some of my retail experience), is that sometimes you do not hear anything, or you do not get for sure answers of what you will be doing because your higher-ups really have no idea what to do with you. Not in a discouraging way, but you have so much to offer to the team, finding a place to put you where you will provide the most service is difficult.

We were suddenly approached by leaders from our church, asking if we’d be willing to take a few different roles. It started with auditioning for the Christmas Eve service skits (which Mandy will be part of this holiday season). It then led to asking if we’d want to host our own lifegroup starting this next year. That led into a potential “video testimony” once the New Year rolls around. That’s a lot of stuff for two little people in this big ‘ole city.

When it came to hosting our own lifegroup, there wasn’t really a hesitation for me. I had been part of many different groups before. I knew what I liked and have thought quite a bit about what I would want my own group to look like. Between our current lifegroup and a men’s group I was part of in Colorado, we’ve got a good basis for things to talk about and the best ways to host the group. But, there are some setbacks.

One of the biggest setbacks is our apartment. It’s small, a bit close-quartered (though not as much as our last apartment). Still, it’s not ideal for having a lot of people in, as we learned at Mandy’s graduation. It’ll work, but no one is really excited about it.

The other biggest setback is my schedule. Working at Cabela’s full-time requires an open availability schedule. That makes things difficult to plan for stuff. When I worked at Sprouts, as long as you had the ability to work 40 hours in a week, there wasn’t really a problem with you requesting certain times off every week. I understand why they do it, but 100% open availability, 365 days of the year is…well, difficult.

So, over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking with the church staff, other people that we find their opinion valuable on these types of things, and (maybe obviously) each other. We’ve been going at it slow, waiting to get the right feeling, or hear the right thing, or wait for the right moment. Now that I’ve said that out loud, that is definitely NOT how we should approach things that are good for us or good for others. We should be running and jumping head first.

Yesterday, we got an email from the church that “today is the deadline to get your blurb in the upcoming group calendar. When are you scheduling your meeting times and what do you want people to know about you.” Well, that made it kind of official.

2^nd and 4^th Tuesdays of each month starting the week of January 18^th at 7pm. Each of those weeks will be the meeting of a young married lifegroup called “Us 2.” Yes, it is a play on the “Me Too” idea from Flatirons. Ever since we have been married, Mandy and I have always been proponents of getting connected with people that are in the same stage of life as you, as well as people that have already been through it. Finding the latter can often be difficult. We want people to know that in our five years of marriage, we have experienced a few things. I’m not trying to make light of anyone else’s situation, or to make ourselves sound boastful, but you’re not alone. There are other people that have been through it, and other people that are going through it. If we don’t talk about it, if we don’t address it, if we don’t face it head on how can we ever expect change?

So that’s exciting. We’re going to be hosting our very own group. That’s a new one for the Pepper-Yowell household.

FYI, there will be some future posts on foster/adoption stuff. It was just going to be too much to add to this particular post.