This is my newest piece–written with my husband!–for The Gospel Coalition. You can read the whole article here, at TGC.

During the last decade of our life together in ministry, we’ve lived in five cities and have been a part of five different churches. In each place, we’ve been actively involved in (and often leading) a small group.

With each move, I (Ann) have found myself longing for the friendship and camaraderie that can come in a healthy, life-giving small group. And because I’ve been hungry for meaningful friendship, my tendency is often to want to huddle with the friends in our small group, rather than reaching out to others who might need community.

My sinful tendency is to want to hoard my friendships, because they seem so difficult to come by.

I (Michael) am the pastor of the small-group ministry at our church, and our team works to create a culture that is both inward-facing and outward-facing (see Acts 2:42–47). Cultivating this type of culture is not something that happens overnight, but small changes can reap great fruit when we aim to live as church members who love those within our small group while also keeping a compassionate, missional eye toward those outside the group.

Here are four ways you can seek to cultivate a culture of both loving community and missional outreach in your small group.

1. Choose a way to minister together.

Our church promotes four core practices of a healthy small group: Bible study, prayer, caring for each other, and some form of outward-facing service or missional outreach. While the emphasis on each of these four elements ebbs and flows depending on the need and season of each group, the aim of being service-oriented is always present.

What might this look like? For some groups, it looks like helping someone in our congregation who needs financial and spiritual support. Other groups are praying together for opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers in their lives. Our current small group has decided to pursue outreach to a local state university, and we are communicating with on-campus ministry leaders for the best ways to help in this season.

No matter how each group chooses to reach out, our small group ministry training emphasizes that small groups don’t exist only for themselves. Even as we encourage and challenge each other, we are called to be a blessing to the broader church and community.

Read the rest of the article here, at The Gospel Coalition!

This is the start of my newest article for Risen Motherhood.

When my friend experienced a sudden loss, her family was plunged into crisis. Her days were lived out in a fog, and she desperately needed the help and support of the church. As one of her good friends, I was often over at her home, helping to navigate the practical and spiritual needs of their family.

Crisis is, by its very nature, unexpected. When someone we love loses their job overnight, suddenly finds their marriage in shambles, or receives a devastating diagnosis, their world effectively stops. As a friend, we have the powerful opportunity to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). This is the opportunity to shoulder the weight of this crisis together so that our friend does not break under the weight of it alone.

The calling to tangibly be the hands and feet of Christ to a friend in crisis is both beautiful and challenging. As mothers, our days are already filled with the stressors and responsibilities of motherhood, and it can feel overwhelming to support someone else, even if it’s a friend we dearly love. But with God’s help, we respond with wisdom and grace.

While there is no one-size-fits-all approach for loving our friends well through crisis, there are helpful ways that we, as moms, can come alongside of them and support them during one of the toughest seasons of their lives.

Read the rest of the article at Risen Motherhood!

This is the start of my newest piece for The Gospel Coalition. You can read the full article here, at TGC!

My husband’s job unexpectedly ended and, along with the sadness of disappointed hopes that his job didn’t work out, I’m struggling with fears over finances, the transition of moving (again), and the fight to stay emotionally stable for our children and each other with so much change. How can I trust the Lord through all of this? 

Our family recently went through a similar circumstance, and it felt like every security button I’d ever had was pushed: How would we pay the mortgage? Would we have to move to a new state? What would this mean for our kids? Our marriage?

As someone who craves stability, fear related to change is common for me, and the questions threatened to topple me at times. While I longed for a quick fix, it was seven months before God gave my husband a new job and set our family in a new season. And although I wouldn’t have chosen that path for our family, I am grateful for how the Lord increased my trust in him during that time.

I came out of that season knowing three things in a richer and deeper way.

1. Nothing Surprises God

The Scriptures are clear that God is sovereign. Nothing surprises him, and while we may not understand why he allows certain trials to take place in our lives, we can trust that he is not thrown off by them. The God who sees and knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10; Rev. 22:13) knew exactly when your husband would lose his job (Ps. 139:16). But even better is that God knows what is next for you and your family. He has a plan that will unfold in his way and his timing.

When my husband lost his ministry job, I thought that if I could just see a year into the future, I would be able to walk in peace, because I would know what was up ahead and could cling to that. But that is not how the Lord works; his mercy keeps the future shielded from our eyes. In not knowing what was ahead, I had the opportunity—and ultimately, the choice—to hang onto to God rather than to any circumstance.

That is the gift in front of you right now, hard as it is. Hold on to the Lord. You can trust that his plan for your family is being worked out with beautiful precision.

Read the entire article here, at The Gospel Coalition!

In all of the books that we might have read about mothering, in all of the conversations that we’ve had with moms and grandmothers who have gone before us, we couldn’t have imagined that we’d be mothering during a pandemic. And yet, here we are. Our daily lives are being shaped by the realities of a virus that has spread its influence across the globe. There are new challenges, new struggles, and unexpected trials for many of us right now. Thankfully, God is not surprised by where we are. He is still in control, and our lives belong to him.

So, in the midst of a world that has changed quickly and radically, how do we respond well? As followers of Christ and mothers to our children, here are four ideas for living faithfully in this unexpected season.

Strengthen Your Own Heart in the Lord 

While investing time in daily schedules, homeschooling efforts, and meal planning are valuable for loving our families, the most necessary thing we need is to daily meet with the Lord.   Spending time in his word and in prayer enables us to move forward in hope and peace.

Many of us have children at home for more hours than we had planned. Others of us are juggling full or part-time work from home along with the needs of our children. Some of us are struggling with health issues and concerns that are compounded by the current situation. And many of us are dealing with financial blows that won’t stop. These are real trials that must be faced. But we cannot face these trials with hope if we are not deeply rooted and established in the love of God and in the truth of his word (Ephesians 3:17)

As we strengthen our hearts in the Lord, the news and struggles of daily life can be put into an eternal perspective. We might experience anxiety and fear, but we can run to God in the midst of it. This pandemic has impacted all of us in different ways, but our need to remember and live out the truth of the gospel remains the same. Even in trials, he is your good Father (see Romans 8:28). He knows what is ahead for you. Spend time with him and allow the gospel to shape how you see your days, responsibilities, and the people you are living with—and watch him transform you from the inside out during this season.

Read the rest of the article here, at Risen Motherhood!