My cell has been a bit of a slog recently. I am not the worlds greatest cell leader and constantly feel bad that I don't have more time to invest into it. We've been going through the slow fade many cells experience with often only three of us getting together. I've been really dissheartened and to be honest was considering chucking it all in until last night...
Last night I sat in the Vestry having a drink with a lovely new friend and watching the clock wondering if anyone was gonna turn up this week. At 7.45 on the dot Smiles, Sarah (honourary cell member for the evening) and Anna (first new addittion!) bounced through the door, closely followed by Mark (second new addition!), Matthew and Michaela (second honourary guest for the evening).
Looking around the laughing, bantering group there was an expectancy there that had been missing for the last few months. I had planned to go through a book we'd been reading but decided there and then to scrap it and take a bit of time to hear how we're doing and pray for each other. It was great! People were incredibly honest and there was a trust and passion in prayer. It didn't matter to anyone that we were sitting in a pub, people were getting out of their seats to hug or reassure or lay hands on the person they were praying for.
As we listened to what's happening in each others lives it struck me that I could probably have spent an entire evening with my firends and never scratched the surface of where they're really at in their faith, dreams and feelings. Just by asking a simple question and offering to pray together we opened up.
The range of horrible things happening to people really shook me but it was balanced by some really fantastic things to celebrate as well. For me the best part was Maggie... Maggie is a lovely woman I met through my Blog (in fact she's probably reading this - hi Maggie!), she lives in Chichester and emailed me a month ago to say that she has some questions about what it means to be a Christian and wants to come to Church.
We've been meeting and chatting over a glass of wine and she's been exploring prayer, the Bible and coming to Revelation meetings. As we sat in the pub last night and she met my friends she decided to stay and joined us praying for each other and asked for prayer herself. It was fantastic. I have so much respect for her and the journey she's on. She's approaching God with a lot of questions and integrity and is willing to dig to find the answers.
Maggie, thanks for coming last night, it was really lovely to have you and you are very welcome any time. xc