A Pile of Pebbles: Time for an Avalanche update!

The beautiful times with our homegroup just keep coming, piling up softly. And then one day I glance behind and stand in jaw-dropped amazement at how God has grown our little community.

I’m not just talking about numbers (even though they’ve doubled since last year!).

I’m talking about a rising level of silliness that shows we’ve gotten comfy with each other.

Disney's "Frozen" has been quoted non-stop in our group this semester! Random singing breaks out frequently. It may be partly because our homegroup's name, Avalanche, lends itself nicely to the Frozen theme.

I’m talking about inside jokes and vulnerable things shared at late hours after homegroup is over and crazy dress-up games and retreats where hearts are changed.

Because it’s all about Jesus changing our core selves, continually re-creating his creations into the newness he purchased with his death.

I’m learning more and more that He loves to use the tumbler of community to do this changing, softening us and turning us inside out like clothes in a dryer.

This spring we are marching through Romans together. I must have read it a gajillion times before, but this time Paul's words are like fresh water, spilling through the dust of self-sufficiency that settles whenever I take my eyes off the free gift of grace. I had the opportunity to teach Romans 3 last week, and as I prepared, my heart was soaking it in thirstily. We're wrestling with God's justice, the Law, and the fact that grace is un-earned even after we first receive it.

Because all our sin was future when Christ paid for it. And no future sin can cause Him to un-forgive a forgiven one.

And last month we asked a new girl onto the leadership team!

Meet Bree, a freshman who has blessed our group with her faithfulness and willingness to serve ever since she dove in last fall. As our group grew, we were praying for new leaders, and God is providing!

The men's and women's retreats were awesome! Or so I hear from those who went. In a sad twist of the calendar, an out-of-town-and-not-to-be-missed baby shower for a sweet friend and my sister's 21st birthday both coincided with the women's retreat.But don't feel too bad for me--I had a blast with these ladies and tons of heart-filling conversations with my sweet sisters, biological and not!

The theme of the ladies retreat was "Enough", and every girl I've talked to has gushed to me about how freeing it was to realize that God is sufficient for us, always with us, never running out of love or grace or power for us, the weak ones.

Enjoy a few more pictures of our shenanigans!

For Valentines Day, we played a REAL LIFE version of the board game, Clue! How awesome is that?? We all dressed up, the guys surprised us by serving us dinner, and a few of us actually came in costume as characters from the movie (see below!)