Cultivating Community

There are two times when I remember being in a wonderful community in church.  When I attended Willow Creek Community Church,  I was blessed to be in a group called Jump Street and another group called The Bridge.  This was community.  We served together.  Worshipped together.  Communed with each other.  People used to think I was in a cult because I really did not want to do anything else except to be with my brothers and sisters in Christ.  We were very committed to each other.  Although the group has not met for over twenty years, some of my best friends are still the ones from these two groups.  I would not have made it through these last two years if it were not for my dear friend and sister, Jolene Carroll Larsen.

There is another community, though not a church, where magical long lasting relationships  happened.  Medieval Times was that community.  Kelly Williams, Linda Groenwald, and Shannan Hoffman Bunting have been incredible friends for over twenty years.  They also have been pillars of strength for me especially during these past two years.

Patti Jacobs and Tina Woelke promised to be friends for life.  High school was a very long time ago but     thanks to Facebook, they are only an email away.

Tim Page, Mike Payne and all the Molendas have been wonderful.  Deb and Karen have become better  friends than we were in college.  My only hesitation when you start naming names is that you forget to mention everyone.  If I forgot to mention your name, please forgive me.  It is a good thing that I will never win an academy award because they would never allow me enough time to thank everyone.