I've just spoken to someone asking if I knew of anyone who could babysit for her so she could go out to her home group tomorrow night. Unfortunately I can't, having three wee ones of my own and a hubby who works late. I did come up with one or two suggestions but it got me thinking - the reason I no longer go to a home group is for the very same reason and I particularly miss the fellowship, Bible study and prayer support. For a while they kindly hosted it at our house but even that's not always that practical and the children are rarely in bed by 8.00pm these days!
The family home group I attend monthly certainly helps with fellowship and sharing but meeting again on a Sunday doesn't suit everyone. Also if you happen to miss one there can be quite a gap.
I did suggest the women's bible study but childcare would need to be thought out.
Are there any other ways we could maybe support one another in situations like these?
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Liz, we miss you at home group, but do still pray for you and the family... You raise some interesting issues.
I've been wondering recently how we can support young families who don't have the back-up of grandparents and other family members living nearby.
Perhaps within the church there are people who would be willing to 'adopt' a young family (e.g. grandparents whose own children and grandchildren are living at a distance, couples with grown-up or no children, or single people). They could take a prayerful interest in the family and/or offer practical help such as babysitting (a single lady used to accompany me and the children on outings to museums, etc).
Sometimes this develops naturally but perhaps a little encouragement would help, e.g. a request in the weekly bulletin for volunteer babystitters. Then someone needing a sitter could contact the person holding the list for suggestions of who to contact.
In order to attend home group we found the best solution was to host a group. However, as you say, it's not always an easy option - I remember evenings when I spent more time upstairs with the children than downstairs with the group, but it did help us remain involved.
For this reason we're considering a new venue for our home group in the autumn.
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