Christian Fellowship

 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts

Last night, we did not go to bed until midnight. Why? Because we got together with some friends and were having a merry time chatting until one man whispered something to his wife, and she said out loud, "It's 10:15?! We have to go!" Whereupon we all bundled up our various children and left promptly, they getting their five children out the door before we got our one child out. Yep, they have more practice getting children out the door than we do, lol! We got there at nearly 7pm, then after the kids worked out some energy we ate, then while said kids made as much noise as you would expect eight children to make, we all sat at the table and talked. So really, we barely had two hours to chat, but it was wonderful and I didn't even notice how far past my bedtime I was until the announcement was made.  We women discussed parenting, and what our obsessions/perfectionisms as moms are, and what we do that we never thought we would do, and how that at some point we all quit being honest with each other at church. You know what I mean, it's hard to just say "Well really my week was lousy because I felt like a complete failure as a mother and a wife.", when you stop to chat with someone for a minute before checking to see why your child was running past you at full-bore when he knows he is not supposed to run in the church. It just highlights why it's so important to have Christian fellowship outside of Sunday morning. Why we need to actually make the time to make plans and get together so we can talk and be real. This is one of the things I love about our church. Every Sunday there is an informal potluck and we all just bring some food to share and we sit and talk while the kids play. There is no timeline, we just eventually clean up and leave when we are good and ready, and sometimes that is not till after the evening service.

Christian fellowship was essential for believers in the early church, and it is just as essential for us today. In fact how much more for us today, in the world of Facebook and Instagram with our perfect pictures and perfect status updates and perfect Pinterest ideas, is it for us to just get together in person and talk. Break bread together. Remember, when God made people, there was no social media, the only way to interact was face-to-face. There was no pretending or putting on airs, there was only naked honesty! And while some things have changed, like that we all wear clothes and drive cars and live in houses, one thing has not: we need real-time fellowship, and we need to talk and be open with each other. Bare your souls so you know how to pray for each other. I think you will be surprised that the things that plague you the most, those things you are most ashamed to admit, are the exact same things that everyone else is struggling with!