Is It Worth It?

When we started this group, a Zoom prayer gathering made necessary by the pandemic, I would not have guessed we would still be meeting nearly three years later. There have been times I have been tempted to withdraw.

I am busy.

I have a heart for serving the Lord and engage often at my children’s Christian school. We have a small group Bible study from our church that meets weekly in our home – do I really need another prayer meeting each week?

The answer is a resounding “yes!”

It is something quite different from my church-based home Bible study. These are women who get it.

They appreciate the challenges of the academic life, and they listen with understanding. God has used these women in my life in such important ways. It has become a place where I share transparently about my life and my work.

We have prayed for publishers to accept our work. We have prayed for our students and colleagues. We have prayed for the strength and bandwidth to manage our coursework and scholarship.

My husband and I moved our oldest son to college this summer – at the same time one of the most difficult and most wonderful things I have done in my life. My Wednesday group has been there with me every step of the way.

We began meeting when he was a sophomore in high school. They have prayed for my son as he struggled through the tough academics of his junior year, studying for the SAT, and those stress-inducing college applications.

The women ahead of me in life experience, whose children are grown and through this process, were reassuring. They offered sound advice and wisely pointed me to the One who holds all our futures in His hands. They listened to me wonder about what God had planned and worry about how it would come together. When the Lord opened the door for my son to attend the University of Oklahoma 1,652 long miles away from home, they walked with me in the moments of excitement, sadness, and joy that come with life’s biggest transitions.

Don’t think you have space for something like this?

I would encourage you to consider how a campus-based small group could shape your perspective every week. Praying together builds something very special, and the shared experience of academic community adds a kind of understanding that God will use to bless and encourage you as a professor.