Moving to WA, August 2019, just a few months before the pandemic

In August of 2019 our family moved to Western WA. A friend told me about Agape Moms and I went to the Fall Kickoff meeting on a bright fall day. I met a very friendly group of moms and during the ice-breaker game, “name the messiest mom moment you’ve had so far” I scored some cool Agape Moms swag for my recounting of the time my 4 year old threw up on my head, shoulders, knees and toes. True story. (Well it didn’t actually go to my toes but…) Come to Washington and I’ll tell you the very special story. I quickly got connected with the Bible study and began developing some sweet friendships.

As we all know March 2020 changed schedules, social interactions and pretty much everything else. Just as I was settling into a bunch of new relationships everything felt like it got cancelled. Because it did. One of the things we say often in Agape Moms is ‘bring your mess’ and I saw God bring more of my ‘mess’ to the surface during the season of quarantine and isolation. My ‘messy’ desire for control was high on that list. God continues His amazing work redeeming and restoring that ‘mess’.

Fall kickoff where I first got connected.

In the chaos of COVID I found my relationships in Agape Moms still growing even if it was in a virtual environment. We tried different ways of connecting; some worked, others failed and that was ok. We were all figuring it out together and at the base of all the activity was a desire to show God’s unconditional love to each other because of Jesus. During prayer calls we would check in on each other, intentionally asking each other how it was going and it was OK to say “not so awesome” because we knew our tribe would love and pray. This was a grace of God.

Coming out of quarantine brought in the season of the Tiny Tribe. This idea was GOLD. I found myself with 6-8 other mamas in a more intimate group. Some of them I knew well, many I did not. As we began to meet, God continued to do the work He was doing all through quarantine and before. We gathered in each others homes, read our bibles, prayed together and our friendships deepened. On the solid rock of Jesus, we had a steady foundation for mutual trust, love and helping each other be faithful to follow Jesus. This is fruitfulness we all long for in our lives, cultivated through Jesus-focused community.

As we continue to meet we always strive to have one open seat at the table for new mama’s to join us and even in the tiny tribe season I have seen this happening in our group. New mamas are getting connected and as we come out of a season of deep disconnection we see our community growing, not just in numbers but in depth of relationships.

So for a mom in a new state, Agape Moms was one of the ways God used to connect me to other women. That connection was formed in a short time but it was forged and focused in a unique way through the pandemic and it is such a gift of His grace.

Sarah’s Story: God’s Faithfulness in Quarantine