Area Fellowship News: Wisconsin Fellowship
by Anonymous

Fellowship in Wisconsin means that once or twice a month you’ll find the Dave Hoffmann and Tom Anderson families getting together from miles apart.

This past Memorial Day found Dave and Carol, Crystal, Carin, Cheri, and David Jr. traveling north to Chippewa Falls to fellowship with Tom, Andrea, and Jon. No snow this trip, just ROAD CONSTRUCTION! Throughout the winter the Hoffmann children were delighted with all the snow "up north." Not today; this trip called for a picnic on the deck. Brats on the grill (bratwurst, that is), potato salad, ice tea/lemonade. at could be better?

The children play outside, shooting baskets, jumping on the pogo stick, riding the scooter, and having a friendly nerf war. This beats being confined to the upstairs where in the winter they would share a Bible Story then move on to games or a video.

Today the kids come up with the idea of writing and sending letters to a young person who has not been at fellowship for awhile. Crystal and Jon organized the writing and each person wrote a note of encouragement and expressed their desire to fellowship again.

Meeting in the family room, the children share what they have been seeing God do in their lives. Struggles with school or siblings, faith stands in uncertain situations, or interesting happenings are retold. Then they are dismissed to outdoor activities.

Meanwhile, the parents start sharing. A Scripture or a portion of one of Norman’s hooks is read. Check-ins start as one by one we share our current concerns and together look at each situation in the light of who we are and what God seems to be up to. Then we look for God’s guidance in the Scriptures to discern the next step.

Tom and Andrea are still standing against the sin and rebellion in their older children’s lives. In the face of opposition from other family members, they are encouraged not to battle with them. They make a decision to reaffirm their stand, grateful for God’s light shining through the discussion.

Dave shares his concern about his relationship with his Dad, whom we met in June when our families spent an afternoon at his lake home in Milwaukee. We exchange experiences about our fathers. We are thankful Dave’s father had the opportunity to be exposed to another family living in God’s gracious grace and freedom.

Carol shares how she was recently dissatisfied with their budget, viewing it as "the enemy." After talking it over with others, she came to see that the amount of money Dave earns is God’s perfect provision for their family. We can see how letting go of this wrong view released Carol to trust God’s care for their family.
 
Accompanied by a scooter carrying an exchange of young Hoffmanns, we close the day with a walk around the block. The pogo stick remains at home by popular demand, much to Cheri’s dismay. But she rebounds immediately with an energy that keeps us all moving quickly.

All too soon the van is loaded for the four-hour trip south. Plans are made for the next fellowship, this time in Milwaukee, when the Andersons will spend the night. There will be phone calls in-between.

You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another (Prov. 27:17).