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The Eden Care Group has been in existence for sometime now but Glenn Hughes became the leader in 2003 when the Care Group got so big it became two. (L-R bottom: Tim Cranmer, Kim Cranmer, Diana Hughes, Lori Freeman, Rose King, top: Jerry Mellinger, Dawn Mellinger, Danielle Wilson, Debbie deVitry, Renaud deVitry,  Tony Freeman, Glenn Hughes Rick King, Stephen Smith, Ann Smith). We meet in the Hughes’ home on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. We have married couples and singles in our group. One of the unique things about our group is that we don’t have childcare for our meetings. All of the families have older children who are able to watch their siblings at home. This works well in that no one has to miss a meeting due to watching children. This may change as we add new folks to our group.

Meet our newest members – Renaud and Debbie deVitry. They both have worked overseas doing missionary work and have a heart for the lost. They have a depth of experiences that most of us don’t and it has been a joy to get to know them. They are new to Crossway and make a wonderful addition to our church and our Care Group. Please be sure to introduce yourself to them.

One of the funniest moments in our meeting was when we all purposely wore mis-matched shoes. One of our single ladies had been rushing around one morning, getting ready for work. In her haste she put on her shoes and did not realize until after she arrived at work that they did not match. They even had different sized heels. She relayed the saga at a Care Group meeting, an email to everyone but her followed and the next meeting…well, you know. The best part was that she did not notice at first. She noticed one pair that didn’t match and thought, “how funny.” Then she noticed EVERYONE had done it and knew the joke was on her.

One not so funny but memorable moment was when the sofa caught on fire. We had planned a romantic, sweetheart dinner for the married couples in February for Valentine’s Day. An elegant sit-down dinner with china, cloth napkins and well, candles. Some young man who was helping to serve, felt one of the candles was burning too fast and the wick should be shortened. While still lit, he took a scissors and snipped the wick in half. The top half of the wick fell on the other side of the pass-through window between the kitchen and the family room. The young man briefly looked for it but did not want to disrupt the dinner. He did not know the wick had fallen between the back of the sofa and a loose throw pillow. It wasn’t until someone said, “Do you smell smoke?” and someone else yelled, “The sofa is on fire!” that we knew we had a problem. The flames were about three feet high. One jumped up and beat out the flames with the burning pillow. One poured the pitcher of water from the table while another grabbed the spray hose from the kitchen sink and doused the sofa through the pass-through window. After clearing the smoke from the room, a couple visiting for the first time asked, “Does this kind of thing happen at all your meetings?”

Rest assured that this kind of thing does not happen at every meeting. We are trying to stress Biblical fellowship and mutual care. We are learning how to care for one another, live in the light and ask each other good questions to draw one another out. God is good and been kind to give us one another to walk out this Christian life together.