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I oversee small groups made up of married couples as well as ones that are mixed with couples and singles. Because of this, I'm often visiting different groups to check up on how they're going.

One visit that sticks out in my mind is when I went to a group at Rancho Santa Margarita. The people attending the group represented a whole spectrum of ages and ethnic varieties. We spent the entire evening getting to know one another.

Toward the end of the night, I got into a conversation with a woman who was in her 20s and had two children. She said to me, "You know, I came here looking for a group exactly like me. But after I've heard the stories of the people who are here and gotten to know them, I can't wait to get back together with them."

Maybe you're feeling like she did at first, wanting to find a group that's just like you. If that's the case, perhaps you should consider what God could teach you through people who are very different from you. Just make the six-week commitment, and see what happens. The woman I met at that meeting stuck with it and found that her group became like family, and she wanted to continue meeting with them. She had discovered that facing diversity often brings with it a hidden treasure—a deeper trust in God.

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