From Strangers to Sisters | Lifesigns Magazine

When the Spring life groups semester began in early 2024, I had only been going to Resurrection Life Poplarville Campus since December 2023. I didn’t really know anyone, and the idea of life groups was foreign to me. I decided to sign up for Cleansing Streams, and I had no idea that signing my name on that piece of paper would change my life so drastically for the better. The evening of our first meeting, I received a text message from a random number stating that she was going to be late for our meeting because she had some vehicle trouble and she was having to use her husband’s car to come. I replied with ‘OK’ or ‘no problem’ or something like that—I can’t really remember. What had happened was this: we had a group text for all those who had signed up for the class, and this person thought my number was our leader’s number. When she made it to the meeting, she immediately asked who she had messaged. I raised my hand, and that was it.

Who would have known that one random text to a wrong number would be one of the best things ever? I will never forget how a week or so after that she brought me a bag of Jolly Ranchers because I had decided to quit vaping. That small gift meant more than I think she even realized. I had only been clean and sober for 4 months, and I was still not used to people “seeing me”.

Now I feel like I have known her my entire life. In just the 2-and-a-half years we have known each other, she has become my confidant, my mentor, my therapist, my shoulder to cry on, and my Best Friend. From hosting my wedding reception in her front yard to helping me plan my oldest daughter’s wedding to talking me off the ledge every time life and school felt overwhelming, I could not ask for a better person to call my friend. When I met her, I had just lost my older and only sibling the month before, and I felt so alone. But God!!!! He always knows exactly what we need and when we need it, and He is absolutely always on time.

Because of this friendship, I now have an army of amazing, strong, smart, and beautiful women that I get to call my sisters. We laugh together, cry together, and most importantly pray together. I never have to feel alone again.

God took the hole that the loss of my brother left and He has filled it with everything I could ever need. That is just what He does.

Being a part of Resurrection Life has changed my life—not because we have two campuses or a whole bunch of members, but because we really are a family. Our church staff takes the time to get to know you by name and your family so that they can pray for you personally.

I have grown up in church my entire life and have been to several different ones over my 38 years. I can honestly, 100 percent say that this is the first time that church has felt like home. It is my safe place with my safe people, and it creates the opportunity for strangers to become sisters. I honestly do not know where I would be if it wasn’t for the relationships and family that I now have. I am so grateful for God telling my husband that this is where we needed to serve Him, and I am so grateful for every single person who attends Resurrection Life.