mennonite, right?

a week or so ago i posted about how free i felt to not be identified in any religious entity, its just God & i here. im continually finding my identity in Him and not identifying myself with any 'group' of christians.

today @ work i saw a group of people pile out of a van: dad, mom, aunt, 6 kids, grandma & grandpa. the women wore dresses & had a style of covering [bonnet-esque] that i hadn't seen before. the men were dressed with slacks & button down shirts, and had beards [those who could grow them]. immediately in my mind i knew that i wanted to talk to them.

why????

i identified myself with them b/c i knew, by the way they were dressed, that they had to be of some anabaptist faith. i knew that i would feel comfortable with them, i knew that we had a common bond & that we could relate. my reaction was to WANT to be with them. in all my glory as i was so empowered to be on my 'own' to not be part of a religious group, i could not help to want to be a part of them. funny how that works - outwardly im glad to be a christian on my own, inwardly i deeply desired the fellowship of other believers.

i felt like maria, from the sound of music, to be surrounded by all those children as i walked surrounded by all my fellow anabaptist believers.

after our time together, i found that they were from california and a part of the brethren in Christ church. in my mind i assumed that they were amish from ohio. oops!

i was SO ENCOURAGED to be among fellow believers - and i did not even think to ask for a hug :0