Urbandale Church finds ways to build on relationships, stronger families

To be a family means to be invested in each other. To build each other up in encouragement, to come alongside each other when we’re in need of help, and to celebrate together the ups and downs of life. We’ve made it a priority to be involved in each other’s lives.

This includes seeing each other more often than just on Sundays. We want to be involved in each other’s lives throughout the week. We’ve made those strides in different ways, and in doing so we’ve become a close-knit group.

One way in which we’ve done this is through an alternating date-night exchange on Saturday nights. While one family watches all of the children, the other adult couples are able to spend time together without the distraction of children. This in turn strengthens marriages, and it is also a way to invest in our children and get to know even the youngest in our church.

Another thing we’ve done was to get together at someone’s home for dinner midweek. One family would volunteer to host, and if the others were available, they were welcome to come and share a meal.

Finally, and maybe my favorite way of meeting with those in my church family, is a monthly get together of the ladies in the church. We’ve been doing this for almost a year, and these get-togethers revolve around, but aren’t limited to, meeting at a coffee shop. Sometimes we get creative and unwind by doing home mani-pedis, or making our own body scrubs and lotions. We’ve even relaxed by coloring!

Being together without the stresses of the day (or children!) has opened new aspects of our relationship that allow us to build each other up, encourage, and challenge each other. As women, we’ve got each other’s backs.

It also reveals the special role we ladies play in our church. Even though our nights out might be once a month, it’s a time of renewal with lasting effects. When we’re strengthened in our faith through prayer and encouragement for each other, we take that home and help strengthen our own families. It allows us to support our husbands as we parent, and build our children up in their own faith.

We might be one of the smaller churches in the Ames-Des Moines network, but we have a lot of heart and dedication for each other. Through the ways we invest in each other outside the usual Sunday night meeting, even something as simple as a “how are you doing” text, helping someone move or fix a window, our church is establishing a level of intimacy that binds us together as a family of families.