Last month we started a monthly LIFE Group Spotlight, highlighting a specific LIFE Group at LBF and their leaders. Below is an interview with Scott Carter, who leads a LIFE Group with his wife.
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Tell us about how you came to faith in Jesus Christ. My wife, Cathy, and I actually came to faith in Jesus in a similar manner, through the pain of divorcing from long-term marriages. I was raised atheist by my parents and grew up not believing in God. After 25 years of marriage, the woman I had grown up with no longer loved me and filed for divorce. I was devastated. It was my boss that had the courage to share with me about Jesus. After months of struggling, I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior while attending a service here at LBF. Cathy was raised Catholic and although knew of the Lord, He was not at the center of her life. Cathy’s marriage of 26 years came to an end as she was told that there was someone else in her husband’s life and that he no longer wanted to be married to her. Distraught and desperate for comfort, she immediately went to a bookstore and purchased a Bible. This began the most beautiful journey with the Lord of love, trust, mercy and grace.
Tell us about how you found LBF. Cathy was invited to join a Bible study here at LBF by her Aunt and quickly found love and comfort from women that would pray over her when everything felt so hopeless. Cathy was overwhelmed by the love shown to her by complete strangers when she would come to Sunday church services. Often crying throughout the service, she was given support through prayer, touch, and love. I had never attended church before. I tried a couple of churches to see what it was all about, but was awestruck by the love I felt here at LBF from people I felt had no reason to care about me. Who was I that you would care? It was so foreign to me. But I kept coming back to see what it all meant and eventually fell in love with you.
How long have you been leading a LIFE Group at LBF? It has been a year and a half now.
Tell us about your family. Cathy and I actually met in a wonderful LIFE Group here at LBF and recently celebrated our third wedding anniversary. We each have children from our previous marriages. Well, they’re adults now, but they are still our kids! Matt is 29, Jenna is 27, and Ryan is 25. None of them live with us currently, but we love it when they come and stay with us. It’s a blessing to see how the Lord will work in a family through pain and through the healing He provides, restore that family. I manage the operations at The ICEE Company and Cathy is the Controller at a Redlands distribution company, P&R Paper Supply.
Tell us a bit about your LIFE Group. We are pretty similar in many ways with much in common. We are all married, have children, and are all in our 40s & 50s. I like to tease Cathy that I represent the 40s (I’m 49) and she the 50s (Uh, I’d better not say! She’d remind me that I’m the one with the gray hair).
What are some of the discussion highlights you have had this year? Well, we certainly had a lot of controversial topics to discuss this year with abortion, homosexuality, marriage, immigration, the poor, etc. “American Christian or Christian American?” was a great series that drove lots of thought for us and I know challenged me to think in ways I had not considered.
What has been the most encouraging thing that has happened in your LIFE Group? I suppose it has been the friendships. Funny, none us had ever met before the LIFE Group, but each person has such a unique view and way of articulating what God is doing in their lives. I am encouraged by each of them and we always look forward to seeing each other on Thursday nights.
How would you describe the importance of the LIFE Group you lead? As I mentioned earlier, church was all very new to me. A friend from one of our Men’s Bible Studies invited me to a LIFE Group when I was new to LBF. It became my home away from home and I looked forward to being there more than you will ever know. It was a place of safety where I could share my pain and joy. And I knew this newfound home was truly like family. I had never felt so comfortable. So I know the question was about the LIFE Group I lead, but that is where my passion comes from and why I believe in the importance of LIFE Groups. Cathy and I are both equally blessed to have been given the opportunity to lead this group of wonderful people.
What would you say to someone that is wary about joining a LIFE Group? You don’t know what you’re missing! Not too many people at LBF knew me prior to being saved, but let’s just say I wasn’t much of a people person for much of my life. I was very quiet and reserved. The LIFE Group gave me the opportunity to get to know people and for them to get to know me. Please, trust me. Give it a chance. You will be blessed by the relationships you build!
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