Dancing to a New Beat: How a Reunion Committee Led to a Journey of Faith and Friendship

When our Fresno High Class of 1979 did a 10 year reunion, I didn’t like the music that they played! My husband and I love to dance and they were playing rap instead of rock/disco from our era!

So, I got myself on the reunion committee and made sure that we had some good dancing music for our 20th class reunion … and we did!

For our 30th class reunion, I asked a former classmate Debbie to join our small group. She said “yes” and brought her girlfriends!

We decided to meet two years prior to our reunion date so that we could enjoy planning, because everyone had a busy life. We met once a month and had so much fun that others started joining and before I knew it, we had a big group of about 15 people!

I would always pray on the way to our meetings and during those prayers I could sense that the Lord wanted to use me in a special way but I had no idea what that was going to look like!

These were women who I always wanted to hang out with in high school but never did for one reason or another. They were the “cool chicks” that were fun, a little wild and liked to party!

I prayed that I would be a light and a positive representation of Jesus, without any judgement or condemnation. I asked God to keep my mouth from gossiping or talking about myself too much, but to be a good friend and a good listener!

He specifically told me to build a bridge of friendship with each classmate, because someday they will want to cross over for salvation, and I need to be ready!

We enjoyed getting together so much that I fell in love with each and every one of them! There were two other Christians in the group, so I asked them to join me in praying.

The Holy Spirit gave me a vision of Sharilyn, the ring leader, giving her heart to the Lord, and that the rest would follow! He told me that I would be leading them in a Bible study, wait … WHAT? No way! I had a really hard time believing that, but decided to trust and obey when the time was right!

Summertime rolled around and I invited Sharilyn out to my house for a Bible study called “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. She accepted and long story short … gave her heart to Jesus! I couldn’t believe it … her decision made me so emotional and we started becoming really good friends!

About a year later, while I was getting ready for church, the Holy Spirit told me to ask the group if they would be interested in all of us doing a Bible study together! I threw the phone down on my bed and started getting ready, thinking no one would be interested!

When I picked up my phone there was a text saying “yes” from one, and then another, and another, and another! We ended up having a group of about 12! I seriously fell to the ground and cried all my makeup off! I was in shock of what God was doing!

We met At Sharilyn’s and had the best Bible study! One minute we were talking about Jesus and the next we were talking about old boyfriends! I’m glad I had some experience in facilitating because it was easy to go on rabbit trials of our past together!

You’re not going to believe this but there were five of us who went to Kindergarten together! Beverly, Liz, Mary, Ginny and I; all from Dailey Elementary School! I moved in fifth grade so I didn’t see them again until high school. But, here we are, almost 45 years later, now in Bible study together! Who would have thunk it?

Our group bonded putting the 30th class reunion together, and it was a great one; but we became “sisters”through Bible study. We did that for several years and it was a life-changing season.

They all lived in the Fresno-Clovis area and I lived in Lemoore, attending church at Koinonia in Hanford. I kept trying to get them to go to church with no avail. I even offered to church-shop with them but no one was interested. And, I was ok with that because our Tuesday nights had become their church!

I remember when I knew people who became Christians that would stop having anything to do with me because I wasn’t one (yet), and that really hurt! So I vowed to never do that to anyone else, and that’s the reason I went out of my way to hang out with them! I also invited them to a Girls Weekend at the coast, trying to be a good example of Gods love, because I wanted my walk to be louder than my talk.

Years later Janelle told me that her and her husband were going to church! She invited Sharilyn and I to attend Clovis Hill’s and we loved it! I was so happy that she had found a Spirit-filled church with good Biblical teaching and an amazing Pastor!

When I got home my husband asked me how I liked church and I said “I loved it!” He wanted to know why, so I told him. Then, he said that he wanted to visit. I reminded him that the church was in Clovis, about an hour away! He said “No problem, we’ll make a day of it and do lunch!”

So my son, husband and I visited Clovis Hills after Super Bowl weekend in 2020. All three of us enjoyed it and on the way home Jim said that he wanted to make Clovis Hills our home church!

I’m sitting in the back seat shocked! I’ve been attending Koinonia for 22 years, I’m in Womens Ministries and belong to a fabulous prayer group that has become my spiritual family of sisters, called “The Dream Team!”

Then, the whisper from heaven came … “Sonja, this is what you have been praying for … that your husband would become the spiritual leader! Well, he just made a spiritual leader decision!”

There is a lot more to this story but I’m going to end with … the FHS Bible study women ended up attending church with us! I sat behind the row of about 16 people and just cried tears of joy, in utter amazement of Gods gracious glory! Not only did they come, but some brought their husbands and we all went to lunch afterwards!

Then COVID hit, and everyone stopped going to church! But, they are coming back, crossing that bridge slowly one by one, thank You Jesus!!