When we got there, the house was a buzz of activity. My wife Julie and I stepped over two kids playing a board game on the front porch to get to the doorbell.  Hearing shouts of "come in" from the inside, we opened the door and were greeted by of "hello's" from what seemed like every corner of the living room, dining room and kitchen.  It was like we'd stepped into a family reunion. A meal was being cooked, kids were being fed, adults were sitting in the kitchen and dining room -- some were already eating, and some were just preparing to eat.  There was some kind of ball game going on with some of the older kids in the back yard.  Two married couples and a single woman at the kitchen table made a place for us, and we sat down. I felt a bit awkward at first, because I only knew Tom and Diane, our next-door neighbors, who had invited me to this gathering.  My awkwardness went away pretty fast, however, when one of the kids -- about 4 I think -- climbed up in my lap while I was eating and said, "Hi, I'm Joanie -- who are you?"  As we got to know the people sitting around us, the conversation seemed very normal -- talk about fighting the homework wars, various house re-modeling projects -- and in the midst of it all, lots of laughter. After about an hour, the adults cleaned up the meal and rounded up the kids.  Most of the adults piled into several cars, while a couple of them stayed with the kids -- I learned later that the adults rotated who stayed behind at each meeting to help teach the kids the same concepts that the adults would be talking about that night.  We went around the corner to another home, where all of the adults (there were about 11 of us) went into the family room of one of the other families in the group, and sat down to talk. This was the part I'd been dreading.  I really don't know much about the Bible, and was also wondering just how weird this might get.  But Tom put his hand on my shoulder as the leader for the evening began in prayer, and it made me more confident that my very normal friend wouldn't set me up for something weird. After he prayed, the leader asked people in the group to share their experience over the past week in fasting.  Apparently, the group had decided to fast together one day during the week before, as a way of learning about it.  As people shared their experiences, I was struck by the honesty and lack of pretense.  The group leader, for instance, shared that he had become so hungry during the day, that he gave up and ate a sandwich at about 2 PM in the afternoon.  Everyone laughed, as he was the guy who had suggested that everyone try this in the first place!! The leader then read several passages from the Bible about fasting.  As people talked about the passages, the conversation moved quickly from a sole focus on fasting from food to how our lives are so caught up in needing gratification of many types -- from food, to money, to our kids wanting to watch TV 24 hours a day.  One couple even shared that they had a big fight that just before coming to the group regarding some money decisions they had to make. I glanced at my watch and realized that about 45 minutes had gone by as the leader wrapped up the discussion.  He asked how the people could be praying for each other in the coming week.  People shared about everything from job decisions to family issues.  One of the single men in the group asked for prayer regarding a dating relationship he was involved in.  I kept quiet, but to my surprise my wife Julie asked the group to pray for our son who is entering high school in the fall. The group prayed for each other, and again to my surprise, afterwards the group leader brought out two communion trays and began to pass the bread and the wine.  I was a bit nervous, so I simply passed the elements on without partaking.  Everyone closed their eyes, the group leader read some scripture, and they all took communion together. After communion, the group spent some time talking about an outing they were planning together in a couple of weeks.  They were all going out to Stinson Beach together to pick up trash, do some weeding in one of the parks, and then have a barbeque.  This was going to take place on a Sunday morning, and yet again I was surprised when the group leader talked about how BayMarin (the church all of this was sponsored by) was not going to meet that Sunday, but instead that "church" that week would be various BayMarin groups doing things like this all over Marin. On the way home, Julie and I talked about how long it had been since we'd been to church.  We like our Sunday mornings free.  But maybe we'll go with Tom and Diane to the Stinson beach clean up in a couple of weeks.  It would do our son good to do something for our community.  It would do Julie and I good, too. This is a compilation of stories from real people, are you ready to be on of them?