Hi everyone!
Last Thursday we had a fabulous time at McAllister Center! We enjoyed the coolness of God by parading through the children of the group, from newborn to age 16 and then talked about how amazing the normal development of people is. We take it for granted so often as we watch our children and our friends and families' children grow up but it is amazing to see how they change - for the most part automatically! God has made a great system for the way we grow up. It's almost like every day we are being reinvented and recreated in a new and wonderful way. Even after we "grow up" the potential to continue to become and develop does not end...you can wake each day with the anticipation of what new things God will do in your life in that day! After considering this for a little bit, we spent some time just being thankful to God for how awesome the system of growth is made - no accident!
We then spent some time noticing each other within the group and shared something of concern to us on a slip of paper and exchanged them, anonymously if desired, and we will then talk to God about these things over the next 2wks - we believe that this involves God even more in our lives and we learn to care about each other more as well.
Last, we spent some time learning as we continued to discuss how, practically, to make the switch from our lives beings all about going after stuff, to going after God. We retraced our discussions from the last several wks and then ended with the fact that we struggle against our own habits and programmed responses when we change to pursuing God. This is hard and we cannot change on our own - God provides the power. We find His power to change us in a million different places. It begins with us deciding we need him and doing everything we can to give Him the control of all of us (knowing that we have a hard time giving up all of us - he accepts what we are able to give to him). Then we begin to notice Him and talk to Him in our day to day lives - like noticing the development of our children and giving thanks to Him for how awesome that is. We try to be involved in relationships which will help these ideas grow - people many times give us pieces of God. We read good books and the Bible - and God uses them to help us change. We serve others and do things that are kind, just because - and God uses that to help change us. We spend time in quite and intentionally slow down and notice nature and life - and God uses this to change who we have been. The result is a lifetime of new creation and beautiful development. We find ourselves able to go after God without as much problem after many years of noticing Him. In the development we have been through God has remade us in a wonderful new way - the way we were made to be!
Next time we get together will be on 4/30/09 at McAllister Center in Lafayette - 20th and Schuyler Ave - 6:45-8:00PM.
Hope to see you there
Friday, April 24, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
what happened and what will
Hi everyone! We had a great time last time we met at McAllister Center for More than more. It was so good to be around some people who care without any other agenda. We had some newcomers - as we seem to many of the times we get together - and that was cool.
We started out our time with some recognizing the coolness of God by talking about wounds and healing and scars. We checked out a scar on us somewhere - or thought of it if it was in an indiscreet place - and considered how the original wound happened and then how it healed. You see, the process of healing that the body goes through after an injury is absolutely amazing. Not only that, but the wounds and healing that take place within us, in our emotions and hearts, are even more amazing. Of course, some of those never really heal very well -but that is a different discussion altogether. We then just gave some credit to God for making such an amazing system of healing. Plus, we hope that you, and we, can notice the wounds and how they heal in our lives, from time to time, and give some thanks to God within the moments of your/our days. In this way life can become better!
Next we spent some time noticing the people around us in the way we usually do - by offering to share on a piece of paper, anonymously, something of concern to us and then exchanging those, again anonymously, and committing to talk to God about that thing over the next 2wks - until we come back and talk again. This time was a bit unusual as one of the people in the group specifically asked for some support from the group and opened up about some stuff that was just really dogging her. This was cool, as the group surrounded her with care and we invited God into the middle of her problem. We even had some others talk about stuff in their lives, freely - no one asked them too- they just trust the group and needed some one to care for them.
Finally we had some learning as we continue to progress talking about changing from trying to make ourselves happy and fulfilled with all the things that we get in the world, like money and cars and stuff and pleasure and relationships and religion and education, etc to seeing that it is God who can really make us happy and fulfilled. Plus, he makes all those other things seem to be just right, as time goes on, with living life with Him. This week we began talking about how it is that we begin to get past all the things in us that have been part of the way we deal with the world for a long time, especially when they are not necessarily good things. We talked about releasing control, talking to God with praying, and other ways that that tends to happen and we will continue to talk about this next time. You see, after a while we all end up agreeing that the "American Dream" of get more, do more, be more just is not fulfilling enough - there is something in us that longs for more but when we start to try to go to God for the the fulfillment, we find that life is better, but it very difficult- much more so than we ever thought. It takes a lot to do it, and well, and much of it is actually God doing it in us, rather than us just trying harder. Well, we will be talking more about how all this can actually work next time - which will be next Thursday, April 16th - 6:45-8:00Pm at McAllister Center in Lafayette - 20th and Schuyler Ave - see previous posts for link to map.
We will look forward to seeing you there - if you are struggling with life and feeling a lack of fulfillment or truth in it - please consider coming. If you have questions about what we are talking about and cannot make it - please feel free to comment on the blog - we would love to help.
We started out our time with some recognizing the coolness of God by talking about wounds and healing and scars. We checked out a scar on us somewhere - or thought of it if it was in an indiscreet place - and considered how the original wound happened and then how it healed. You see, the process of healing that the body goes through after an injury is absolutely amazing. Not only that, but the wounds and healing that take place within us, in our emotions and hearts, are even more amazing. Of course, some of those never really heal very well -but that is a different discussion altogether. We then just gave some credit to God for making such an amazing system of healing. Plus, we hope that you, and we, can notice the wounds and how they heal in our lives, from time to time, and give some thanks to God within the moments of your/our days. In this way life can become better!
Next we spent some time noticing the people around us in the way we usually do - by offering to share on a piece of paper, anonymously, something of concern to us and then exchanging those, again anonymously, and committing to talk to God about that thing over the next 2wks - until we come back and talk again. This time was a bit unusual as one of the people in the group specifically asked for some support from the group and opened up about some stuff that was just really dogging her. This was cool, as the group surrounded her with care and we invited God into the middle of her problem. We even had some others talk about stuff in their lives, freely - no one asked them too- they just trust the group and needed some one to care for them.
Finally we had some learning as we continue to progress talking about changing from trying to make ourselves happy and fulfilled with all the things that we get in the world, like money and cars and stuff and pleasure and relationships and religion and education, etc to seeing that it is God who can really make us happy and fulfilled. Plus, he makes all those other things seem to be just right, as time goes on, with living life with Him. This week we began talking about how it is that we begin to get past all the things in us that have been part of the way we deal with the world for a long time, especially when they are not necessarily good things. We talked about releasing control, talking to God with praying, and other ways that that tends to happen and we will continue to talk about this next time. You see, after a while we all end up agreeing that the "American Dream" of get more, do more, be more just is not fulfilling enough - there is something in us that longs for more but when we start to try to go to God for the the fulfillment, we find that life is better, but it very difficult- much more so than we ever thought. It takes a lot to do it, and well, and much of it is actually God doing it in us, rather than us just trying harder. Well, we will be talking more about how all this can actually work next time - which will be next Thursday, April 16th - 6:45-8:00Pm at McAllister Center in Lafayette - 20th and Schuyler Ave - see previous posts for link to map.
We will look forward to seeing you there - if you are struggling with life and feeling a lack of fulfillment or truth in it - please consider coming. If you have questions about what we are talking about and cannot make it - please feel free to comment on the blog - we would love to help.
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