Hey everybody! We had a fabulous time this last Thursday night at McAllister Center. We spent the first little bit discussing one thing we hate about our society. It was interesting to hear what bugs people - from grumpy customers to incompetent and immature bosses and from governmental stupidity to bad drivers who text and smoke and drive at the same time - we fumed and laughed together!
We then spent some time noticing how cool God is. This is so fun and strengthening in a world filled with out of controlness (is that a word?) - to notice how big God is and to focus on how much He loves us. It makes things better. This time our time focused our attention on 3 bottles - one with dirt (actually mud), one with water, and one empty (or if you will, with air/sunshine). What do these 3 things mean to us in regard to noticing the bigness of God? This is all plants need (other than the seed) to grow. All that we are surrounded with, the complexity of all the spring and summer growth and trees and flowers and everything need only sun, dirt, and water. This is amazing! It is so wonderfully simple and yet so remarkably complex - it is a gift of a loving God to His people - the beauty of creation screams His love for us and this makes life so much more wonderful - if we take the time to notice it/Him.
Next, we spent more than usual time on noticing each other. We believe that by sharing things that are going on in our lives with each other and then talking to God about them that He helps us deal with the problems. We shared concerns and things going on in our lives - both anonymously and together this time - we very much respect each other's privacy and so don't expect anyone to be more involved than they want to, but it was good to have some people care about us other than what we can provide to them. These people care because they have experienced the caring of God in their lives. We then exchanged slips of paper (those who wanted to) with something to talk to God about for the 2wks until we meet again to support each other. It was good.
I must confess that here we shared bread and drink together and then left. We had gotten such a late start that we ran out of time. It was a fabulous time of noticing - we loved it and left much more rested and encouraged than we started.
We will be hanging out again 6/25, 6:45-8:00PM at McAllister Center - 20th and Schuyler in Lafayette - hope you can join us!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
5-28 recap
Hi all! Last Thursday we had a really good time hanging out at McAllister Center!
We started with a basic chill out and relax time talking about our favorite drinks - it was enlightening and funny to hear all the different things - from Starbucks Coffee to Caramel Apple Schnapps shots and from IBC Cream Soda to Bloody Mary's with dill pickle juice and a spear in them.
We then spent some time focusing on how cool God is. We feel that noticing God and how amazing He is helps with life and gives some positivity to a world filled with negativity. This week we had 4 items from the beach in Marco Island. The first was a beautiful little shell - the former home of a sea animal. Its intricacy & beauty are awesome and make it hard to believe that is could have developed accidentally - the answer is, of course, that God designed it perfectly. Then we looked at 2 similar shaped and sized shells which were each more beaten and broken down by the waves and surf over time. Their beauty was still as stunning, just different - we all realize that they are not completely as they had been intended to be at one time, but their loveliness and the evidence of their created beauty were still evident. Finally, we had some sand from the beach. This sand is the product of years and years of broken shells - the end result of the breakdown of the previous shells. Yet, it too is amazingly beautiful and marvelously made. These remind us of a fabulous God who cares for the simple things like shells and sand, how much must He care for us.
After talking to God for a little about how much we were appreciating all this, we took some time to notice each other. Some felt like they wanted to talk to the group about things that were bothering them - it can be so helpful to share the stuff and junk in our lives with each other. Then, as we usually do, we exchanged slips of paper anonymously, with something troubling to us written on it. This we commit to each other to talk to God about on a regular basis over the next 2 wks. It is cool to notice each other and invite God into our lives in this way.
Last, we spent some time learning. We have spent a lot of time looking at how life leads us to pursue certain things, like money and pleasure and stuff and even religion and that when we make these the main purpose of our lives, we end up empty and feeling unfulfilled with our existence. We all have come to the place that we feel God is what we would be better to pursue with our lives as we have talked about this over the months of this group, the problem is, how do we do that? We have spent the last several times together talking about that. It has helped to share the struggles we have in trying to take our lives and change what we "go after" This last week and next week, we will be talking about how this process of change is happening in our own lives. There have been some amazing changes in the lives of the people in this group. This week I shared my story of bitterness and anger, pain and loss with the group and how i pursued many of the things we have talked about, only to find them empty. Then, i began to pursue God and my life has never been the same. It has not been easy - everything in my world has been shaped around other things for years and changing that has been hard. The changes have been sometimes slow and steady and sometimes sudden and painful, but as long as I have involved God in the minutes and hours and days of my life, it has continued to be the most fulfilling, wonderful life I could imagine!
Next time, I have invited others in the group - no I haven't specifically named anyone - to share what is happening in their lives as they have begun the change over from the "mores" of American society to the "More" of God. It should be cool to hear how all this is happening!
We hope you can come and share the time with us.
We started with a basic chill out and relax time talking about our favorite drinks - it was enlightening and funny to hear all the different things - from Starbucks Coffee to Caramel Apple Schnapps shots and from IBC Cream Soda to Bloody Mary's with dill pickle juice and a spear in them.
We then spent some time focusing on how cool God is. We feel that noticing God and how amazing He is helps with life and gives some positivity to a world filled with negativity. This week we had 4 items from the beach in Marco Island. The first was a beautiful little shell - the former home of a sea animal. Its intricacy & beauty are awesome and make it hard to believe that is could have developed accidentally - the answer is, of course, that God designed it perfectly. Then we looked at 2 similar shaped and sized shells which were each more beaten and broken down by the waves and surf over time. Their beauty was still as stunning, just different - we all realize that they are not completely as they had been intended to be at one time, but their loveliness and the evidence of their created beauty were still evident. Finally, we had some sand from the beach. This sand is the product of years and years of broken shells - the end result of the breakdown of the previous shells. Yet, it too is amazingly beautiful and marvelously made. These remind us of a fabulous God who cares for the simple things like shells and sand, how much must He care for us.
After talking to God for a little about how much we were appreciating all this, we took some time to notice each other. Some felt like they wanted to talk to the group about things that were bothering them - it can be so helpful to share the stuff and junk in our lives with each other. Then, as we usually do, we exchanged slips of paper anonymously, with something troubling to us written on it. This we commit to each other to talk to God about on a regular basis over the next 2 wks. It is cool to notice each other and invite God into our lives in this way.
Last, we spent some time learning. We have spent a lot of time looking at how life leads us to pursue certain things, like money and pleasure and stuff and even religion and that when we make these the main purpose of our lives, we end up empty and feeling unfulfilled with our existence. We all have come to the place that we feel God is what we would be better to pursue with our lives as we have talked about this over the months of this group, the problem is, how do we do that? We have spent the last several times together talking about that. It has helped to share the struggles we have in trying to take our lives and change what we "go after" This last week and next week, we will be talking about how this process of change is happening in our own lives. There have been some amazing changes in the lives of the people in this group. This week I shared my story of bitterness and anger, pain and loss with the group and how i pursued many of the things we have talked about, only to find them empty. Then, i began to pursue God and my life has never been the same. It has not been easy - everything in my world has been shaped around other things for years and changing that has been hard. The changes have been sometimes slow and steady and sometimes sudden and painful, but as long as I have involved God in the minutes and hours and days of my life, it has continued to be the most fulfilling, wonderful life I could imagine!
Next time, I have invited others in the group - no I haven't specifically named anyone - to share what is happening in their lives as they have begun the change over from the "mores" of American society to the "More" of God. It should be cool to hear how all this is happening!
We hope you can come and share the time with us.
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