Well, last night we had another great time of hanging out and discovering how cool God is. It was really good to enjoy laughing and talking about our favorite holidays and hearing the stories that accompany them.

We spent time celebrating the amazingness of God by noticing how magnificently He has made people. We did this by writing down something about people, or a particular person, that is just really amazing and wonderful and then some decided to share these with the group. It was really awesome to hear some of the things we appreciate so much about others and then to give thanks to the God who made us that way. We decided that if we would go about our days and notice God's wonderful creativity in the people around us (no matter how obnoxious they may be), that our lives and the people's around us, would likely be better because of it and that, even more, we would be closer to God if we went around thanking Him and celebrating with Him, the intricacies of humans!

After our time of celebration, we shared issues, concerns, problems in our lives by writing them on individual papers (optional to attach names) and then drawing someone else's to talk to God about on a daily basis over the next 2wks. This is one way to support and care for each other and to inite God into the problems we face with us. It helps - life is not easy, in fact, it is downright painful a lot of the time - and this a great way to weather some of the storms.

We then spent some time learning about how Americans pursue perfection in their bodies as a "more" that we crave to fill the emptyness inside. We talked about fitness and health and anorexia/bulimia and how many people are obsessed with the perfect body, physique, etc. We talked about how the American culture and media seems to push this on us way more than we realize and it is a very easy trap to fall into. We discussed how hard this is, especially for young women growing up in our land. Unfortunately, at the end of the path to "perfection" there is nothing but "smoke." The grasping after the perfect leaves people feeling emptier than when they began and they often times abandon the things in life that are more important along the way.

The answer to this emptyness is to see that you were wonderfully made and are loved and accepted as you are by God. He is not there to pound you into some perfect little model. He lovingly wants you to simply become all you can be, in Him. My advice, begin by simply talking to Him. Say, "God, I don't know much about all this stuff, but I want to live my life less empty and more with meaning and purpose. Would you please help me?" If you will do that on a regular basis, you will begin a wonderful journey!

Please let us know if we can help in any way...

Until 11/13 at 6:45-8:00PM at McAllister, take it easy!