Our next meeting will be Monday May 21 and we'll be talking about the Resurrection story in John 21.
Joel will be cooking.
I'm already looking forward to seeing everyone again -- especially after the lovely time we had at the retreat at Lost River this past weekend (May 11-13). Thanks to all who came: what a lovely place and "getaway". It was great to have the chance to know each other better, to have some serious conversations about faith and life and also some serious fun. Joel's pen & ink drawings do a beautiful job of capturing the feel of our time together, in beautiful weather, out in the meadow and beside the lake. You can view them on flickr, here .
On Sunday for our shared worship I asked everyone to write a “help me” prayer and a “thank you” prayer that would reflect on our time together in this place. Even if you couldn't be with us on the retreat, I hope that these prayers give you some of the spirit of what we talked about, in our conversations about faithful living and finding purpose in our lives and work -- so many of these prayers and thankgivings are about concerns that many of you share. Here is a sampling:
Joel will be cooking.
I'm already looking forward to seeing everyone again -- especially after the lovely time we had at the retreat at Lost River this past weekend (May 11-13). Thanks to all who came: what a lovely place and "getaway". It was great to have the chance to know each other better, to have some serious conversations about faith and life and also some serious fun. Joel's pen & ink drawings do a beautiful job of capturing the feel of our time together, in beautiful weather, out in the meadow and beside the lake. You can view them on flickr, here .
On Sunday for our shared worship I asked everyone to write a “help me” prayer and a “thank you” prayer that would reflect on our time together in this place. Even if you couldn't be with us on the retreat, I hope that these prayers give you some of the spirit of what we talked about, in our conversations about faithful living and finding purpose in our lives and work -- so many of these prayers and thankgivings are about concerns that many of you share. Here is a sampling:
Thank you:
for
crackling fire
melting
marshmallows
croaking bullfrogs
starry
sky
butterflies
friends’ laughter
voices
blending together
and
time alone
I thank
you, Creative Love
Help me
As I dig into
myself, my life,
I find
things I don’t like
Help me
not to run away
Help me
to hash this out
Help me
to grow
. . .
and help me be the person
You and
I want me to be.
Thank you God for the gift of life and a wonderful wife, for the world
full of amazing creatures and adventures.
Please help me find fulfillment in my job. Help me find the strength to evaluate my career choice
Thank you for my family and friends, my physical and financial
security, trees, birds, laybugs and bot-chee ball.
Help me to follow the way to you and feel your presence in all I
do. I need your guidance to see
this path in my professional life -- to bring spiritual purpose and passion to
a paycheck.
Help me figure out where I am and where I’m headed
Thank
you for bringing me this far.
Thank you for speaking to me in tall the ways you do! Help me see the beauty in everything I
see.
I am grateful for the uniqueness of each voice and the deepening of
friendship and connection and insight that everyone shared on this
retreat, truly a special time,
which I know will spill over into our regular Bible Study group meetings in all
kinds of ways. Thank you everyone
for the gift this was to me!
--KATHY
