Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Thanks for a Great Retreat - and next meeting 5/21


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: 

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

No comments:

Post a Comment