I am so excited to begin this journey with you.
Below is our Starting Point for Saturday January 11th: The First Discussion
READY
I wish to clarify that this group is not contingent on time, dress or any other form of typical 'appropriateness.' Come as you are, when you can, for as long as you can.
I believe we will ALL benefit if you do.
*A note about my 'Ground'*
My home is not in any way perfect and 'yes' I will fervently clean before you arrive (because I am a woman and that's what we do), but you will notice the unfinished home projects, half-eaten couch & piles of things. I will make up for this by burning a candle that smells amazing. Thanks for understanding. My dogs will be contained to the kitchen - unable to reach you physically. I will coax them to cooperation with new toys.
*A note about the 'Gather[ing]'*
I will have my 3month old daughter with me and not to be contradictory, but I would rather attendees leave their children at home. Children can be very distracting to adult conversation, so for the sake of conversation preservation, please come alone. Even if you can only escape from the kids for a half hour - do it! We will have brownies for your trouble (and you can take one back to whoever kept your kid(s) alive while you were away).
SET
Parking can be interesting because I live in the city, but I assure you it is possible. For those of you who have been here and know about the parking spot behind my neighbor's house... it's first come first serve. All others can happily ignore the 'No Parking' signs that line 8th Street. And if you get lost or are having trouble, simply call me and we can figure something out for sure.
GO!
Discussion #1 will be based on Thin Places and Full Lives:
VERSE
Ephesians 3:14-19 NIV (a prayer from Paul for the Ephesians)
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
ANECDOTE
"Thin Places" an excerpt from Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist:
“A thin place, according to the Celtic mystics, is a place where
the boundary between the natural world and the supernatural one is more
permeable—thinner, if you will.
Sometimes they’re physical
places. There are places all over Ireland where people have said, if you
stand here, if you face this direction, if you hike to the top of that
ridge at just the right time of day, that’s a thin place, a place where
the passage between heaven and earth is a short one, a place where God’s
presence is almost palpable.
An alternate and possibly lesser known usage of the term “thin
place” refers to those very rare dressing rooms, where somehow the light
and the mirrors and the cosmos are all working together, and magically,
miraculously, every pair of jeans I try on fits. I’ll be honest, I’ve
only encountered this kind of thin place a handful of times, but just
like the mystical kind, once you’ve experienced it you keep going back
over and over again, hoping for the same kind of magic."
Keywords & Beginning Thoughts
Fullness / Love / Strength / Depth
Where's your Thin Place? Is it a place you can revisit? Was it a specific moment?
How Thin is your home? How full is your home? Fullness is used as a positive term in the scripture; is it a positive term in our culture?
Check back on Tuesday for the Discussion Highlights and to Continue the Conversation!
Comment below if you have anything specific you'd like brought up on Saturday but you know you cannot physically attend, otherwise, wait to pitch in your thoughts till Tuesday. Either way, your contribution will be accepted with glee.
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