QOTM...December

QOTM (Question of the Month)...obviously, daily questions are hard to come by these days! :)

I know I have been absent from most of our meetings, so the answer to this question may be obvious to you if you discussed this and I am not aware of it. However, it has been nagging at me and I wanted to post it and get your thoughts on this.

What is the difference between being "cursed" and being "broken"?

Last Meeting.....

I have been trying to capture the right words to express my feelings about Tuesday night. I want my words to show my love, appreciation, and awe for the evening. I just keep coming back to one word....HOLY. I felt that thick covering of the spirit....it was so strong when we sang together. Beautifully, Holy. Do you ever have that overwhelming sense that the Lord is smiling at a certain moment? I could clearly see Him smiling Tuesday as we shared communion together-it was unlike any other time I have had communion. Beautifully, Holy.
I felt a soft whisper in my ear as I sat at the table, with bread, wine, and broken glass. He kept telling me to "look". When I saw what He was talking about I felt my eyes well up....though I did not release until later. In that moment God reminded me of my prayer. A prayer I prayed endlessly to have friendships in Casa Grande-it was not that my friendships in Phoenix were bad or unfulfilling, but the distance was just that distant. I prayed for girlfriends.....He is a God of MORE THAN ENOUGH....when He said "look" I saw MORE than girlfriends; I saw sisters. Beautifully Holy. No gossip, no cliques, no hiding, no pretending. It is not common in a group of women to be the way we are together. Beautifully, Holy. That night I wept for the gift that God has given me in each of you. I am sure that He spoke to each of you that evening-showing you something...some gift, some delight, some revelation.
My words never quite seem to do justice to His holiness or His presence. I am thankful. Blessed. Full. Beloved.

Your Sister,
Jennifer

Handout from Kathy N

I am hoping this works well. I know many of you received this because you were with us 2 weeks ago, but for those who were not I thought I would scan the piece and place it here....click on the image to enlarge

Chew on this for awhile...12/15

I bought this book for Colin for Christmas and couldn't resist sharing it with all of you. Every page of it...is here. It is so fitting after we gave of ourselves last night. Thank you, friends, for breaking bread and drinking poured wine with me. I love you! Merry Christmas!!

God Thinks You're Wonderful!
By Max Lucado

God is fond of you...
If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
If he had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, he'll listen.
He can live anywhere in the universe, and he chose your heart.
Face it, friend.
He's crazy about you.
By the way, it may be difficult for you to believe that God knows your name...but he does.
Written on his hand.
Spoken by his mouth.
Whispered by his lips.
Your name.
I have written your name on my hand. Isaiah 49:16
Our hearts are not large enough to contain the blessings that God wants to give.
So try this.
The next time a sunrise steals your breath,
or a meadow of flowers leaves you speechless,
remain that way.
Say nothing and listen as heaven whispers, "Do you like it? I did it just for you."
If we give gifts to show our love, how much more would he?
He could have left the world flat and gray...but he didn't.
He splashed orange in the sunrise...
and cast the sky in blue.
And if you love to see geese as they gather, chances are you'll see that too.
Did he have to make the squirrel's tail furry?
Was he obliged to make the birds sing?
And the funny way that chickens scurry...
or the majesty of thunder when it rings?
Why give a flower fragrance?
Why give food its taste?
Could it be he loves to see that look upon your face?
So promise me you'll never forget...
that you aren't an accident or an incident
you are a gift to the world,
a divine work of art,
signed by God.
You knit me together in my mother's womb. Psalm 139:13
You were knit together.
You weren't mass-produced.
You aren't an assembly-line product.
You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on this earth...
by the Master Crafts-Man.
He thinks you are the best thing to come down the pike in quite a while.
Turn to the sidelines; that's God cheering your run.
Look past the finish line; that's God applauding your steps.
God is for you.
If he had a calendar, your birthday would be circled.
If he drove a car, your name would be on his bumper.
If there's a tree in heaven, he's carved your name in the bark.
Maybe you don't want to trouble God with your hurts. But...
"he cares about you" (1 Peter 5:7)
He is waiting for you, to embrace you,
whether you succeed or fail.
Your heavenly Father is very fond of you and only wants to share his love with you.
Blessed be the LORD your God who had delighted in you... 1 Kings 10:9
Untethered by time, God sees us all.
Vagabonds and ragamuffins all, he saw us before we were born.
And he loves what he sees.
Flooded by emotion, overcome by pride, the star maker turns to us, one by one, and says,
"You are my child. I love you dearly. I 'm aware that someday you'll turn from me and walk away. But I want you to know, I've already provided a way back."
You have captured the heart of God.
He cannot bear to live without you.
God's dream is to make you right with him.
And the path to the cross tells us exactly how far God will go to call us back.
It is not our love for God; it is God's love for us in sending his Son to be the way to take away our sins. 1 John 4:10
"Can anything make me stop loving you?" God asks.
"You wonder how long my love will last? Watch me speak your language, sleep on your earth, and feel your hurts. Find your answer on a splintered cross, on a craggy hill. That's how much I love you."
God does more than forgive our mistakes; he removes them!
We simply have to take them to him.
You can talk to God because God listens.
Let a tear appear on your cheeks, and he is there to wipe it.
He has sent his angels to care for you,
his Holy Spirit to dwell in you...
his church to encourage you,
and his word to guide you.
As much as you want to see him,
he wants to see you more.
He thinks you're wonderful!

Brokenness

I had so many "aha" moments last night - i want to thank each one of you for allowing me to -what feels like to me- to "Crash your book study" with all my brokeness spilling out everywhere. I have to admit I did not get to the Broken chapter until this morning. I came even though I had not read the Chapter on "Broken". My God is so good and I know he prompted me to go last night because he knew I would have to respond from my heart intead of from my head - I would have intellectualized what I was going to read this morning under Broken and thereby "Hide" again behind my "walls". Page 93 reminds me that I must step towards my fears and brokenness in order to heal and we have to dare to overcome our fear. Coming to your study has challenged me first to be WITH people - My God wants me in community- not isolated. But it also challenges me to become familiar with my fears and I can only do that by exposing them. Today I am choosing to Trust the Lord is going to lead me , but I have to say Yes- Lead me Lord. Hiding away does not allow that. I had many ahas last night- came up with a Top Ten List of Revelations if anyone wants to read my ramblings on a separate blog Click here. I do want to thank you again for your patience with all my struggling to share appropriately. Sorry I know it's a book study-- but real time therapy at the same time.

Music/Song List

Hello Ladies,
Last night we talked about being a friend of God.....I love that worship song so I added it to our blog's website. Click play and have a listen.

He calls YOU friend!!!!!

J.

Chew on this...12/1

What a warm, refreshing discussion! (literally...Steve served to-order lattes! We love you, man!) As individuals, each one of us is taken and blessed by God. This was the topic of our discussion last Tuesday. But, this week my mind and heart are also wrapped up in another thought: As a whole, as a group, as a family, as a community....could it be that we (this book group) are also taken and blessed? I do not ask this as a way of puffing ourselves up because we all know we are work in progress. The thought has been my heart that maybe we are working as individuals to do something Mighty as a whole group? Hmm. Not sure this makes sense, but I'll go with it. :) Think about it. Pray about it. For me, I am absolutely awestruck by the work He has done and is doing in each one of us, which is only more validation to the fact that we are absolutely chosen and blessed in Him.

If you weren't with us last week, Kathy gave us a very thought provoking "assignment":

Reflect on and write about a time when you were blessed in a special way. Choose any format (i.e. first person story telling, journaling, outline, etc.) Capture the feelings, settings, and essence of that moment when you knew you were a Beloved Child of God.

Everyone has a story...

Christmas is a good time to remember this.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-foreman/
compassion-vs-consumption_b_369800.html

Chew on this...11/24

How fitting is it that we are reading a book written specifically for a friend? On page 13, Henri Nouwen writes about what is "happening" in his friendship with Fred. He writes, "What was happening between us seemed to me quite similar to what happened when Jesus looked steadily at the rich young man and was filled with love for him" (Mark 10:21). This story speaks of monetary wealth, but doesn't each of us come with her own "riches" at some point? And then, it is a friendship like ours that reminds each one of us that our Belovedness is rich enough for all the humanly defined wealth imaginable. Thank you...you are in my thanksgiving prayer this week.

We discussed words like holy, profane, eucharist and communion. Here are the definitions Kathy shared. These are not direct translations of these words, but more a paraphrase of our discussion last Tuesday. I looked up the direct translations...I thought it was more information that was necessary for this purpose. Feel free to look them up if you want to.

profane: common (We typically think of this word to mean bad, contemptuous or vulgar)
holy: to be set apart. The opposite of profane.
eucharist/communion: referring to ritual of sharing bread and wine. The literal translation is "The Thanksgiving"

Kathy's homework for the week:
Read John 15:15-16, Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:17-20

The question to contemplate for next week:
What makes us resist daring to reclaim the truth that we are God's chosen?

Life of the Beloved

I am not sure how many of you reading this have started the book, but I am reading about brokenness.....heavy. For a long time I thought as a Christian "we" could not talk about the 'ugly' stuff out loud. To read about being broken and EMBRACING that is siring my spirit. I am ready to start discussing this book with you all; is it the 24th yet?

Miss you all and our time together.

J.

November prayer requests/praise reports

Well, I thought I'd put this in for November since we won't be meeting until almost toward the end of November. Just list your prayer request/praise report as a core thought.

Chew on this while we take our break...

Oh, how I have been touched by this sermon by Henri Nouwen. Take a moment....listen. I know you will be glad you did. What a great introduction to our next book.

Love and miss you.
Julie

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3701709082567809182#

'Grace' Song on Oprah

Check out this link! This is a great, new song by Bebe and Cece Winans called "Grace".

http://www.oprah.com/media/20091023-tows-bebe-cece-winans-perform

Missing you!

I woke up last Tuesday morning and something was missing. It was that expentancy that I would be seeing all of you on my Tuesday night. So, I prayed that God would do a work in your lives that day and that each of you would have the privilege of seeing It.

I wanted to share this with all of you. I found it a couple months ago and thought it was an appropriate time. I miss you all so very much!!!

Love, Julie

This is a true story from Brennan Manning in the book, Abba’s Child
Once a woman asked me to come and pray with her father, who was dying of cancer. When I arrived, I found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. I assumed the old fellow had been informed of my visit.
“I guess you were expecting me,” I said.
“No, who are you?”
“I’m the new associate at your parish,” I replied. “When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up.”
“Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bed-ridden man. “Would you mind closing the door?”
Puzzled, I shut the door. “I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man, “but all my life I have never known how to pray. At the Sunday Mass I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head.
“I abandoned any attempt at prayer,” he continued, “until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ‘Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here’s what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because He promised, “I’ll be with you all days.” Then just speak to Him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now.’
“So, Padre, I tried it, and I like it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d send me off to the funny farm.”
I was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then I prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the rectory.
Two nights later the daughter called to tell me that her daddy had died that afternoon.
“Did he seem to die in peace?” I asked.
“Yes. But there was something strange. In fact, beyond strange—kinda weird. Apparently just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside his bed.”

Recipes

Cathy T. asked me to post my pumpkin cheesecake recipe on the blog. I thought it was a great idea to share recipes while we're taking a break! Anyone who wants this recipe, check out the core thoughts.

AND, Kathy B., please post your cherry dessert. Oh yeah, Melissa C., you HAVE to post the chocolate cookie recipe! Oh, and what about the apple crumb thing Crystalle made!!! Please post that! Any others???

Suggestion

After our Christmas break I have a suggestion for a book. A friend of mine (actually a few have read it) suggested this book. She said she never really understood how much God loved us until she read this. Check it out when you have time:

http://www.amazon.com/Redeeming-Love-Francine-Rivers/dp/1601420617/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256403586&sr=1-1

It is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

QOTW...10/23

I'm intrigued and puzzled by the question in Kathy's last post...so it becomes our question this week.

How did Jesus fail? Or DID he fail?

Love all the questions for reflection and thought-processing on the blog, even though I don't get to it daily.

Tuesday night we asked what stood out to us from Manning's book:
**wanting to see grace all around
**having the grace to see everyone the way God sees them
**how much God loves us!!!! Yea!!
**how different our lives would be if we believed all of the above -- free from fear, from expectations, etc.

We also talked about failure somewhat. This from a journal I have:
"By avoiding failure we avoid our own humanity. But in avoiding our humanity we dodge and deny our very selves, the most precious gift God has given us.
"In view of society's attitude (towards success vs failure), failure actually may be one of the great spiritual discipines . . .However, we must be careful not to spiritualize failure because failure can crush the human spirit. . . we do well to proceed with gentleness and deep care. Failure should not be brushed aside, belittled, or trivilized [we could add glorified]. Yet failure, for all its harshness and darkness, may lead us to the light."

That same author pointed out that "Jesus failed too [we might ask ourselves how He failed] -- as people of faith we need to remember that the resurrection tosses out all standard expectations and measurements of failure and success (neither is inherently good or evil)."

Love you all -- Kathy
I would appreciate your prayers -- I am stressed, and that's not usual for me!

Lyrics I wanted to share

When I was working out last weekend I listened to some Faith Hill. She was brought up Baptist and I just think must be a pretty darn cool lady. BTW-I also ADORE her husband Tim McGraw....anyway. This song, "This is Me", had new meaning and I wanted to share the lyrics:

Yeah I have my addictions
and keep my share of secrets
and things you'll never see
I get selfish and defensive
And pay too much attention
to my insecurities
Oh I'm just like everybody else
I try to love Jesus and myself
*Chorus*
I don't know what you believe
or what you think of what you see
but this is a part of me
what i do and who i am
all my impurities
Are right here on my sleeve
This is me
This is me

My heart break for the homeless
I worry about my parents
and all my bills are late
I'm dealing with the changes
This complicated Strangeness
Of seeing life this way
I'm just like everybody else
I try to love Jesus and myself
*Chorus*

I laugh at silly movies
Tear up when i see babies
And I'm stubborn as a stone
I criticize my body
I wonder if I'm ready
To ever be alone
Oh I'm just like everybody else
I cry like everybody else
*chorus*

FYI

If you're wondering why the music doesn't automatically start, it's because I changed the settings a little. I am having a difficult time reading, writing and listening to the music. I am not very good at the multitasking thing!! haha! Don't laugh! So, the music is still here...just press the play button if you want to hear it and are better at multitasking! Hope that's okay that I changed it a bit. ;)

Love,
Julie

QOTW...10/17

This isn't so much of a "deep" question as it is one requiring reflection. We seem to always come back to our first book "The Apple" in our discussions. So I thought we could bring this full circle.

Name one lie you believed about yourself that you no longer believe. What helped you overcome the belief in this lie? Why did you believe it to begin with?

Chew on this...10/13

At last Tuesday night's meeting Kathy suggested we ask ourselves two questions this week:

1. How have I experienced grace today? yesterday? the day before?

2. Am I intentional about seeing grace?

Lately I have been asking myself: Why is it easier to show grace to some and more difficult to show grace to others? Jennifer posted this on the last QOTW that has stuck with me, and I think it relates well to my question: "To get out of 'being' lukewarm we must have the willingness to fail. If we stay in our comfort zone all the time and never RISK anything then we stay lukewarm". This goes so well with Kathy N.'s last post: "God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with." Is it possible that our willingness to experience suffering may have something to do with showing, seeing, experiencing and receiving grace? Isn't it interesting how much easier it is to show grace when we have experienced the same pain as another??? Just something I've been thinking about this week. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Much love,

Julie

Brennon Manning Link

Hoping this works for you:

Audio

**I had to attempt 2 times and it worked-that was what happened at kathy's. Also, you could try saving the file then opening it.

October Prayer Requests

Kathy Narney's student, Joe, was in a head-on collision. He made it through, but please pray for continued healing in his body.

Kathy Border-her friend's mom has breast cancer and will need surgery

Cecilia (Jennifer D'Amato's neighbor)-please continue to pray for this family at the tragic loss of their father and a specific prayer for her sister, Mary, who found her father in his home

Hugh Connilee (Sfwy Meat Dept and husband to Moms Club member)-was diagnosed with cancer

Melissa S.-needs wisdom when the opportunity comes up to talk with the women who participated in the psychic activities at the Halloween party. Also, let's pray to open the hearts and minds of those whom she will have the opportunity to speak to.

Julie- prayer for Colin as he is showing signs of a flare up and they are changing his medication. Also, please pray for Julie to 'get out of the way' for Colin...peace.

Mary's daughter Megan needs a new job.

Pray for each of us to have "grace eyes" and see grace each and every day...that if we are not seeing it that God would show us.

QOTW...10/9

Well, per Julie's request...I will try to post a Question of the Week on here. I've been a little dry lately in the "deep" question department. But this one came to me today as I was pondering obedience. I missed this week's discussion, but from the looks of it, you guys discussed obedience?? In light of that, here's one to think about...

Revelation 3:15 & 16
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

What does it mean to be spiritually "lukewarm"? And how do you know if you are "lukewarm" or not? And how does this fit into the Gospel of Grace?

Chew on this...10/6

Every single week this group of women amazes me. I awake Tuesday morning with fervent expectancy for what God has in store for us that night. And, as I think more and more about the story that Jennifer told of Jesus meeting us fact-to-face just as we reach out to touch His robe, I believe He met us fact-to-face last Tuesday night.

Much Love,
Julie



This week's spiritual food is from Kathy N:


Thinking about obedience:
"Obedience is to do God's will, not to be useful, not to win souls; [the believer] is useful, and she does win souls, but that is not her aim. Her aim is to do the will of her Lord."

Then -- and this fits with Tuesday night's discussion about "functional atheism," etc.: "God's call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with." Yikes! (I have a story about this).

I add: Too often we are more concerned about "the whine" in us than being made into "wine!"
..."to be a sacramental personality means that the elements of the natural life are presenced by God as they are broken providentially in His service."
We reject or run from being broken -- especially when we are so aware of our own broken-ness -- we don't want more of that, we want, long for -- wholeness, integration. That's of God -- but there is no easy route to that.

Praise God for.....

Kathy Narney's daughter got a job!!!!

Cathy Taylor's granddaughter does not have to have eye surgery!!!!!

Jennifer D'Amato's husband got a new position at work!!!!

Julie's FIL, Eldon, had a petscan and the spot on his lung is gone and the others are shrinking!!!

GLORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back in the Groove

I dislike when things get crazy and I do not have time to visit this blog and read and write with you wonderful women of God. I did have a wonderful experience at my first Women of Faith Conference-I cannot wait to share some of the stories, lessons, and jokes with you! God was doing some great work in that place and I was blessed to be witness to it. I never want, even for a moment, to take for granted lives saved and people made new!

I am greatly anticipating Tuesday night and spending time with all that can be there at Amy's house!

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,
J.

Thanks, Julie, for adding more about the Lazarus story. This from Eugene Peterson: Without wonder we approach life as a self-help project; motivationsl energies for living well get dominated by anxiety (we can read FEAR!) and guilt which restrict (which we can experience as causing us to not be able to BREATHE) -- and we are malformed into lives of moral workaholism or pious athleticism." And the wrong kind of fear underlies all of this -- instead of the "fear-of-the-Lord."

Do you believe God is crazy about YOU?!!!

Chew on this...9/29

After our discussion about fear last Tuesday, I can't stop thinking about something GramiSu (Susie) posted on the blog a couple weeks ago about her fear..."Woke up in fear so intense this morning it feels like Big Foot is standing on my chest."

When I image this, I can see so clearly how the heaviness of fear (Big Foot) takes the "breath" right out of us. It debilitates us. I mean, what CAN we really do without the ability to breathe. Without breath, the body shuts down. Think about it. Chew on it.

About last Tuesday...

Kathy gave us an assignment to be written on our 3X5 cards. After reading John 11:44, rewrite the verse with blanks to be filled in with answers that apply to yourself. It would look like this: "Unbind (my name) and let (my fear or other) go free!"

It really helped me to read the more of the story of Lazarus again, so I have put more verses here. I really encourage you to read the previous verses not listed here too. The entire chapter was too long for this space.

John 11:38-44 (New Living Translation)
38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.
But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” 41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” 43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unbind Lazarus and let him go free!”

Grace in a nutshell...

One of my friends on Facebook posted this as her status today and I thought it pretty much sums up our discussions on grace. I love it and will carry it with me...

"There is nothing I can do to make God love me more AND there is nothing I can do that will make Him love me less."

Simple and elegant.

October Prayer Requests

See Core thoughts below

Grace. Manning reminds us continually that this is not cheap grace. This is grace offered to us through the great price of Jesus' suffering and dying on a cross -- perhaps the ultimate irony?

Julie's challenge is apt -- what is it myself that might prevent me from letting God's grace shine through me to others, to a world that is broken and hurting? Sometimes even the faintest whiff of pride or self-righteousness can inhibit the grace of God from being witnessed.

Sometimes it's impatience with the way things are, and my reaction to that -- others are not kind enough, others are not patient enough, others are not just enough -- but that very reaction can create a a spirit of judgment.

If we are to be transparent enough to let the grace of God shine through me, then we must begin to truly die to self, to get out of the way, to "not care" what others think. That is much easier said than done. But it is not an option.

Tough thoughts, challenging images.

Grace to each one of you --

Kathy

Hi all,

Just wanted to thank Jen for the music on our blog. I love listening to it as I read the different comments.

Thanks a bunch and everyone have a good week.

Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers around the 30th of September. My father in law's birthday is that day and he passed away four months ago. Will be a hard day for my husband and mother in law who is staying with us recovering from knee replacement surgery. Thanks to all.

Kathy B.

September Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

I thought I'd post a new sections for prayer requests or praise reports. We can just keep this going month to month. I'll post a new one for each month. Please keep us updated so we know how to pray!

Love,
Julie

Chew and chew and chew on this...9/22

Oh, how we were NOT paste jewelry and sawdust hot dogs last Tuesday! I left feeling invigorated, amazed and completely awestruck by the Power of our discussion. It was as though each and every one of us were beaming rays of intersecting light as the conversation and "reckless love" emerged from our mouths.

Humility, transparency, authenticity and the Light of Christ are the words to chew on for this week!

Some questions that we established as a group:
1) Kathy suggested that transparency means there is nothing in me that prevents the Light of Christ to shine through me and out to be seen by others. What an image! It begs the question, then...What is in me that prevents that Light from shining completely through?

2) So, we agreed there is power in naming that which prevents the Light from shining through. Can I name it?

3)As the evening came to a passionate ending, we agreed to discuss more about the conflict between the internal self and external self, referring to this passage from the book: At some unremembered moment I have lost the connection between internal purity of heart and external works of piety. In the most humiliating sense of the word, I have become a legalist. I have fallen victim to what T.S. Eliot calls the greatest sins: to do the right thing for the wrong reason. So, the question to continue discussing next week is this: Where is the disconnect between my internal and external self?

And as one whole we closed with this prayer:

Lord Jesus,
We are silly sheep who have dared to stand before You and try to bribe You with our preposterous portfolios. Suddenly we have come to our senses. We are sorry and ask You to forgive us. Give us the grace to admit we are ragamuffins, to embrace our brokenness, to celebrate Your mercy when we are at our weakest, to rely on Your mercy no matter what we may do. Dear Jesus, gift us to stop grandstanding and trying to get attention, to do the truth quietly without display, to let the dishonesties in our lives fade away, to accept our limitations, to cling to the gospel of grace, and to delight in Your love. Amen.

Much love,
Julie

Chew on this...9/15

I can already see some of you are chewing!!! Yay! I won't post anything for this week as it looks like the blogging and questions have already seeded! Thank you, God, for stretching us.

I cut and paste the email Kathy N. sent out just in case you missed it:

It's grace when we can have a discussion like we did last evening in spite of my mumblings and bumblings.

Thanks to Mary for such delicious treats!

Sometimes my heart is heavy with the stories I hear, and the tears flow. But it is a "holy heaviness," a heaviness tinged with hope -- and with grace. And I can say, like Paul, "I thank my God every time I think of you."

For next week let's focus on Chp. 7. And I would like each of us to bring a question to next week's meeting. It can be from Chp. 7, or any of the previous chapters.

See you soon!
Grace and peace to you,
Kathy

Excerpt from the Book

This is one of the stories from Chapter 6 that I LOVE:
(Pg 115-in my book)
Four years ago in a large city in the far West, rumors spread that a certain Catholic woman was having visions of Jesus. The reports reached the archbishop. He decided to check her out. There is always a fine line between the authentic mystic and the lunatic fringe.
"Is it true, m'am, that you have visions of Jesus?" asked the cleric.
"yes," the woman replied simply.
"Well, the next time you have a vision, I want you to ask Jesus to tell you the sins that I confessed in my last confession."
The woman was stunned. 'Did I hear you right, bishop? You actually want me to ask Jesus to tell me the sins if your past?"
"Exactly. Please call me if anything happens."
Ten days later the woman notified her spiritual leader of a recent apparition. "Please come," she said.
Within the hour the archbishop arrived. He trusted eye-to-eye contact. 'you just told me on the telephone that you actually had a vision of Jesus. Did you do what I asked?"
"Yes, bishop, I asked Jesus to tell me the sins you confessed in your last confession."
The bishop leaned forward with anticipation. His eyes narrowed.
"What did Jesus say?"
She took his hand and gazed deep into his eyes. 'Bishop," she said, "these are his exact words:'I can't remember.'"

To Help You While You Blog

When you comment on a posting under the box you write in is a clickable phrase "subscribe by email". If you click on that any other comments that are made after yours you will get them in an email. It is a great feature.

I am so happy to see so many of you on here! It is like continuing our Tuesday night discussions all week long!

Blessings,
Jennifer

Chew on this...9/8

What a lively, fun-loving discussion this week! So real and yet so full of love!
We had much discussion about fear and trust. We talked a lot about how fear is debilitating and makes it hard to understand God's grace. It also completely saps our joy.

These are the questions Kathy suggested we contemplate over the week:

Am I fearing or am I trusting at this moment?
What role is fearing playing in _______ ? (you fill in the blank)
Where is fear underlying _________? (you fill in the blank)


And, as I'm writing this I am compelled to site this passage from chapter 4 (Tilted Halos) again:

The question the gospel of grace puts to us is simply this: Who shall separate you from the love of Christ? What are you afraid of?
Are you afraid that your weakness could separate you from the love of Christ? It can't.
Are you afraid that your inadequacies could separate you from the love of Christ? They can't.
Are you afraid that your inner poverty could separate you from the love of Christ? It can't.
Difficult marriage, loneliness, anxiety over the children's future? They can't.
Negative self-image? It can't.
Economic hardship, racial hatred, street crime? They can't.
Rejection by loved ones or the suffering of loved ones? They can't.
Persecution by authorities, going to jail? They can't.
Nuclear war? It can't.
Mistakes, fears, uncertainties? They can't.
The gospel of grace calls out, Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Chew on this...9/1

My friends,

I am filled with appreciation for how present and connected our discussion was this week! And, if you're anything like me, you think about our discussions all week. Sometimes my most profound thoughts come mid-week when I have no one to talk to about it! So, here's something I thought might be helpful. I am going to post some food for thought on the blog every week after our Tuesday night discussions. Ya know, something to "chew on", so to speak. I will be as diligent as I can to post every week. If you feel inclined, please share an experience, write a question, or leave prayer request/praise report. There are also a few women connected to us through the blog but not able to attend the meetings. Hopefully, this will help them stay connected as well. (Monique, Gina, and Melissa S., we miss you!). Love, Julie


Chew on this...(from Kathy N.)


A couple of things from last night's discussion to think about:
We challenged ourselves to think about how we receive grace, and how we are channels of grace to others. We also talked about anger, which points us to the fact that something is wrong (like Manning said – “radically wrong”). Anger is not something to be afraid of, but rather something to learn from. To go with our discussion, though, we can also think about how grace interfaces with anger when we feel it. Paul tells us to not let the sun go down on our wrath – an admission that we do get angry. But we need grace to ensure we don't go to bed angry. The point, though, is that they are not mutually exclusive.


1.) What is the thing that pulls YOU down? (Is it a person, relationship, idiosyncrasy, temperament, issue, expectations etc...?)


2.) Where and how does grace interface with that?

Some thoughts on Grace

Ladies, I am blessed by this great group we have! Thank you all for sharing last night and being truly present!

Those of you who have read my contributions on CafeMom know I like to research topics and share, so here are some things I found on Grace:

I read somewhere that Grace is mentioned 170 times in the bible.

Acts 15:11
We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”

Romans 5:20
God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.

Romans 6:15
Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!

2 Corinthians 12:9
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

I looked up GRACE in Websters Dictionary:
1 a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b : a virtue coming from God c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace

Because of God's mercy, I do not receive the judgment of God against my sins; because of God's grace, I receive eternal life and a promise of heaven though I do not deserve them. -David Reagan

A Reminder...

Hi Everyone!

I thought I'd send out a little reminder that our first gathering will be on Tuesday, September 1st at 6:30pm at Kathy Narney's home. Her address is 1118 E. Laurel Drive, Casa Grande 85222. If you mapquest the address, the directions come right up.

Hopefully everyone has the book we are reading: The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. Just have the first few chapters read for Tuesday night's gathering.

I'm excited about what God has in store for us this time around! I look forward to great discussion and welcoming some new great women!

Much love,
Julie