Coming Soon!!

It is truly amazing how quickly time passes.  How much we miss by neglecting to document our thoughts and our development.

I am almost rethinking, for simple fear, my "coming soon."  i jumped on this morning in vigor, and just in this moment i am rethinking.. here is where i take the leap - this is where i take dreaming to doing ~ and in this ~ action to my faith.  faith is a verb.

i remember the moment i was exposed and educated, my life has never been the same.  i went from feeling lost in God's Will to part of His Will.  in application: instead of my response being stagnancy and reactivity to "i have faith that God is going to get me through this" ~ i actively seek and go beyond the point in which i announced the event.  if i claim God is working in my life and i have "faith" in what the results will be - I must discern from where do I leap - all the while ~  key word being leap.

i'm not sure where my announcement will take this community.  in fact - what community?  i literally get on this blog-site and write to an audience of  two (me & my Lord).


when i say - this process will be a test of my faith - it is a test of my steadfastness, continuing past the results i am seeing.  more clear - if there are no results, meaning no community is formed in 2011.  will i still be faithful to the commitment i feel my inner-spirit is prompting me to make?

at what point would it be acceptable for me to decide blogging and creating challenges once a week is without effect.  how do we know the effect of our action .. it is God's Alpha & Omega that i must cling too.  Meaning - if no one else finds and commits to one or more challenges, i'll be challenging me because it is about my commitment to this process.  i will be faithful.

when i dream of a tree, it is my faith that pursues the seed, and then the planting and the watering.

when i dream of a community of people seeking authenticity and compassion, it is my faith that pursues this challenge, and then the writing and perseverance.

That said ~ announcing (to myself and the community to come)

52 Monday's of: 

Compassion Challenge 2011

  

As written in a previous blog entry, it will be the intention of this challenge to spur on personal identity development.  If I can know myself better I can then be better to others, and being better to others builds a better community ~  Amen?

Lord God - in the silence i felt my heart jump and carried by the racing of my thoughts, guard me from my blindness.  i am stepping into fear and vulnerability, a place i will come to know You more.  it is in You that i will hide, for in my flailings there is something You can create for Your Good ~ all my heart, j.

Authenticity

well..

i think these little posts are doing some good :)  i actually got into a conversation ~ described what i would like to do with different churches & i didn't fall over my words.  i felt like the person echoed my thoughts and there was an agreement or validation regarding the importance of authentic communication - connection within the church body.

rereading: it is easily said - of course authenticity is important, but i think it was more than that between the words.  i listened to her tell me of the amount of churches she visited before she found her home.  i wasn't aware that i was collecting data at the time; however, i feel like she was telling me she searched until she landed in her now church family ~ and in this family she feels supported and connected.  really what she said was "my husband wants to move to be closer to his family, but i want to stay - now that we have found this church i don't want to leave.  i just had my third child and my community group provided meals for two weeks.. two weeks!!"  "i can call when i need something and i don't feel like i shouldn't - i pick up the phone and dial."

there is something about the connection formed in the mist of need that bonds us  ~ encourages us to be present week after week. 

friendship is intentional.  so intentional i only have capacity for a few outside of my immediate family.

i have to admit - the honest difficulty i have with what to do with new connections.  not because of the initial experience, but the integrity of honoring what is new and forming.

something to be explored.

Lord - help this work to be lasting .. a place where the Spirit resides ~ a place that even the skeptic will be encouraged and challenged to be real and connected.

logistical dreaming..

i think sometimes i shouldn't be working on my projects in the wee-hours of the morning, because though it may look good at 130am, it might not look good at 130pm :)

Guided Retreats is a work in progress :)


i understand the website is pretty vague & my desire is for it to come alive so most will have a very clear idea of what my service is.

I have rushed so many things in my life & have learned a lot about small steps in the last few years.  From that I think I like the idea of initial contact being for the sake of curiosity.  Nothing committed, just curious.  I like getting real-mail & getting one of my information packets will be a version of that.  I don't think i will be overran by requests ~ so i think i will send something handmade (card/collage/something inspired ~ ) along with information.

Might be fun to get some postcards made up to send - something light on postage in case they are not sent back.  If the postcard comes back to me I could then send out some information for phone or ~ conversational contact ~ .. i thought about using a "conference call" number for this.. I'm all about privacy/self-protection & until I actually have a business line ~ i need another option besides my personal line.  In combination with that idea ~ it would be super simple for any of the individuals interested from the requesting organization or group to jump on the line as well..

from this point (and again - if there is interest) then a "focus meeting" can be scheduled.  my intention for a "focus meeting" is an intentional time period (no longer than an hour) to discuss the creative direction desired.  in effect ~ come into communion with the expectations of the guided workshop or retreat.  i will of course facilitate the conversation by asking some questions.  those questions will be provided prior to the meeting to ensure there has been some time to think over, pray over (however the organization would like to describe that time) the upcoming event...

i have lots more rolling around my mind ~ should have been posting along the way; however, sleep calls me most nights :)  i sit to read with my daughter - actually i sit to listen to my daughter read (yip-ee!!) & by the end I am so relaxed dreaming seems like the next logical step.

Lord - help me to be faithful to self preservation ~ specifically ~ help me to take my thyroid pill daily (which i haven't been able to do for the last 3 years), start taking vitamins & minerals (which i have never done), and exercise (which i have sporadically done since college swimming ended 15 years ago).  ahh.. i need energy & sleeping 10 hours a day isn't doing it :)