Praise God for steam cleaners! My mom got us a Bissell for Christmas and we have loved it! This morning, months worth of dirty foot prints, Bear hair, dropped candy, spilled coke and juice, and who knows what else was miraculously lifted from the carpet by this wonderful contraption. It's amazing how a little thing like clean carpet puts everyone in a great mood! I'm so glad Sheryl took the initiative to take the thing out of the garage today!
We went to the pool this afternoon. It was so fun! Sheryl is the pro at packing everyone up and getting all 900 neccessary things from home to the pool. Maddie and Ella made some buddies and I got to play Shark Attack with them. Has anyone seen the previews for that new movie where the tourist scuba divers get left in the middle of the ocean? Completely freaks me out to even think about it.
This afternoon after the girls arise from their beauty and anti-monster naps, we plan to go to the park to celebrate Nathan Fite's new foot. Nathan, as you may recall, lost his foot in a horrible accident when his dad accidentally backed over him with a lawn mower. It was such a difficult thing, but such a testament to real community how their life group and many from our church came to their sides. Nathan is so pumped about his new foot and loves showing it off! His parents are throwing a party today for everyone to come and celebrate. Isn't that a great way to handle things? I love parties.
Last night our friend Kyle Rigsby ended up eating dinner with us and playing cards. It's so cool to have a life group of mixed demographics. Kyle is a mid 30's single-again guy who is a part of our home group. We have several singles, some close to marriage, some married folks without kids, and some who are old pros now at raising kids. It's neat to see everyone together. Our girls adore Kyle, Amanda, Eve, Aunt Kiki, Reco, and Trayce. There's something about their singleness that affords them time and energy and our girls love it. Of course, Paul and Jill, Jeff and Christy, Rick and Jane Ann, Jason and Alisha, and Jody and Stephanie also rate high marks with them. When everyone comes over, Mack and Maddie usually hit their routine of chasing each other in circles. What is it about running in circles that is so exciting? And...Ella attacks Christian McInturff. Bless him.
We've had a couple of weeks off from Life Group and tomorrow night we'll be back together. I think we are going to start trying to share some communion together in those times. It seems really close to what the Church is supposed to be--breaking bread together, sharing lives, laughter, tears, struggles, remembering Christ, and worshiping the Father. I'm more convinced that those settings are closer to what we're supposed to do than anything else. No one thinks twice when Trayce prays over someone. No one blinks when we pull out the guitar and I play piano and we worship. No one is interested in out dressing anyone else. There is openness for new comers. Seekers are more than welcome and would, hopefully, be made to feel very at home. There is fertile ground for sharing heartache--without an invitation song. The Word is shared and lives are touched. Relationships happen. Community happens. I really like it. I'd love to hear about some of your small groups and what's working well.
Have a great weekend. I'll be thinking about all of you in the morning as we join in celebrating the Lord--wherever we may meet.
Saturday, August 07, 2004
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8 comments:
Brandon - I'm glad you asked about small groups. We are part of a huge small group at Highland which has separated into 5 smaller groups in order to grow and birth even more groups. Our big group still meets once a month because we can't stand the thought of losing what we had. Last Sunday night we met at our home with our "small small group" (although I am loving S.O.F.A.!) and the evening culminated with someone talking about blessing each other's homes. I mentioned we'd never done that in our new (going on 5 year old) home. What followed was incredible. We got out the anointing oil and got to blessing. I'm sure this will become a normal and natural thing for this group. It all flowed so beautifully. And most importantly it brought our small group to a higher plane. It was a night I'll not soon forget.
Ed and Candy--
AWESOME thoughts! Thank you.
My husband and I moved from Nashville to Abilene a year ago to both pursue our master's. Many times we have missed Nashville and the families we were close with there. However, our small group (5 families in different life stages) has became so dear to us. We love attending Highland, but many times small group is church becasue there are no barriers as we share needs and joys. Mike and I brought with us from Nashville a recipe for communion bread that our small group uses as we share and commune around the table. While I was in college I made it for the college ministry at Woodmont to use along with lunch each Sunday morning in their class. Would be happy to share it if anyone is interested in sharing communion with the special homemade feel.
I blogged about our Life Group in Fort Woth last Thursday. Our groups here have struggled at times. The groups we have been in have been overwhelmed with children and not sure how to handle the situation. Any suggestions?
After a night of zoo meets three-ring-circus, I have no idea. It's really becoming a huge issue. Tonight was extra intense with the kids, but we need some good suggestions too. I plan to blog more about it tomorrow.
We have been in groups where we actually hired college students to keep the kids in another area of the house (or even next door) and do a lesson with them. Even in this situation, the parents absolutely must agree not to go and get their kids out every time they hear a call/scream/wail/whimper, but instead act as though the kids are away with a sitter. Then, if appropriate, it is good to get all ages back together for prayer and praise to close or move back into a fellowship time. Just some thoughts.
Brandon, y'all should send some of those kids to our house while you meet. Maybe not EVERY time, but we could do that. Was Rob's suggestion, actually -- he fell in love with Lettie Jane this morning.
Brandon, we hire a babysitter too, although I like the idea of bringing them out for some of the prayer time, but not all. Maybe we need to start a list of people willing to be LG babysitters at church.
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