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KATHY - friendship vs. mission

Monday, October 11th, 2010

what a wild and beautiful night at the refuge this past saturday night, focused on our upcoming trip to kenya in january 2011. 10 refuge-ees will be heading over to luanda, a remote village outside of kisumu, on the western side of kenya for a friendship-love-mission-adventure. the purpose of this trip isn’t about dropping money & resource into their community for a week and flying back home. it’s about forging new relationships, encouraging our friends in the work that they do (which in different ways, so parallels the refuge), and finding ways to love each other from afar.

when we traveled there as a family in january of this year we saw up close and personal how far a little love and hope goes. as you all know, the refuge doesn’t have a lot of resource, either. but what we do have are huge hearts & love for the marginalized, the oppressed, the forgotten. our friends in kenya do not have a lot of consistent western support. they run an orphanage, school, mission center, and bible college on a shoe-string budget, with no power & no running water. and they do just fine. they don’t need our money to make their world go round. but what they do long for are friends who care for them, encourage them, pray for them. and they long to do the same for us. so that’s what this upcoming trip is all about–forging friendship. getting to know each other, hanging out and learning more about each other’s faith, life, hopes and dreams.

bed-blankets2josh-africa2

and while we are there we do hope to infuse some tangible help in some areas that they need. that’s what friends sometimes do for each other.

some of the things we’ll be focusing on are:

  • contracting the building of bunk beds to get the kids up off the floor
  • building a simple, sturdy children’s library stocked with all kinds of good books (you can see the current one)
  • lots of fun stuff for the kids that will give relief to the teachers.
  • trying to restore a broken well to working capacity (thanks to dave reierson and hope2others).
  • bringing dresses & uniforms for the kids
  • very basic medical education & support (we have 2 nurses going).

    • our gathering this past saturday eve was a huge blessing & we raised money to cover most of these projects. thanks for everyone’s love! if you still want to be part in any way, shape or form, any extra money we raise will go toward food for the orphanage. another way you can help is by bringing small school supplies (stickers, markers, pencils, etc.) to the refuge on saturday eves. but the best way you can help, really, is just to pray for our friends, this trip, for the ethos of the refuge community to be extended; and most of all, pray for us to be so open to learning all we can learn & bring that back here to share.

    on saturday night sage led us in an african song. the words meant: “the spark of community flies from our place to your place.” i have no doubt that the sparks will fly both ways.

    Posted in community, kathy, mission, relationships | 2 Comments »

    KATHY - heavy & light, harder & better, complicated & simple

    Monday, September 6th, 2010

    we are kicking off a new series of conversations at our saturday evening gatherings over september & october focused on the ways of Jesus, using the scriptures from the church calendar.  this past saturday eve we started with this very tricky passage from luke 14 where Jesus tells the disciples to really count the cost, what it means to follow him.  here’s what part of it says:


    A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.  - verses 25-27

    many of our first reactions to this passage are “ouch.”  that is rough.  hate our parents?  isn’t Jesus supposed to be about love?  and what happens if we can’t pick up our cross all the way, does that mean we don’t get to play?  there are so many different angles that this scripture can go, but the direction that we went on saturday eve was toward the crazy, paradoxical ways of Jesus and how what seems so heavy, so hard, is actually lighter than we think, better than we think.  and that is what the kingdom of God is like.

    so many of us are waiting and hoping for an easier path, a smoother road, a way-to-escape-the-pain-and-suffering-of-this-real-life-we’re-living.  i am in this club.  i have this crazy idea in my head that “once i’m done with this, once this happens, once that happens, then everything’s going to be easier.” and the reality is that every time i turn the next corner, a new corner appears.  because life here on earth is not about smooth, easy, pain-free, or prosperous.

    i think that’s what Jesus is saying in this passage, what he’s reminding us of–the cross is a powerful symbol because it is the place where Jesus, the one who was supposed to conquer the oppressors and set all things right in a practical sense, actually ends up dying (temporarily).  it is the wild paradox of Jesus.  instead of redeeming everyone in the practical sense, he ends up redeeming everyone in the spiritual instead, in the places of our heart and experience that have nothing to do with money, power, or ease. and when he tells us to pick up our cross, i think he’s telling us that this means a life of paradox, too. that in the midst of the hard stuff, it will somehow be better.  that even though our crosses seem heavy, somehow in-a-supernatural-Jesus-way, they are also lighter.  that the gospel is complicated when it’s contrasted with the ways of the world, yet it is also profoundly simple–love God, love our neighbor as ourselves.

    i personally am not crazy about paradoxes because i like all good, all easy, all my-way.  yet, something that i am continuing to learn is just how powerful it is to embrace that both exist at the same time.

    i believe that living the ways of Jesus means leaning into this idea not just in words or intellectual conversation, but in the deep parts of our experience–individually and as a community.  sometimes every part of me screams “yes, this is what i want!” and then another part of me is stomping up and down saying “but, i can’t, i won’t, it’s just too hard.” i think that’s why we need to keep seeking God’s strength & hope and why we need each other so much.  to encourage each other to pick up our crosses.  to share the load, to look in each other’s eyes and say “yes, this is hard.  but it’s better.” this is a good path to walk.  and even though sometimes it feels like we’ll die along the way, somehow these crazy ways of Jesus actually bring more life.

    Posted in community, jesus, kathy, kingdom, spiritual formation | 3 Comments »

    oasis, human trafficking & safe community

    Monday, August 2nd, 2010

    a month or so ago we had a fun venue@thegrange concert at the refuge to benefit oasis USA, our friends who are dedicated to fighting human trafficking.  you can read more about the event over at kathy’s blog but we wanted to share with everyone the video that our dear-friend-and-forever-refugee kevin potter made for us for the evening.  it highlights not only the issue of trafficking but how the work we are doing living out the values of our community matter.  enjoy!

    Posted in justice, kathy, kevin, the refuge | No Comments »

    KATHY - camping is the best form of church!

    Monday, June 21st, 2010

    group at camp 2010

    this past weekend was the refuge’s 5th annual camping trip.   for all kinds of reasons, it is one of my favorites.  i think that camping is the highest form of church.

    it draws us together as a community in a unique way that our regular gathering can’t always do.

    it’s natural & unplugged. just a lot of friends hanging out together, with plenty of time on our hands to just hang out, eat, laugh, talk, nap, be together with no hurry to get home or to the next place.

    we share easily. coffee passed around, marshmallows and graham crackers busted out. wood tossed into the pile.  tents and sleeping bags spread around to those who need them.

    kids & grownups all mixed up together. everyone’s looking out for each other’s kids.  the kids form new bonds (capturing frogs definitely bonded a big chunk of them together this year, ha ha).  we get to share the load of love and support together.

    baptisms, yeah! to me, there’s nothing better than seeing friends take the step that says “i am choosing to follow Jesus and i want you to be part of it with me.”  it’s a reminder to me that God is at work, stirring hearts and moving us in our faith.

    there’s no agenda except for being together. that’s one of my favorite parts.  there’s no program, no huge plan, nothing contrived.  just friends together, learning the ways of love.

    what’s your favorite part?

    Posted in body of Christ, community, kathy | 6 Comments »

    KATHY - follow me

    Monday, February 8th, 2010

    “One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.” luke 5:11, NLT

    this past saturday night we had a fun conversation about the calling of the first disciples in luke 5:1-11. part of the power in the Bible is being able to identify with the story, to notice the intersections with our own life & to notice what God might be stirring up in us in the midst. in our conversation together there were a few observations about the story that i want to highlight here for those of you who weren’t there and are just reading for the first time.

    God always chose the least likely. these lowly fisherman weren’t the last pick, the ones left over. they were the first pick. i don’t think we can ever dismiss the message that Jesus continues to embody–the ways of the kingdom are totally counter-cultural to the ways of the world and many religious systems. when peter saw the loads of fish in the net, he cried out “i’m not worthy.” my guess is that many of us feel unworthy, too. what do we have to offer God? what do we have to offer others? maybe in the world we don’t have the skills or the talents or the put-togetherness, but in the kingdom none of that seems to matter. this passage cries out “the least, the last, the willing”, that’s who Jesus seems to continually point to.

    to be a disciple means that we must become students of the Teacher. that means that we will have to humble ourselves and respect that we have a lot to learn. we can all say that in theory but actually submitting ourselves to the master’s teaching is whole other story. “following” requires humility & a softening of our pride, ego, and all things that keep us in control of our own destinies and comforts. also, students don’t learn everything at once; real learning is a forever process. we are more infiltrated with the worldly message of “quick, easy, success” than we probably even know, and i’m guessing it really affects our ability to lean into the long & never-ending work of ongoing transformation.

    everyone’s “calling” is different & one isn’t more important or better than another. for some, it is a big one–God is asking us to make some big shifts in our life, give up something that is comfortable and familiar for an entirely new direction. for others, it might just be a prompting to risk ourselves in a way we aren’t used, a calling to trust God through action in a relationship, situation, or experience. and then there’s everything in between. the big idea is that if we each have to listen to what Jesus is stirring up in us individually. what is he calling us to that scares us, no matter how big or small.

    if we listen to the voices rattling in our head or from the outside, we will always find ways not to go. we explored some of the voices that come rushing in when we hear the stirring, the call to “follow”, whatever that may look like some of these voices might say “what if you fail?” “you’re not good enough to do it”, “what if that’s not really God’s voice?” “it’s just not possible” “who do you think you are trying that?” “change is just too hard” “what if i heard wrong?” the list could go on and on, but in this passage it seems to me these first disciples didn’t spend too much time listening to the voices. they took a chance, they went.

    marty shared a quote she had recently heard that is really worth pondering,

    “fear, resistance and struggle is all in your head.  your heart is the part with the courage and the wisdom. live from there.  act from there.”

    there were so many other thoughts shared. if you were there and have a few others that stuck out to you, please share them here.

    this year i really want to explore what it means to humble myself & follow. to go where i’m afraid to go. to follow God’s lead to the low and scary places. to learn what it means to be a student of the master.

    ps: at the end of our gathering, we had a little journaling exercise to take home and consider this week for those that wanted to explore this idea a little more. here are the questions:

    • Read Luke 5:1-11
    • Looking back, what are some decisions that you have made that have made you proud, that you are glad you took?
    • Is God stirring up something in your heart, a step you are contemplating to somehow ”follow him”?
    • How will this step require humility?  Courage?
    • What are some of the obstacles in the way (real or perceived or just things rattling around in your head) that might keep you from moving forward?  What would it look like to overcome them?
    • What would you like to see transformed in your life journey?
    • Read Psalm 138

    Posted in jesus, journey, kathy | No Comments »

    KATHY - the church calendar, refuge style

    Monday, January 4th, 2010

    when you hear the words “church calendar” what do you think?

    when you hear the word “liturgical” what do you think?

    different people have different reactions. some might say “i have no idea what either one means.” others might think “liturgical means something lutheran, catholic or episcopalian and it’s usually boring.” because we are a community with an extremely wide breadth and depth of faith experiences, we always want to be cautious about throwing in words and ideas and thoughts that could exclude or throw people for a loop. at the same time, we are deeply dedicated to filling in the space between all of our diversity and finding our common thread. that thread, i believe, is Jesus. sure, there are people who aren’t quite sure about Jesus or have all kinds of weird associations with him that typically come from wacky church experiences, but the one thing we seem to be fairly clear on is that we are trying to learn what it means to follow Jesus. i like to think of our life together as a community as a place to learn what it means to “love Jesus, others, and ourselves and learn to be loved by Jesus, others, ourselves.” it’s a place to learn, a place to practice.

    this year together at our saturday evening gatherings we are going to do something we have never intentionally done together since the refuge started 3 1/2 years ago–follow the church calendar. this means that instead of us as a community randomly deciding which passages or themes to use each week, we will use what millions of other Christ-followers around the world are using at the same time. for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, the new year of the church calendar starts with advent, which is the last sunday (saturday for us) in november. we’ve always celebrated advent as a community but then just left it there at christmas eve. this year, we’ll continue with the seasons of the church year all the way through until advent 2010 and see how we do. remember, everything will still be refuge-style. conversational, interactive, experiential, weekly communion and eating together. i think what will be really good for us is we’re going to learn a lot together. we’ll use the gospel passages–the stories of Jesus–as our guiding thoughts. we’ll intersect with the scriptures in ways that we might not have before. we’ll hopefully stir up some trouble–good trouble, the kind that moves us, transforms us.

    here’s a helpful way to maybe think through the church seasons. it comes from the story formed calendar:

    advent - the season of expectation
    christmas - the season of celebration
    epiphany (this is where we are now, the upcoming weeks are called “ordinary time”) - the season of illumination
    lent - the season of listening
    holy week - a time to remember
    easter - the season of “hallelujahs” and the
    season after pentecost becomes the season of intentional living in love, justice and mercy, in praise and gratitude

    my take on it is that it is going to be a challenging & inspiring & fun year for us a community. i am excited about orienting my heart and my head toward the big story of God in a new way, to intersecting with the gospel stories from new angles and letting their power stir up new life in me.

    i love that we are a community that is willing to try new, creative things on our faith/life journey together. so much beauty awaits.

    i’ll close with this, i think it’s what our year holds for us, what our faith/life journey through the gospels will remind us of, point us to:

    “it is in the contemplation of the mysteries of the faith, the deep-down wrestling match of conflicting ideas, that resides the motivating power it takes to become what we see in Jesus.  the world around us tells us that life is about money, security, power, and success.  but the Gospels tell us that life is about something completely other.  real life, the Gospels tell us, is about doing the will of God, speaking for the poor, changing the lives of widows and orphans, exalting the status of women, refusing to make war, laying down our lives for the other, the invisible, and the enemy.  it is about taking everyone in instead of leaving everyone out.” - joan chittister, the liturgical year.

    here’s to a beautiful, challenging year together. i’ve got a lot to learn. i hope you do, too.

    Posted in church calendar, church stuff, kathy | 3 Comments »

    KATHY - thin places: validation

    Monday, November 30th, 2009


    God of the watching ones, the waiting ones, the slow and suffering ones, give us your benediction, your good word for our souls, that we may rest.
    - celtic advent blessing

    this past saturday we entered into the season of “advent” in preparation for Christ’s birth.  for those not as familiar with church-y terms, advent is the season of expectation, waiting, and hoping–all leading up to Christmas.  this year at the refuge we will be following our advent tradition by using urban skye’s advent guide to bind this month together.  this year the four weeks are focused on the celtic tradition; it’s called “thin places.”   thin places are certain places where the distance between the human and the Divine feel particularly thin, where God feels near.

    God touches us in all kinds of mysterious ways.  one tangible way God’s spirit moves is through people–through the touch and  love of an “anam cara”, which is the celtic word for “soul friend.”  the passage this week from luke 1:39-45 focuses on mary, the mother of Jesus, and her interaction with her cousin elizabeth, who is the mother of john the baptist.  they share a special bond, a connection.  elizabeth validated mary in a moment she really needed it.  the Bible doesn’t go into all the ins and outs of the relationship, but what rises is to the surface is that God touched  mary through elizabeth.

    this season is especially difficult for so many.  lack of money, health, jobs, family are just a few of the reasons some dread this holiday.   but  here’s my hope for all of us–let’s intentionally strip away all of the man-made trappings of Christmas and focus not on what isn’t, but what is.  to recall the beauty & mystery of the Jesus story–who came not as a powerful king but as a homeless baby in a dingy manger.  that the “incarnation”–God made flesh–is real.  available.  now.   through each other.

    so this advent i hope we can cling to slivers of hope–the small, mysterious, sometimes almost imperceptible ways God is trying to show us love, hope, and peace in the midst of our circumstance.  may we somehow experience a “thin place”–an intersection with God, an outburst of peace & hope, no matter how big or small.

    and in the spirit of week one’s conversation, may we notice God speaking to us through people, through “anam caras”–soul friends.   touching us through the unexpected phone call, the loving hug, prayers, the kind words, some tangible presence in a weird unexpected moment.

    may we notice.  may we let good in.  may we receive.  may we give.  may we have hope.

    i’ll close with the prayer that wrapped up our saturday evening together–it’s a friendship blessing written by john o’donohue:

    may you blessed with good friends.
    may you learn to be a good friend yourself.
    may you be brought into the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.

    may they bring you all the blessings, challenges, truth, and light that you need for your journey.  amen.

    Posted in advent, hope, kathy | 3 Comments »

    KATHY - gratitude heals

    Monday, November 16th, 2009

    for the past few saturdays we have been focusing on the word “gratitude”.  for some, i have heard that it stirs up bad feelings–“here we go with the guilt–yeah, no doubt i’m probably not thankful enough.” for others, it is a reminder of how easy it is to forget how much we have to be grateful for–that life, circumstances, and all kinds of other things can block us from noticing what is good, what we do have to be thankful for despite what’s hard.

    personally, i like the focus on gratitude.  i am not ashamed to say that i like the good ol’ cheesy alcoholics anonymous saying to cultivate “an attitude of gratitude.” i think there’s no downside to this principle.  but i also fully recognize that it’s not always easy to do.  let’s face it, sometimes we just don’t feel it.  we can’t see what is, we can only see what isn’t.  we can’t muster up a feeling that isn’t there.

    still, regardless of the obstacles to gratitude, i think it does something powerful inside of us.  gratitude heals.

    karl facilitated a couple of saturdays ago & focused on this passage in the gospel of luke 17:11-19:

    As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria.  As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance,  crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.  One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.  Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”

    what he shared really struck me.  first of all, only one out of ten thanked Jesus for their immediate and powerful healing.  one out of ten. i think that’s telling.  i have no idea what was going through the other leper’s minds, but i find it interesting that the one that went back to offer thanks was the “foreigner”, the “outcast”, the “less-than.”  hmmm.  something to ponder.  i wonder if the others felt entitled to the healing?  or maybe they just got busy and went home and meant to say thanks but forgot?  i have no idea, but i do love that this one leper returned and offered his gratitude.

    we will never know the ins and outs of what happened in that moment or what part of the leper’s heart Jesus saw, but karl pointed out an important thought:  maybe, what Jesus meant when he said “your faith has healed you” is “your gratitude has healed you.” he was already healed when he went to Jesus, cleansed of the ravages of leprosy.  but maybe, just maybe, the gratitude he held in his heart provided some healing power, too.

    to me, the word “healing” can be interchanged with “transformation” or “change” or “shifts in our hearts.”  i think when we are thankful, when we give thanks–either out loud or in the quiet places of our hearts–that something changes, transforms, shifts inside of us.  it somehow heals.

    it is so easy in the midst of dark, dark places to focus on what isn’t instead of what is. of all the things we don’t have instead of the things that we do. of all the things we wish were different.  i am also keenly aware of people in the midst of horrible, ugly, seemingly unredeemable situations who somehow can find light & be thankful for it.  i do think things are better for them.

    i believe the scriptures help remind us of God’s heart for us, of a better way than we would conjure up on our own.  i am not so sure that God needs our thanks.  yeah, i am sure he appreciates it but really he’s probably okay without our strokes.  i really think God calls us to thankfulness because somehow he knows it will change us, transform us, heal us.

    and that’s God’s heart for us–healing, transformation, change, hope.

    yeah, gratitude heals.

    Posted in healing, kathy | 2 Comments »

    KATHY - a doubter’s prayer

    Monday, September 28th, 2009

    as we continue our conversations on faith & doubt, may we stay in, hold on, and remember that

    “doubt is not the opposite of faith, but one element of faith” (paul tillich)

    God, sometimes i’m not sure

    i don’t understand. i can’t understand. i don’t know what i’m supposed to understand.

    i am trying to let go. trying to hold on.

    learning. growing. stretching. leaving. coming. going.

    what do i leave behind?

    what do i move toward?

    God, grow my faith, whatever that means.

    not in man, not in systems, not in what-someone-else-tells-me-i-am-supposed-to-believe

    but in you.  the living God.  the one who heals. the one who reveals.  the one who restores.  the one who turns the ways of this world upside down.   the one who calls me to mercy and justice and love.  the one who stirs us to move.

    yeah, that’s all i really want.  more of you in me.  more of you in us.

    amen.

    Posted in kathy, prayer | 8 Comments »

    KATHY - my love-hate thing with community

    Monday, July 6th, 2009

    heart drawn on wallover the upcoming saturdays this summer at the refuge we will be focused on the word “community.”  i wrote this post way back when in august 2006—at the very beginning of the refuge.  sometimes it’s fun to revisit past thoughts and see how they apply today.   one of the most important things about the refuge, in my opinion, is how we are learning about God & ourselves through being in community with each other.  i think that was always the idea of “the church”.  and yes, we can probably all agree—true community, real redemptive relationships with each other, learning the ways of both giving & receiving love, will always be hard  to do!  let’s keep learning together.

    Everyone who knows me knows I love community. I love relationships. I love people connecting with God and each other. I love to see someone who thinks they are unlovable start to feel loved because I remember how much that meant to me a long time ago. But it’s not just a love thing. Please do not think I have some crazy idealistic view of community, thinking it’s a piece of cake to pull off. Real community is brutally hard, maybe one of the hardest things we can do as human beings.

    Every church values community, this is nothing new. Look on every church website and you will see a list of small groups and ways for community to “happen” at a church. Why are so many strategies necessary to pull off “community”? Why is it not just our natural bent to want to be together, love each other, share our lives with each other, and reach out to others and love them, too?

    Because we are all messed up. Most of us have a love-hate thing with community. I know I do. I want it. I want people in my life, to know how I’m really doing, to care about me, to pray for me, to carry my burdens when they are too heavy for me. And I also don’t want it. Why? Because it’s hard. It’s easier to go solo. Having people in my life exposes me. They see things I don’t really want them to see. They force me to think about things I don’t want to. It means I will have to sacrifice time, myself. It means I will have to trust, risk, and I’m a scaredy-cat at heart.

    Like most of us, I’m sort of in this double bind. I love community. I want it. And at the same time, I hate community.

    Here’s why I hate community:

    1. It’s time consuming. I’ll have to be inconvenienced.

    2. I am sure to get hurt.

    3. It forces me to think about things differently. Everyone won’t agree with me (what’s wrong with them?) and that stinks.

    4. It messes with my self-centeredness.

    5. I’m asking to be annoyed, irritated, frustrated, angered, disappointed.

    6. I’ll let others down, fail them, disappoint them; I’m a tried and true people-pleaser, so this is asking for trouble.

    7. I’ll actually have to ask for help.

    8. I won’t be able to fake it.

    9. It won’t be neat and tidy (what I’m always longing for). In fact, it’ll be messy, crazy, hard and unpredictable.

    Okay, so with all of these negatives, is it really worth it? I think so. For me, the loves are definitely starting to outweigh the hates.

    Why I love community:

    1. It’s worth the time. Jesus was about people, bottom line. Relationships are what matter. At the end of the day I won’t remember my job, my house, my stuff. I’ll remember the people I loved and that loved me.

    2. It’s a place to practice becoming a better lover—of God, of people. I definitely need a place to practice. How can we live out the 2 greatest commandments Jesus gave us…“love Him, love others” without at least trying for close, intimate relationship with each other?

    3. It inspires me to keep going. The courage you have—to keep fighting, living, trying—makes me want to, too.

    4. The laughter. Without it, I don’t know where I’d be. It is sustaining. Life is too hard without it.

    5. I can talk grace and forgiveness until I’m blue in the face, but unless I have to give it, receive it, it means nothing. I want it to mean something.

    6. It keeps pointing me toward God. The more I hang around other people and listen, I am forced to think more, ask more questions, seek, wonder, question, wrestle.

    7. It is glorious to be up close and personal with Jesus moving in a life, changing a person, healing, bringing hope. Nothing is more beautiful.

    8. You seem to keep loving me no matter what, and for that I am very grateful.

    So what do you hate about it? Love about it?

    Posted in community, kathy | 1 Comment »

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