Softer....

I'm getting softer.

I know. It's hard to believe, but I am. Just trust me on this.

Mark & I lead a small group. NOT something that I am very comfortable with, but I signed us up anyway. I did it knowing that he would be fully on board. Didn't even ask him first....really just "told" him that we are not only going to be in a small group but lead it in our home.

Yeah.....You don't know me.

THAT is sooooo not me. I have a 15 foot rule. No one gets near me unless I ask first. It's just part of who I am have been....until now.

Last night we completed week six of eight of Rick Warren's "Life's Healing Choices" in a tag team with our Sunday services at church. The study is not really what I expected but it's obviously what I needed.

Obviously {eye roll}....

So the "softer me" part: It FINALLY dawned on me this morning ('cuz I'm painfully slow at times) that our small group is, well....awesome. Not because it's at our house or because we got to pick the night and time or because of the yummy treats (they are a plus, though, let me tell ya), but awesome because of the people who attend. Awesome because God shows up every week right on time. He's never late....almost as if He walks in with each and every person as they walk in the front door ready to sit, eat yummies, talk about life and LISTEN. He's a "special" (and required) member of every small group, but it humbles me to realize that He wants to be a part of ours too.

If no one else gets anything out of our group it will be a resounding success. Why would I make such a bold statement, you ask? Because I got something out of it. I know it's not all about me. I believe with all my heart, though, that God put our group together for many reasons....and one was to soften me up a bit.

And, boy, did I need some softening....

He gave me this statement this morning...and I heard Him very loud and clear.

LIFE TOGETHER IS HARD, BUT IT'S SO MUCH BETTER THAN LIFE ALONE.

Amen and Amen.

To my small group partners:

Thank you. For showing up. For coming back. For sharing your lives with us. For being who you are. For letting God work on your hearts and understanding how God is working on mine too. You have no idea how each of you has helped God soften me up. Just know that He has and with your help.

Life together is hard, but it's so much better than life alone.

Circle....

You have to watch this....you just do. Christ-Life Solutions is a ministry that literally saved me. I know, I know....GOD did that....but He used Christ-Life to do it. It's a ministry where you work through your childhood being an adult ally to yourself. Sounds hokey but it really isn't. It's working through the years of your childhood, working out the lies that you believe and replacing those old, incorrect paradigms with new, correct, God-directed ones. It was an exhausting year and a half of working through some issues, but in the end it was the best time I've ever spent on me. I still have junk....who doesn't, but my junk is far less than it was. Just trust me on that.

Christ-Life Solutions sends out devotional emails and this is the one I got today. SPOKE. RIGHT. TO. ME. God is teaching me a lesson on what I let in and how I let it affect me. Been one of those weekends where He was right there guiding my words and my actions. I made mistakes, yes, but I also followed His lead and am so much better for it.

Watch this video....What are you downloading into your circle?

GOD IS SO GOOD....ALLLL THE TIME! :0}