We may not have the opportunity to control the circumstances of our lives. We have many narratives, many stories that we tell ourselves. And let that shape the larger picture of the world that you’re working with.” Krista offers a generative narrative practice “to set out to become alert and somewhat reverent of what is good and lifegiving in the ordinary encounters of your days: what you read, what you focus on, what you look for and notice in people close to you, and also what you notice in strangers. Krista Tippett, creator and host of the podcast “On Being,” first introduced me to the idea of a “generative narrative,” the concept of desiring to amplify what is good and beautiful without denying what is not. Never apologize for caring enough that it leaves you aching, yearning for a better world than this.” Sometimes brokenness can mean broken open, a painful but life-giving space that can eventually lead back to wholeness. Shine and sparkle my friends, you’ve got this! In a month of full schedules and long to-do lists, we can choose meaningful encounters with others to offer a touch or word of care. Each day I will offer an idea with the Calendar of Care of who or how we could reach out to another. We are standing on a threshold and we can choose to enter with others with gentle care throughout the month. We have an opportunity to reach out with a heart of care…. We have an opportunity to learn someone’s name that we encounter often and begin calling them by name…. We have an opportunity to invite another to a conversation of care…. We have an opportunity to look in someone’s eyes and ask a caring question…. We have an opportunity to hug a little longer…. We have an opportunity to ask a caring question…and wait and listen for the answer. I picture us crossing through this portal with a sense of vulnerability as we care for others through the month of December – the uneasiness of trying something new, the exposure of not knowing how things will turn out, the risk, the emotional exposure of putting ourselves “out there”. The art in the image above reflects a beautiful opening. Peters said that nearly 600 people came out to the church's new location for Easter Sunday service on its opening day.How might we open our hearts during this holiday season to one another with intentional and meaningful care and compassion? “To see this come together today and to have the response that we had is just confirmation that God has been moving all along and preparing us for this day,” Peters said. “I'm going to be growing up in this church for the rest of my life and knowing all these people here will be great.”Īccording to Peters, the journey leading up to church's Easter Sunday's opening was tough, but it was worth being able to have their grand opening on such an important Christian holiday. “It's not the building that makes us a church, it's the people here,” said Outlaw. Thirteen-year-old Timothy Outlaw believed that Easter Sunday marked the beginning of something special for the Radiant Life Church and its congregation. “Really just like coming home, like this we know, this is where we're supposed to be and these people are our family and it feels like my family is growing today,” said Brittany Hoover, a leader from the Lifekids program at the Radiant Life Church. Members of the church said that on top of having a building of their own, Easter Sunday was an emotional new beginning for them and the other members of the church's community. Leading up to Easter Sunday, members of the church's community put the finishing touches on the church building, which used to be the Westwood Twin Theatre. The church had been a mobile church for the past four years, with their weekly worship services being held at the Abilene Convention Center. I don't cry a lot, but I have to say, it was first worship experience I was overwhelmed (by),” said Peters. Lead Pastor Kevin Peters opened the doors to the new location of the Radiant Life Church on Easter Sunday. ABILENE, Texas - Easter Sunday is a time for people to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus, but one Abilene church had something else to celebrate on Easter Sunday this year: the grand opening of their church's new location.
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