Brandy?

Where are you?

Brandy the Brazillian

LGHG may not mean Laurel Green Home Group anymore, but that doesn't mean the blog has to go away.

With Brandy on her way to Brazil, I think the blog needs to be here. We can support her via this page.

More than that, we can keep giving glory to God through our fellowship with one another!

This is the season...

Below is a passage that has been on my heart for awhile. It is so fitting for this time in the life of this HG. As hard as it is for me to give it up after nearly four years I truly believe God has called me to do just that. While I love the people of the group tremendously, the joy has left me for doing the actual leading of the group. My hope is that the bonds forged over years will last and endure this latest season. I am stepping down as home group leader but not as a friend or confidant. Nothing can make me stop caring for and praying for those people whom God so graciously put into my life, some of them for nearly seven years now. I am taking that leap of faith believing that when God closes one door He will open another. My heart aches but is at peace, I am restless but I feel at rest, I am tired but I am energized, I have doubts but I trust completely. When God calls....LISTEN AND OBEY!!!

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account. ^[a]

16 And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

17 I thought in my heart,
"God will bring to judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time for every deed."

18 I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath ^[b] ; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal ^[c] goes down into the earth?"

22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

Boomerang

For those who need encouragement.

The Names of God

Group I wanted to post the names of God that we talked about at the last HG. As discussed please take the time between now and the next meeting to pray these Names each day. See what God will do as you press into Him and learn more about His character.
As always use the blog to discuss what you think or feel. This is a great place to put down some thoughts or feelings.

Yahweh Jireh (Yireh): “The Lord will provide.” Stresses God’s provision for His people (Gen. 22:14).
Yahweh Nissi: “The Lord is my Banner.” Stresses that God is our rallying point and our means of victory; the one who fights for His people (Ex. 17:15).
Yahweh Shalom: “The Lord is Peace.” Points to the Lord as the means of our peace and rest (Jud. 6:24).
Yahweh Sabbaoth: “The Lord of Hosts.” A military figure portraying the Lord as the commander of the armies of heaven (1 Sam. 1:3; 17:45).
Yahweh Maccaddeshcem: “The Lord your Sanctifier.” Portrays the Lord as our means of sanctification or as the one who sets believers apart for His purposes (Ex. 31:13).
Yahweh Ro’i: “The Lord my Shepherd.” Portrays the Lord as the Shepherd who cares for His people as a shepherd cares for the sheep of his pasture (Ps. 23:1).
Yahweh Tsidkenu: “The Lord our Righteousness.” Portrays the Lord as the means of our righteousness (Jer. 23:6).
Yahweh Shammah: “The Lord is there.” Portrays the Lord’s personal presence in the millennial kingdom (Ezek. 48:35).
Yahweh Elohim Israel: “The Lord, the God of Israel.” Identifies Yahweh as the God of Israel in contrast to the false gods of the nations (Jud. 5:3.; Isa. 17:6).

The Names of God

Hey group I just wanted to remind everyone that we have HG this Wednesday (10/3). I handed out to most of you a list from bible.org with a brief study of "The Names of God" if you did not get it you can click on the link and put in "the names of God" in the site search box. As always this blog is also a good place to continue or initiate discussions. I hope to see you all there on Wednesday and please come with your thoughts about the topic.

Prayer Guide for Ramadan

I found a link to daily prayers for Ramadan.

I haven't looked through it too thoroughly, yet, so I don't know who administers the blog, but it looks pretty good.

Click here.

I Have Forsaken Sleep

Angie innocenty asked me today whether I had made any changes to this blog. At the time, I said no, but it got me thinking...

This blog needs some freshening up. Or, at least it needed freshening before I took to it tonight.

What do you think? It's a little ...um...colorful, but I think I like it. The question, though, is this: Does it represent our homegroup?

As for Ramadan, Frontiers publishes a prayer guide to help you decide for whom you'll pray. You can check it out here.

Be warned, though, it's probably the ugliest and least user-friendly website I've seen recently.

It's That Time

Ramadan in 2007 will start on Thursday, the 13th of September and will continue for 30 days until Friday, the 12th of October


Note that in the Muslim calander, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Muslims will celebrate Ramadan on the sunset of Wednesday, the 12th of September.


Remember last year when we prayed for our Muslim friends as they celebrated Ramadan? We could do that again...

Hebrews 12

Read it.

Discuss it.

But I challenge you to keep all comments under 25 words.

And for the cheaters, you can only post one comment at a time. You'll need someone else to comment before you can write more.

Who Wants to Party?

I do.

Let's meet at my house on Friday the 24th at 7 pm. You'll bring some food and I'll provide the drinks and the games.

By drinks I may mean tap water and by games I mean, well, games.

RSVP to the comments section of the blog, yo.

I'm Back, Bitches

I decided to inappropriately quote Paris Hilton (or possibly Nicole Ritchie...) here on the church-related blog because no one is writing anything anymore!!!!

I can only assume that no one is reading this anymore, either. I, however, check every couple of days like a sucker and every time I check I am disappointed to find the same sad post staring back at me.

The last post is from May and is about children eating nickels. And was written by ME. If kids eating currency can't elicit any comments or response, maybe cursing will.  But I doubt it.

But back to the topic at hand: I'm back from Iraq [bitches]. 

I arrived back in the States on Monday and have been keeping things on the DL trying to surprise people as I go. It's worked pretty well, I must admit. My mom almost passed out, honestly.

The only sore point is that my luggage did not make it back with me. It is stranded somewhere between Dubai and Columbus, but no one is really sure where it is. I think maybe it spontaneously combusted like that playground in Texas. 

The saddest part is that Settlers of Catan was inside. Well, it probably still is inside the luggage, I guess. It'll just never been seen again. Lucky for you all, though. I can't beat you if we can't play.

Is Anybody Even Reading?

Many nations are poor because they have no money. America tries to give them money sometimes but I don't think they know how to use it because they're still poor. I think they try to eat the money because they're spoiled by missionaries who give them food instead of teaching them how to get money. I think that's what they mean by “nickels a day can save a child.” I thought, “How could food be so cheap over there?” It's not. They just eat the nickels.

Please Excuse....

To explain my absence from the most previous homegroup, I have submitted the following letter. Everyone else who missed is on his or her own, including Angie.

Dear LGHG,

Please excuse Robert Meeker from home group. He was not feeling well that evening. I believe he may have had a non-lethal form of the plague. I was afraid to take him to the doctor, so I can't be sure. I felt that it would be unwise to take the plague (should it have been the plague, of course) to a doctor's office. I am sure you understand.
He drank an overload of Vitamin C for three days and is feeling much better now, although he is very tired. This fatigue is not related to the plague. Rest assured. He is just not sleeping well as he has found TV on the internet and prefers to do dishes at 4 am rather than sleeping. But that's his problem not yours.
He is pleased to announce that he will begin a new job on Tuesday and is looking forward to sharing those details with you all at the next home group meeting. You can give him a call or stop by his house if you would prefer to chat in the mean time. We all know he's just sitting around bored.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Robert's Mom

P.S. - Craig, Angie and/or Brandi, if you ask me directly about this
letter, I will disavow all knowledge of ever writing it.

sooooo....

Well I have been absent from the blog for a long time now. During my hiatus I really wanted to write but I realized that in writing I would probably sound a bit whiney and I didn't want to come across that way. In writing now I KNOW I sound whiney but I am going to write anyway.


This has been a season of both enlightenment and frustration as well as hurt and anxiety. The type of enlightment I am speaking of is not that type where suddenly you know the right answers or have the right direction in life or even one of clarity. No this enlightened period is one that has caused me to question my core values and to question those "things" I held to be the truth or to be good or to be right. It has been one of those experiences that tells you who you are as a person and who you have relied upon in the past and to what extent. Just for the record so I don't freak anyone out that may be reading this. I AM NOT HAVE A FAITH CRISIS!!! I know without a shaddow of a doubt that Jesus is there in my life and I continue to trust him with my life. I think the best way to describe what I am feeling is that I have begun to question just "who else" I have relied upon. How much of my faith did I put into others that are, or were in my life. Just how much did I allow thier feelings or thier direction dictate my direction and my feelings. I think I have allowed this for most of my life. As I told a friend recently I never really gave much thought to myself or to what I wanted. Part of that is confidence but part of it, I think, is a warped sense of what I thought it meant to be humble or to be a servant. I thought somehow that I had to lose my identity and assume that of the "person God has chosen to do a work". Never suspecting that maybe I was to be the one that God had chosen or understand that God somehow wants everyone to live up to thier identity that HE has gifted them with and at the same time working towards one common goal as a community.


There is so much more that I want to write and so many other things on my mind but for now I will leave you as those others thoughts swirl around in my head. Thanks for listening.

Understanding | Sharing Understanding.

Hi gang. I wanted to pass along a post from my mom's blog to see if you might have anything to share with her. I think she is having trouble getting her head and heart around Bob and I going to Iraq for a few different reasons...I personally have some background to this post maybe, but since she posted only what's in this post, I'm just going to repost what she wrote and ask if you guys have anything to bring to the conversation that might be helpful. The last time she and I talked about the trip, it didn't go so well, so that's why she's not directing the question towards me.

Understanding?
This is a hard post to write because I know that it will upset some people, but I really don't mean it in a mean way, maybe just ignorant and need help in understanding.

I have been sitting here all day reading my Bible, trying to get some understanding about Bob and Angie's plans. I hope that maybe someone other than Angie (because I'm too close to her to talk to her about it) can help me understand.
I read every book in the Bible today about when Jesus asked His disciples to come follow Him, but nowhere did I read that He told them that they had to raise many thousands of dollars before they could do so. I looked everywhere and just couldn't find one single reference. I just don't understand.
I read about selling what you have to share with the needy. Key word is share. I was particulary struck by 2 Cor 8 12-14

"If you are really eager to give, it isn't important how much you are able to give. God wants you to give what you have, not what you don't have. Of course, I don't mean you should give so much that you suffer from having too little. I only mean that there should be some equality. Right now you have plenty and can help them. Then at some other time they can share with you when you need it. In this way, everyone's needs will be met."

My question is how can you give, if you have nothing to give?

I understand about making sacrifices in order to follow the Lord. To me, it would seem as though if you have a goal that takes money to achieve, you work hard to earn enough to make that goal become a reality. Whether it be to start a business or to go into ministry full time. It takes sacrifice. But what sacrifice is really being made if other people pay your way, you don't have to worry about making a living,and you're housing and meals are provided? Anyone can do that. The hard part is just getting enough people to support you. It seems as though the only real thing that is being sacrificed is their time.

I guess the hardest thing for me to understand is the part of this is the blind faith. I really have pondered about that. To be so sure that what you are doing is right. But then I read Matthews 4 about where Satan told Jesus to jump off the temple and he replied, "Do not test the Lord your God."

Is this a test of God? Is God supposed to respond to what they want? Whose faith is being tested? Is this what God wants them to do or is this what they want God to do?

I really do understand the need for more workers for Jesus. I really do. I believe that the most important things that we need to share is to love God and love each other. I truly do believe that Angie and Bob have so much love to share.

I just need to understand.

James 3:1-12

1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.

6 And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.

James and Blankets

"But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?"
-James 2:20

To that end, we passed out blankets to men who had set up makeshift camps down by the Scioto. I hesitate to call them "homeless" because they had homes - as nontraditional as they may have been. They were very gratefull to receive; especially on a cold andrainy January afternoon.

Special thanks are due, I think, to Rick and Barb for making it all happen.

For next homegroup, read James 3:1-12.

The Meeker's Christmas Party

You're invited to join us after Carols and Candles for dinner at our apartment! We’ll have a 20 pound turkey to share (courtesy of Brandi, she bought one a few weeks ago just hoping that she's have an opportunity to make it one day, so we thought this was a great time! We are fixin' up some of the fixins', and if you’ll do your best to bring some of your favorites to share, or something to drink, we'll have ourselves a new Christmas tradition: Tinsel and Turkey after Carols and Candles! You know you always go out to eat afterwards anyway - just come over here instead! Robert will get the background Christmas music rolling, we'll have some Christmas movies playing for the kids (or even the big kids, if you're one of THOSE) and maybe, just maybe...we'll even take in a good Charlie Brown-eseque reading of Luke 2?! Who knows what will happen...we just know that it won't be the same without you.

If you think that you’re coming, let us know so we can make sure to have enough cookies (and chairs!) for everyone and if you need directions, shoot us an email!

See you at Carols and Candles!

From Saint Augustines Confessions

X. xxii(32) Far be it from me, Lord, far from the heart of your servant who is making confession to you, far be it from me to think myself happy, whatever be the joy in which I take my delight. There is a delight which is given not to the wicked (Isa. 48:22), but to those who worship you for no reward save the joy that you yourself are to them. That is the authentic happy life, to set one's joy on you, grounded in you and caused by you. That is the real thing, and there is no other. Those who think that the happy life is found elsewhere, pursue another joy and not the true one. Nevertheless their will remains drawn towards some image of the true joy.


XII. x(10) May the truth, the light of my heart, not my darkness, speak to me. I slipped down into the dark and was plunged into obscurity. Yet from there, even from there I loved you. 'I erred and I remembered you' (Ps. 118:176). 'I heard your voice behind me'(Ezek. 3:12) calling me to return. And I could hardly hear because of the hubbub of people who know no peace. Now, see, I am returning hot and panting to your spring. Let no one stand in my path. Let me drink this and live by it. May I not be my own life. On my own resources I lived evilly. To myself I was death. In you I am recovering life. Speak to me, instruct me, I have put faith in your books. And their words are mysteries indeed.