Month: June 2007

“Chase the Lion” Lifegroup

Tuesday nights @ 7 I get to spend time with a really awesome group of people at the Southfield Public Library.  They make up my Lifegroup.  Although I would have never just randomly put these people together to just "hang out", for some reason this group makes sense and is so great!  A couple of people were new tonight and a couple of people were out tonight…they were missed.  Put everyone together and it’s so much fun!

Tonight I started my group off with a KWL chart about fear.  KWL is a "before reading" strategy that teachers teach kids to do…write what you Know, what you Want to know, and then what you Learn.  I wasn’t too sure how my group of adults would take to my "classroom" strategy, but it actually seemed to go as well in our group as it does in my classroom!  Yay! 

Then we started off our book together-Mark Batterson’s, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.  Brad actually51np15gza0l_bo2204203200_pisitbdp50
preached on fear two days ago, and it led perfectly into our discussion tonight.  (Thanks, Brad!:)  We had some great, authentic discussion, and it whetted my appetite for the discussions that we’re going to have these next couple of months, as we wrestle through this together.  It pumped me up! 

We ended our night by doing something that I used to do as a Discipleship Leader, back in college…and we did something similar a few weeks ago, too…we wrote to ourselves.  We wrote down fears that we have about our current life, and fears that we have about the future…things we want to overcome.  We sealed them up in labeled envelopes and I’ll return them in a couple months-or perhaps the fall. 

Community is built through times like these-or at least they start in times like these.  I thank God for Sylvia, Joi, Cheryl, Stacey, Mark and Don….and Jayne when she can make it:)

I may come back to jot some thoughts down about fear, as we go through this book together.  I already added some things to my "L" column on my chart! 🙂

Really a Detroiter

Last week when I was with my old friends, Mike and Christina, something was confirmed.  When Mike and I were talking about Detroit sports, he jokingly said something about how you can tell when a game’s in Detroit, ’cause there’s usually a riot that breaks out…

Then he laughed even harder when he said, "Wow, Kim, you’re really a Detroiter now!  Your teeth are clenched!"  With raised eyebrows, and a chuckle, I said, "Yep, I guess I am!" 🙂

The Project-The Process

Well, it’s official…I just got busier.

I work to give myself "me" time.  It can be hard during some weeks and fairly easy during other weeks.  Right now it’s early on Saturday afternoon and I realize that I’ve accomplished very little so far today.  I’m okay with that though.  Plus, I may take a nap in a little bit (you’d think I was a growing baby).  My list is right here in front of me, and blogging isn’t on it, but I need to put some thoughts down to continue in my day.

However, this past week I agreed to be a part of what we (at Hanley) are calling the Kissman Project.  While it’s difficult to gracefully organize into precise thoughts for this post, I will explain it simply like this; I have an amazing opportunity to be coached (perhaps mentored?) by two incredible people in the education field.  Three teachers at my school were chosen.  God-given opportunities are pretty obvious sometimes…this one’s quite obvious. 

I need to write this down because I know that I will hit a day when I’m so tired and exhausted from being a part of this project, this learning experience, that I will wonder whether I was really supposed to do it.  I need to be able to go back to this day and know that I am walking in God’s will. 

One main goal that Brian and Susan (my coaches) have emphasized is that we’re going to learn how to teach the process of learning.  If I could dialogue with you about this for a few minutes you would really see how much this was, so completely, made for me!  As I sat in that hot room on Thursday afternoon, and listened to them, I realized that what they want to accomplish through us is what I’ve been trying to figure out how to do with my students all year long!  I thought, "They’re going to help me do what I really want to do!"  It was great to be able to be authentic in sharing a small part of that with them.  It excites me.  After all, God is constantly taking me back to the process.  You’ll learn more through the process, or the journey, than through someone just telling you.  Learning through the process causes you to make what’s learned your own.