Monthly Mondays: The Naturalist

Like Tweet Forward In less than 2 weeks we'll meet again to explore loving God through experiencing him in nature.  THE NATURALIST Monday, March 4th, 10AM-12:30 Wing on Life Garden, Function Room. 335 Bukit Timah Road To prepare: All you need to do is to bring yourself and a journal! In the section below are some notes about Bibles, the book Sacred Pathways and how we can connect and "chatter" through facebook. BUT you could... Consider carving out some time in the coming days to begin thinking about nature, ask God to help you begin to know him through creation. Below are a couple of passages from the Bible about Nature You can print this off and read them over, opening yourself to letting God speak in a meditative way. It might be helpful to read them more than once (perhaps even aloud!), and take some time to mull on it; to let it "sink in."  Jesus speaking in one of his most famous speeches: "The Sermon on the Mount" "Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" "And why do you worry about your clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown in the oven, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith?" This is found in the first book in the New Testament: Matthew chapter 6 verses 26–30 An ancient poem from the Jewish Scriptures "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? .... You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" Psalm chapter 8 verse 3-9 Note: The Psalms are a book of Hebrew poetry from around 1000BC. They are just about in the middle of the Bible if that Bible includes both the "Old Testament" and "New Testament" (which are theJewish ancient Scriptures, and the story of Jesus/the beginning of the church.) Some Background on "Monthly Mondays" If you had to miss the introductory session, you can take the spiritual temperament inventory we explored here. This idea of Sacred Pathways/Spiritual Temperaments comes from the book by Gary Thomas, and the inventory is merely a tool to whet your appetite and get an idea of what this is about! There is no required reading to prepare, or required Bible knowledge. But if you are interested in reading more, you can pick up the book from Amazon (kindle), Fishpond(a local bookstore with free shipping) or any of the local Christian bookstores. There is a copy of this book at the AWAoffice (The American Club, 10 Claymore Hill, Hours: M-F (9.30am to 4pm). There is no charge for the events on Mondays, but we'd encourage you to become a member of AWA to support them and thank them for the platform of exploring the Christian faith under their umbrella. The team leading are all volunteers. Kimberly Creasman serves with Church Resource Ministries and Angel Corrigan is the Christian Connection Chairwoman. We'll have Bibles at the venue if you don't have one at home. Many of us enjoy the free mobile appYouVersion, which has many translations and versions available. Our desire is to create a place for individuals from different traditions (or none at all!) to explore drawing near to God and knowing him better. Feel free to invite others to join us each Month, or inbetween through the Facebook Group. Lord, we pray for the women receiving this email; that these Monthly Mondays will help them get to know and love you more! We also ask that you will form deep friendships among them, and that we would encourage one another. We all want to thrive as women living in Singapore in 2013;  and we can't do that without you and without each other!

Happy Valentines Day 2013

Cameron's missing his dog most, 
so we sent a card from JACK.

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Missing you today Judy K.

Missing you today Judy K., a photo by K!Mberly on Flickr.

An hour before she died, I started this improvisation on my iPad... and drew this during worship on Sunday. It was merely the cross and the roses by the end of the sermon. When when I read the news soon after church was over, I knew who I had drawn it for. Judy Karmelich. She was a wonderful woman. I finished it up by evening and sent it on to the family.

There's a Hole in Her Cup

If our souls were a cup
to hold
joy
to make us feel full
and satisfied
then there's a hole in the bottom of hers.

The people around her
The recipients of her love & care,
We all know she's given
A lifetime of giving to others
She's a model of self sacrifice
No one but Jesus can match.

So
we
want to reciprocate and
we
try to love her.

But as we pour out
aur attention
and gratitude
affection
and our praise
the cup stays full only momentarily
then it dribbles out the bottom.
A steady leak,
it's soon empty;
and we all sense her thirst returning
even as she pretends it's not there.

Soon we're all looking for something to pour back in,
or retreating elsewhere
tired of being
a whine bearer.

Se listen again
and again
to the same old story
of hurts
that put holes in her cup
(some half a century old).

Does anyone really buy it?

these 'injustices' seem inflicted
more because of a
lack of boundaries,
being a doormat,
or having had unrealistic expectations.

The holes in that cup are unforgiveness,
and she's spent a lifetime
addicted to quenching her thirst on a beverage
that can never wholly
satisfy.

Our souls are a cup
meant for only one
refreshing
beverage.

The cup of
our souls are made
to hold the living water.
Filled with the Holy Spirit
a promised comforter and friend
who doesn't mind having to keep
pouring in.

All of the other refreshments - 

satisfying relationships
creature comforts
recognition
(those things we so often are calling blessings)

- are extra unnecessary ingredients
to 
the
living water.
jesus claimed he was. 

(ref. John 4)

Fill my cup Lord.

I lift it up Lord.

Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.

Bread of heaven feed me till i want no more

Take my cup

Fill it up

And make me whole

The story behind Monthly Mondays & Sacred Pathways for Artists

In November, my friends Victoria and Angel were arranging an event at the American Club. The Christianity Committee of the American Women's Association was hoping that perhaps in 2013 they could get a women's Bible Study going again.

Victoria suggested me.

So I met up with Angel and as we talked, I just knew what God was putting together. I told her, "I've been thinking that a group of my girlfriends should do some kind of service together. This next year we've been thinking of what we can do besides the weekly Bible Study we've had for a number of years now. What if we were to organize a monthly spiritual wellness mini-retreat kind of thing?" 

I've loved the concepts presented in Gary Thomas' book SACRED PATHWAYS. It made a huge impact on my understanding of how I best commune with God, spending time enjoying and worshipping him. I'd been raised in a Christian environment which primarily loved God cognitively - through our brains!

As a young believer, and well into adulthood, I worked hard at knowing the Word of God so that I could know and understand God. 

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm glad for a good foundation in knowing the Bible and being confident that it is an amazingly accurate ancient text that truly is "God-breathed" [2 Timothy 3:16] through writers inspired by the Spirit of God [2Peter 1:20-21]. And, I am still a big champion for Biblical literacy and knowing what we believe and why we can trust it! But, as beings created in the image of this God, we are so much more than a brain!

For as long as I can remember I felt perhaps I wasn't truly devoted to Christ. I confidently believed he was the Son of God, and I believed had become a human in order to become the "once and for all" sacrifice for sin. And yet, I honestly didn't find much joy in the methods I was taught for cultivating my inner life: through a regularly scheduled "quiet time" (preferably early morning!) that also consulted Bible Dictionaries, original languages, and the Thesaurus. All those years I thought something in me was lacking, and not something in the narrow experience of faith I was exposed to.

It wasn't until I was well into my 30's that I read this book and learned that God had made me a "Sensate" and a "Caregiver" and an "Activist." The "Intellectual" is only one of nine spiritual temperaments described!

Now through AWA, I'll have an opportunity to introduce others to these Sacred Pathways, and explore them more together.

After the invitation from Angel, a seasoned ex-pat in Singapore, I got on the phone with Donna, a successful Singaporean visual artist whom I adore.

"Donna, I've been starting to plan something with AWA that I'm excited about for next year...but I didn't come to Singapore to have ministry to American Women, I came for you."  I told her about the Spiritual Wellness/Retreat idea and she said,

"Use my studio! When can we start?"

A few months later now, we've started Sacred Pathways on Sunday afternoon with artists, AND this past Monday we had our second intro session with a room full of international women! I'm excited to see what God has planned in both groups!