Brothers and Sisters:
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!
Usually, summer slows down a bit for the community, but this June, “post-pandemic”, it seems like we have been very busy! We had our June General Leaders Gathering (GLG) on June 5th here in Tempe with over thirty leaders and guests from formation district, our Albuquerque outpost and all our California Branches in attendance. We came into the weekend with an open agenda, ready to hear from the Lord about what His plans are for us going forward as a community. Afterward, I asked the attendees what their takeaways from the weekend were, and it was a surprising variety of answers. It seemed the Holy Spirit revealed a different piece of a bigger picture to each attendee, so that all together it formed a complete picture. It’s amazing how much God loves reminding us how we are a “Body” made up of many members and we are not complete without each other! (1 Cor 12:12)
READ MOREGrowing up in Durango Colorado, summer was heaven on earth for me. We were blessed to live in a small town, we knew everyone, and everyone knew us, at least our last name - “isn’t that Doc Pivonka’s son?”. We had total freedom; one rule: be home before dark! In a small town with a bicycle, you could go anywhere, and do anything. No fear, not a care in the world. There were some areas that we knew we shouldn’t go, and we “generally” avoided them.
When did life change? When did fear enter the picture? When did the worries of life start to bog us down? Was it all at once, or was it just one worry, one anxiety, one small thing at a time? As I look back, it can be hard to remember those worry free childhood times.
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