koinonia group

I got a call from Amy this afternoon. She said that Brandon has gone to the clinic because he has hepatitus. Please keep them in your prayers.

More info for this Sunday will come soon.

We missed several of you this Sunday. Here's some prayer requests that were shared:

Steve Philips, who bared his soul in chapel on Tuesday, we prayed that he would find strength to continue the Kingdom work that he does around OBU.

Shauna: Some life situations are tough for her these days. Pray that she'll have wisdom when dealing with people who are close to her.

Leslie's friend Beth lives from her wheelchair. She's been job hunting for over a year, and though they'd never admit it, she can't be hired because of the insurance liability that she brings to the businesses she's applied and interviewed with. Pray for patience for Beth and justice for the situation.

Christy is working at 3rd St. Church with the kids, like Amy did last semester. Pray that she'll provide a good example of love to her girls. Pray that she'll facilitate love and community among girls who don't like each other very much.

Laura is dealing with some bitterness toward her dad and general loneliness and bitterness towards her family. Pray for their relationships and for understanding on Laura's part.

Beth is on the block. 8 hours per day, of which she can miss none and still pass. It also requires a lot of homework each night. This complicates life with a toddler. Pray for strength and her health.

JACE IS DANCING!!! Yes, this may seem an odd prayer request, but it means that he's learning and paying attention. After watching the Wizard of Oz more times than they've cared to, Thomas and Beth were excited to see that Jace can do the dance without watching the TV! He's watched it and LEARNED how to do it. Father, we praise you for glimpses of your goodness!

Thomas was informed that he has a great research job AND entrance into a doctorate program!

Terese and I have a friend, Silke, at UALR. Pray for our influence and friendship with her.

I'd like for Terese to work less to complicate life less, but she doesn't want to. Pray for wisdom for us. Pray for us as we disagree about it -- it's been kinda fun to disagree about it, pray that we would continue to not take the arguments personally :).

Feel free to comment to this post to add your prayer requests. Please take time to read/pray (i think they could be the same thing ;)) the next 2.5 weeks. Prayer will bind us together even when we're not meeting together!

EDIT:
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE WILL BE MEETING ON FRIDAY AT 6:00... NOT SATURDAY!

mc


Friends-

We thought that because we weren't going to meet each week this week, we'd get together for some fun stuff. Fun item #1: Bill Cosby Himself! We'll meet on Saturday afternoon at the Cox's at 6:00 (a change from the original 2:00). The movie will start very shortly after 6:00; we can't be late because Jace needs to be in bed soon!

Leave a comment on this post if either you won't be coming, or if you can bring any of the following:
Salsa x2
Chips x2
Something sweet (chocolate cake maybe ;))

Terese and I will provide popcorn and hot and cold tea.

Hope to see you there!

mc/tc

Dearest K-Group,

Brandon & i just wanted to write and tell you that we love and miss you all. We are praying for you this semester, especially with the changes to the schedule!

We are going to write you a letter soon... and look out for our wedding pictures... online!

We love you all!

Love,
Brandon & Amy O'Brien

Community:

Welcome back from the long break! We've not missed much during the break, but K-Group is something that we've been craving. We're looking forward to starting up again this Sunday.

For reasons that I'm sure you'll hear more about, the commitment that we make to the community is going to have to be much more guarded this semester. K-Groups will only meet 7 times, which means we've got to commit to being at group, being prepared for group, and being prepared to be vulnerable with each other.

This Sunday is the first of our 7 meetings. We'll meet at our house just like normal. Here's what we need people to bring:

We'll fix the main course, lasagna.
If people could comment on this post and bring:

Salad (enough to feed 1/2 of us)
Salad (ditto)
Bread
Desert
Desert
Vegetables enough to feed everyone (maybe canned?)
Vegetables also enough to feed everyone (also canned?)

Here's the rest of the dates for K-group this semester. Mark them on your calendar and plan on being there. Remember that every one of us is needed for community! It's now even more important that we're here. If someone misses a week, then it'll be 4 or 6 weeks till they're back into K-Group, and K-Group just isn't quite right without people there :).

February 12
February 26
March 12
April 2
April 23
May 7

Sorry that it has to be this way, but you'll be hearing more on why it has to be this way this Sunday.

We love you guys and are looking forward to seeing you this Sunday!

This week was Brandon's last week at K-Group. We prayed for him corporately today. Continue to pray for him this week as he prepares to move all his and Amy's stuff to Wheaton.

Pray that circumstances will allow John to take the subject GRE this next weekend. Pray for time to study as well as clarity of thought while he takes the test. John also asks that we pray for him through the holiday season. Often he has some depression during this time. Many of us also voiced this same concern.

Beth and Thomas applied for Grad School today at U of A. Pray for wisdom as they decide what to do about the future. Beth also has a major project due this week. Pray that she will find time to get it finished.

Amy and Brandon have a lot of anxiety as they prepare for the wedding, move, grad school, finishing up school, and everything else on thier plate. Pray that they will persevere through this busy time with faithfulness.

Terese and I finish class this week, and our porfolios are due a week from Monday. Pray that we (especially Terese) will find time to finish out our porfolios, and still have time to do the things that we do :).

We love you guys! Be looking for posts about next week's K-Group meeting! If you have requests to add or updates on any that are here, please add them as a comment. Feel free to make any posts to the blog. It'll be a great way to keep up with each other through the week.

Precious friends,

Thank you for the love you have shown us through all the help you have given us lately. Our new home would be so ugly if it weren't for you! Also, we thank you in advance for your kind hands and feet that will help us move tomorrow.

Never before have I seen such a beautiful picture of loving community lived out; I am deeply grateful we are in each others' lives.

May our loving and faithful Lord continue to richly bless and safely keep each of you.

EDIT--hey Michael! You beat me to a post!! :)

Doug and Rebekah are moving this weekend! Let's help them out. I think that they are going to do some moving tonight (if you want to help them out, give them a call). But officially, we're going to meet on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at the new place to begin moving. The more people that show, the faster we'll be finished. Hopefully we'll see you there.

Last night we had a birthday party for Chrsty, Leslie, and Brandon. I think that they were all surprised :). Happy birthday guys... sorry that we were a little late with Christy and Leslie... I'm glad we got to celebrate together! These are the things that community is all about :). I'll add a link with some pictures this afternoon.

This Sunday we're going to have some kind of chicken. There's also a connections class and lunch will be served there. Please comment to this thread if you're not coming this Sunday, if you're going to eat at the connections class, or if you'd like to bring one of the following things:

2 Salads
3 loaves of French Bread
a couple of cans of green beans (we still have some from last week :))

We have cake left over from the birthday party, so no need to bring desert. We're really excited about this Sunday. Hope that you'll all come.

Tonight we're going to paint at Doug and Rebecca's new place!!! Show up at 208 Clay St. after 6:00. If you don't like to paint, I'm sure that there'll be things for you to do like... addressing wedding invitations :). We'll also begin moving D and R sometime tomorrow morning. Come tonight or follow this post-thread for more info.