something meaningful, refreshing, life-giving for summer: 5Mondays

I’m trying a little something new this summer. I’d just thought I’d share it with you in case you want to try it in your community, with your friends this summer, too. It’s not revolutionary or anything, at least on a large-scale. But I am praying for revolution, revival, renovation, restoration on a large-scale in each small life and each small heart who joins us each week.

First, I sent the following email to any of my girl-friends who I thought might be interested. I’ll just let you read it.

Hi friend,

You’re invited to an experiment. Actually, it’s just a group of my girl-friends and acquaintances getting together a few times this summer to connect, discuss, think, share, grow, love.

Who knows what God might do in and among and through us?

I think I’m calling it 5Mondays.

6-7:30pm.

Stay until 8pm if you want, or beeline it out of there to go put kids to bed.

Women only.

My house. (My address.)

Mondays: June 22 / June 29 / July 13 / July 27 / Aug 3

Each week we will address just one question, a topical question.

Topical, so that if you (inevitably) miss one, you won’t be ‘behind.’ Practical topics. Relevant topics. ‘Evergreen’ topics that will grow better, not obsolete, with age. (These may also be referred to as ‘red wine’ topics – whichever you prefer 😉 )  But needfully spiritual topics, because we are the church and you can find a blog or mag to help you organize your closets and give you summer hairstyle tips, if you need. 

Questions like: 

How do I disciple the people around me (my kids or my co-workers or my neighbors or the youth group kids) to love and follow Jesus?

What does staying personally connected with Jesus look like?

How do you rest? How do you rest often enough and well?

I have not pre-decided the questions. I think we’ll choose them together as we go. You will always know next week’s question a week ahead of time so that you can mull over it before our meeting.

As facilitator, each week I’ll do two things:

1. Prepare a little bit of a devotional / teaching / content related to the question, just to get us started, like 10 minutes worth.
2. Give you a spiritual / soul exercise (my preferred name for a spiritual discipline) to practice in the week ahead — in response to our discussion and as a way to keep the meditating / conversation going in your head and heart and prayers with Jesus.

In between the two, we’ll discuss. Share the wealth. Wrestle with finding the Jesus Way for each of us, in each of our families, in each of our homes, in each of our real lives. You may come and just listen. You may come and share what you know and have discovered. I’ll just be there to keep the conversation moving and on target.

Let’s get the conversation going… Then we can just keep talking about these things in the months and years to come.

I invited you to come because you’re 

• A friend of mine
• A Jesus-follower
• Soft-hearted toward God and wanting to learn & grow

You can invite a friend, even if she’s not yet a Jesus-follower. Just let her know ahead of time that we’d LOVE to have her and that we’ll be talking about these topics with a ‘Jesus Way’ bent, just so she’s not caught off guard.  

Let me know if you can come, at least to the first one to try it out.

Love,

Jocelyn

Second, I’m keeping it simple. I hope that seemed clear from the email. I already hire a housecleaner every other week. Done. I’m already learning to let go of pressuring myself to have a perfectly presentable house every time I have people over – that only gets in the way of having people over, which, in Jesus’ kingdom values is a travesty! This will be a way to further practice letting go. Done. We’ll probably actually sit out on my back patio most weeks. (Why be inside when you can be delightfully out?) Done. I’ll delegate treats, but at least one week we won’t have any, just to keep it simply imperfect. Done. Simple. Repeatable. So anyone could do this too. Like you!

Third, I’m planning just a bit of content, as described. I’m mostly just borrowing from what I’m already doing now in real time in my own regular times with Jesus. I’ll borrow, too, from a few big things that God has done to transform my own life in the last few years. Fresh stuff. Heart & mind & strength stuff. Real stuff. Stuff worth talking about.

And – just in case you want to do it, too, I’ll blog as we go so that you can follow along and just borrow what we do. (No use reinventing the wheel, right?)

Smooches, Jocey

PS. If you’re a local friend who didn’t receive this email and want to be invited: please reply to this post or text or email me! You weren’t intentionally overlooked and we’d absolutely love to have you!