yan koloba, eh?

despite some flagging spirits of exhaustion, eikon rallied around last night for a rousing rendition of community interaction.
we did a wee bit 'o singing & praying, then heard jana's life story -- just in time to pray for her as she goes on her way to brazil for 5 months. she will be sorely missed.

we then played yan-koloba (which casey insists means 'work together') and pretended we were an african village while learning who first conquered the incas.

we decided to change the christmas party to sunday, dec. 16th, at 5 p.m. so everyone can attend. we also decided to meet at liz's duplex next week, with brandon sharing his life story. does anyone remember volunteering for the activity? i don't know that i heard who that was going to be.

now for the good stuff:

yan-koloba game in action... hello nick & brandon!

schizophrenic group -- happy or sad?
maybe both at the same time...

oh, and now just a little crazy -- with aliens descending from the heavens?

rob's a-workin' it...
a little too much, perhaps?

there's the happy love!

shocking, i know.

but hey, what can we say?
that's just the way it is.

any catch yer fancy?

hey friends!
here's some random fonts for t-shirts. anyone have comments, suggestions, ideas?

i was thinking it'd be cool to have an image of some sort along with the word, but not sure what. and should we include a definition of the word?

any aspect of each idea can be combined with any other aspect. they're all drawings, so i could easily re-draw them with combined ideas.
or something totally different! the sky's the limit.

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casey's cool condo

it's amazing how many different expressions can be shown and put under the label 'serious face'... we have a bored liz, a regal erica, an angry casey & lauren, a defiant nick, a surprised kate, a contemplative rob, a spaced out jana, and a very happy serious brandon.i'm glad to say none of those emotions were actually a part of our small group last night -- the second picture is much more realistic. i'm happy to say we really did have a good time last night.
nick shared his life story, many people asked questions and then affirmed and encouraged him and the growth they've seen in him (not on him... he's kept that one on the d.l.)
then erica led us in a rousing game of 'would you rather...'
it's amazing the insights into personalities that can come from answering questions such as...
would you rather have no children ever, or 12? (no alternative options... those are the only two possibilities you have to choose from, mind you)
or, would you rather be married to someone who is completely paralyzed or blind?
head-scratchers to be sure, but very revealing.
we then discussed the fun christmas party plans! yes!!
it's going to be in kate's classroom where we will screenprint eikon t-shirts, have a white elephant, eat pizza & other more christmas-like goodies, and even watch a christmas movie! it will require bringing of pillows & blankets, as there is not much in the way of comfortable seating (unless you enjoy stools & wooden tables...)

next week, we'll meet at nick & rob's place for jana's last night with us. to honor her, we will be hearing her life story then praying for her as she goes on to brazil for a while.
and casey's bringing the relational interaction activity!
should be a good time.
can't wait.

EWE!

and no, that's not an exclamation of disgust... it's eric bolger's cleverly coined term for our 'eikon worship extravaganza'!
last sunday, our small group enjoyed leading worship together, which didn't look much different than a normal praise team, what with 3 or 4 of us already being consistent praise teamers...
but it was a good opportunity to get everyone else involved.
jana's flute skills accompanied rob's piano for the prelude, lauren signed to some of the songs, i ran powerpoint, nick & liz read scriptures and prayers, eric & nick helped serve communion and eric, erica & casey led the singing.
it was fun to include everyone.
liz was thoughtful enough to snap a picture or two.

this week's game night at liz's duplex will have to be synopsized by someone else as i was a pansy and stayed home.
this week has been rough for me -- i've been exhausted more than i can remember being in a long while. i seem to need a lot more sleep than normal. it's most likely all the hoopla with medieval dinner theater set design.
i hope to rejoin the land of the living soon.
meanwhile, anyone who cares to comment on the game night, feel free!

trick or treat!

between doorbell rings on wednesday night, we had a long, intense discussion of the desires each person has for our small group.
it was long.
and intense.
to help us recover from the intensity, we got spontaneous and enjoyed a little macdonald's ice cream and some apples to apples. just what the doctor ordered.

some of the main points people shared were...

• a need for honesty & vulnerability
• a desire to feel pursued & important to the group
• frustrations with feeling like we're stuck in the past, unable to enjoy each other in a real way right now
• a desire to be more easy-going & laid back
• a need to just get to know people from the ground up
  
• in an effort to learn how to make people feel welcome in our small group, we also talked about how that plays out on the large scale with sunday mornings at harvest, and resolved to be the hospitality team -- seeking out newcomers & getting outside of our comfortable group

so with those thoughts in mind, we decided to hold off on the ephesians study for now and start with some of the basics.
there's nothing more basic than games, so next week will be a game night! hurray.

then on a regular basis, we decided to start sharing life stories again, one a week.
we're also focusing on growing in our ability to relate to each other. we'll still have a facilitator for the night, but the facilitator will not be leading a study. instead, they will bring some relational interaction activity.
the options for that are endless, but it could be anywhere from learning about the 5 languages of love to playing 'would you rather' to exploring praying in the spirit... basically, whatever the facilitator would like to do to help us grow in love and life together.

then after throwing a regular game night into the mix, we have ourselves a game plan! it's flexible, with room for creativity & interpretation, but structured enough to keep the type A people happy.

what do you think?

i like it.