Carla and B.N.H.

Carla created a new essential oil blend: Butt Naked Honest.

She says, "If you are getting butt naked honest then you gotta put some Frankincense in it because its got a stench to it and it's purifying.

The Lemon is the sourness of the pain because getting honest can be painful.

The Lavender represents change because once you get honest, you get vulnerable and leave yourself open to change."

I love her words, but I think her face says it all...

How Do You Organize Compassion

This week's Group was not my favorite.
It was awful, actually.
We wrestled with some hard questions, some specific, some general:

GENERAL QUESTIONS:
Who decides who receives donations?
Are any of us worthy?
What if trying to live a life like Jesus makes you too tired to deal?

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS:
If Women's Group gets donations of warm clothes, do we share with men in the community, or just women?

Do we allow men in the room? Ever?

Do women who need a safe, sanctuary space once a week for one hour get to ask that men not be allowed in the room during that hour?

If someone has money to buy alcohol and drugs on the street, do they get any warm clothes from the donation pile? Or do they go to the local shop and use their money for a warm jacket and skip buying the drugs and alcohol?

Do we get to make rules about who gets what donation?

Should hygiene kits only be given to the women who attend Group and stay the whole hour?

With clothing donations, should we say you can only pick out one thing for someone else, to practice "giving back"?

Do you get a coat first to warm yourself, so then you can move forward in giving a coat to someone else? Dorothy Day said that if you have two coats, you stole one. What do we do with that?

Since Women's Group is a religious, spiritual, seek-the-truth-in-scripture Group, I read and re-read our devotional after all the arguing about who receives donations and how do you organize compassion.
I also had been sketching dream catchers...and dreams came up twice in the devotional from Jesus Calling.

It seems...Jesus said to give to everyone.
Love all the time.
Repeat compassion.
Trust God.
Over and over.
As we prepare for his birthday, I wish he were here to help us hand out coats, calm our fears and cease our judgments about who gets what and when.
He said all the time, everyone.

Next Tuesday we are making Elderberry Syrup to share with others (boost immunity this season) and passing out coats and hygiene kits. I hope we sing a carol and Happy Birthday and grow from our hard questions this past Tuesday.
All the time, everyone...

Unifying Topics and Divisive Topics

Today in Group, I realized something:

When we talk about dreams we have - whether they are weird or random or repetitive or prophetic - that is a UNIFYING topic of discussion.

When we talk about the existence of Santa Claus, that is a DIVISIVE topic.

It was also voting day for the midterm elections, so talking about dreams and Santa Claus was great practice for staying in the room, present for the discussion, whether you agreed or not.

Fibonacci in Group

One Tuesday in Group, we talked about the Fibonacci numerical sequence (Jessica explained it to the Group):

1+1=2

2+1=3

3+2=5

5+3=8

8+5=13

13+8=21

21+13=34

34+21=55

55+34=89 and on and on.

We talked about patterns and math and where we feel stuck in our lives. It was mind blowing and connectioning in a very strange way. 

Then we talked about the artist rendering of the numerical sequence and how quilters and architects use it. We drew it out with squares...and realized that it is very similar to the layout of the very building we were INSIDE in that moment!

We looked at each other wide-eyed, feeling loved and surrounded by the wave of Fibonacci...even in Women’s Group.

Tacoma

Tacoma is a staple member of Group.



She told her story last year at a fundraiser and this is what she wrote and spoke:

I am a strong woman.
I am a woman who has survived.
I am a woman who loves her children.
I am a woman who has been hurt beyond words.

My story began August 2007 when through a domestic violence situation, I lost everything in one day and became homeless not only me but my daughter also. We went from living in a house to living in a shelter and I felt hopeless and blind to how I didn't see this coming. That's when my faith was tested. Not being from here, someone told me about the Church of the Reconciler.

I remember pulling up behind a blue van and an older gentleman I'll call Pops told me the Church of the Reconciler was a good church and it could help my daughter and I.

Once I came through the doors, I was greeted by Rev. Higgs and it was then that I knew I was home and through time I have found an extended family and met many wonderful people.

I remember Rev. Higgs giving my daughter Christmas gifts when I couldn't afford them. I remember Mr. Lee helping me get furniture for our apartment and Ms. Bertha helping us with the referrals for the things we needed, but through it all I knew God would bring me out of the darkness.

I have seen this church grow into a blessing for so many as well as for myself.  I now have a sense of purpose by volunteering my time at the Church of the Reconciler whenever I can for Women's Meeting on Tuesdays and a Housing Meeting on Thursdays and being a Case Manager for Shelter Plus.

I was to thank Mr. Adam Burns for this opportunity to tell my story but for also being the first to realize that the women of the church need a meeting once a week not just once a month and for that I can't thank him enough.  I have learned through my experience that through God all things are possible.

I have learned that I am a woman who can use my story to help other women.

I will use my strength to love my God, myself and my children for I was once blind but now I see.

Thank you for letting me tell my story and thank you for all of you who have helped me on my journey, for once I was blind and now I see.

I asked Tacoma what she would do if she had an entire day to herself and money was not an issue, what would she do?
She said, "I don't know...I guess pamper myself at a spa and read a book. I have a simple life, my friend."
How many of us can relate???

Thank you Group for shrinking bridges...

Dear Becca Stevens...

Dear Becca Stevens,

Thank you for all that you are, all that you believe, and all that you do.  Your influence reaches far beyond who you see, how far they see, how far they see, and on.

Our Women's Group, GLOW, began using breath and meditation at the end of our devotional hour together each week, and then added your approach to the healing power of essential oils (Snake Oil). We have been using our breathing and oils to reduce rage, increase clarity and perspective, and feel better in general.

So far we have come up with two unique blends, mixed with Almond Oil.  We call them GLOW and DIRECTION.  Research and Development will continue...

You came and spoke in Birmingham twice this October, once again inspiring us all. A few friends from GLOW heard you speak and connected the power of your advocacy and the strength of your commitment to healing with the oils and breathwork we use every Tuesday.
You are gift.
You are changing lives.



Thank you for Magdalene House, for Thistle Farms, for Thistle Stop Cafe, for being a CNN Heroine of the year (everyone vote HERE).
Thank you for A Path Appears.
Thank you for all of your books and writings and tweets and links.

As you continually remind us, Love Heals Every Body.
Love wins and namaste,
G2M2

 *GLOW Women's Group is a loving attempt to build bridges, hold hard conversations, and demand that love wins - Every Single Time. Each conversation is a plank in the bridge, edging closer to justice, one board at a time. Join us in the connecting.

Grapes

When Grapes enters, her laughter fills the whole room.

She is a strong woman, a mom of 7, grandmom to 23, and great-grandmom to 1. She has been clean 11 years and loves to eat fresh grapes.

Currently raising three of her grandchildren, she admits it's not something she wants to do at this phase in her life, but something she got to do. She grieves over the death of her son, despairs at the addiction of a daughter, confessing, "It makes me angry with God. I laugh and giggle on the outside, but on the inside I am suffering."

In any given conversation, she swings from deep laughter - you can see her molars as she throws her head back - to weeping with the tears pooling at her chest. She is a strong woman who allows herself to feel, to grieve, to suffer.

She loves Auburn football, the music of Anthony Brown (especially "Worth"), Law & Order (the original, SVU, and Criminal Intent). Grapes thinks that the entire state of Alabama needs a spiritual makeover...especially around issues of race.

If she had a whole day to herself, with money as no obstacle, first she would go shopping at the thrift store...then she would go to the beach. After relaxing on the beach, she would go back to her hotel room and shut the door and watch as much Law & Order as she wanted.

When Grapes was telling me this, I had to hold back from saying ME TOO ME TOO - this was her day, not mine...but I would do that too.

This Group shortens bridges even in what we wish for on a special day.
Our insides are so alike...



 *GLOW Women's Group is a loving attempt to build bridges, hold hard conversations, and demand that love wins - Every Single Time. Each conversation is a plank in the bridge, edging closer to justice, one board at a time. Join us in the connecting.