Discover Christ

Happy Holidays! I love this time of year. I love celebrating by seeing the lights, eating yummy food, visiting family, and parties galore. This year I decided as part of our discover group that we should focus this season on Christ. After all He is why we do all this celebrating! For two weeks we did 14 things (one a day) that would bring us closer to Christ.

1.Read one story of Christ healing from the bible

2.Find 3 Quotes about the savior from someone other than a Prophet/Apostle

3.Watch a video on Christ or find a picture of Christ and display it where you will see it all day.

4.List Christ's attributes. Pick and study one today

5.Do the light the world challenge for today. Jesus Worshipped His Father and so can you (see mormon.org for explanation)

6.Read 2 prophecies of Christ's first and second coming

7.Listen to if the Savior Stood Beside me song. Picture Him by you all day today: how will you act and speak?

8.read one of HIs teachings. How can you apply it to you?

9.Be HIs hands today. Look for ways to lift those around you

10.Read a talk about Christ

11.Read the account of the Atonement. How does it apply to women?

12.Listen to songs about Christ today instead of the radio. 

13.Do the Light the World challenge for today. Jesus taught others and so can you.

14.Watch, listen to, or read the Nativity story. 

 

At the end we met, only a few of us, and shared a bit about what we discovered. 

This beautiful picture by J. Kirk Richards was a great centerpiece to our sharing. Many quotes by C.S Lewis were shared and stories from others who have inspired us to be better and more "Christlike". 

This was a very personal discovery for all of us. It turns out that we all focused and learned what we individually needed to learn. Here are a few quotes to lift you in turn.

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.” 

― Pope John Paul II

“It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. It was the Lord speaking to us all and showing us over and over again the birth, life, death, and resurrection of his only begotten Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord. It was like a best-loved story being told day after day with each sunrise and sunset, year after year with the seasons, down through the ages since time began.” 

― Francine Rivers, The Last Sin Eater

“The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become – because He made us. He invented us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be. . .It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.”

― C.S. Lewis

I am grateful for my Savior. For His miraculous birth, life, and death. I am grateful to have Him as an example for who I am supposed to be or who I am capable of becoming. Merry Christmas. Remember Him as you celebrate. 

Discover helping a friend

One of my friends and members of our little group has such a cool charity that she started back in 2006. It is called The Forever Bear Foundation. Check out her site Forever Bear Foundation

 Isn't that the cutest little bear? I have to say they are very soft and cuddly. What makes these bears special? Well, they go to siblings of babies that die at birth. The founder lost a baby girl when her oldest was just 4 years old. As you can imagine, it was hard on the family. Her little 4 year old had a particularly hard time with the passing of his little sister until he was given a bear. That bear provided much needed solace at a difficult time. In memory of their lost daughter they started this foundation to help others that go through the same thing.




With orders for 350 bears, a deadline, and t-shirts to put on all of them she called on our group to help out.

We are missing three more in the picture, but we were on FIRE dressing those bears so we missed a second picture! It pays to be on time :)!
We had quite the sweat shop set up. One person throwing the bears to the rest of us and two more at the end counting them out to get our numbers right. And, if you can believe it, there was no food involved. We managed to make it through without any chips and queso -ha. It is the best helping a friend.

I am amazed at the greatness in those around me. The founder has inspired me and I am sure many more with her desire to turn something so difficult into something that brings so much joy. Go help a friend. Sometimes it is the people closest to us that need our help. Think of the difference you can make in just your neighborhood or even city. The discovery for me was that little things make a big difference. Thank you friend for letting me be apart!

Discover Art- field trip

This week we, meaning only two of us, went to an open house for J. Kirk Richards's art. We brought our husbands along this time!

Photo credit goes to me. Ha! I stink at taking pictures, especially selfies because I have short arms and I can't get the camera far enough away. Ok, I digress. Back to the art. A member of our group, Michelle, knows Richards and received an invite to his once a year open house. He literally opens his house to view his artwork. I mean we walked in his bedroom and bathroom to see some of his art. 

There was finished paintings, sculptures, works in process, and just sketches. Over all, 100 works to view. It was an interesting way to view someone's art. In their home, with their family blending into the crowd, and a bit of their personal life on display. We even went in to the garage where the cats sleep :). 

"J. Kirk Richards is a favorite among admirers of contemporary spiritual artwork. His love of the textural, the poetic, and the mysterious has translated into a unique take on traditional Judeo-Christian themes" 

It was amazing to see his talent exhibited in different mediums.Mostly religious subjects. I think this would work great into our discussion on Angels... maybe next time.  

You should check out his artwork.J Kirk Richards Beautiful stuff! I loved this one above with the angels. It was stunning and brought great light to the room. A lot of his art is done in darker hues, so this one really stood out for me. I love art. I love that it can make us feel different emotions just by viewing it. I don't have any skill myself with the visual arts, but I appreciate it immensely. 

Try some art yourself. Here are a few sites I have used to help me on my artistic journey. 

www.instructables.com- You can learn how to do just about anything on this site. 

www.drawspace.com- "anyone can draw" is their motto"

www.artforkidshub.com- this is great for kids. Even my 5 year old loves to watch these tutorials and busts out some great art. 

Post some of your art for us all to enjoy :)

Discover Charity

This week we came together to discover what charities we wanted to be involved in helping. It started with food, of course. I think this is becoming one of the staples of our club. We need food. It gives you something to do with your hands when you are nervous :). It also helps us to loosen up. After we all got enough snacks to keep us going for a few minutes we dived right into the different charities we had found. So here is our list. 

        1. Kids on the move is a group that helps kids that have special needs and their families. From their website "Our mission is to help the development of young children..." One of our members, Heidi, has worked with them before. She had put together little kits that they give the children when they come in to get services. We decided as a group that this would be a great thing to do for one of our meeting. Lunch and kits for kids, how awesome is that ? Here is the link, Kids On the Move, if you are interested in knowing more about this great program. 

       2.  Women of the World is an organization that helps women refugees adapt to life in the US. They provide English tutoring, help them find jobs, help them get education, and provide advocates for these women. I have worked with them in the past and they are doing great things for women. There are many services out there for men refugees and the children, but the women get forgotten. They are left home all day without anyone there to guide them through this crazy transition. There are many ways to help this great group. Here is the link. Woman of the World

      3.  Africa is Life Changing is another group one of our members, Michelle, has been apart of helping. They are a non-profit whose mission is to "nurture the value of women and children". They build schools for children in Africa. They provide micro loans so these families can become self sufficient. They teach about healthy life style practices and other health screenings. You can go on an expedition to help build a school. I am blown away by how much people are willing to give and help! Here is a link to their site, Africa is Life Changing .

     4.  Refugee action Network is a group that is local to us. It's goal is to provide housing for refugees in neighborhoods that can help them succeed. They want 5 families to "adopt" a refugee family. They need people to find housing, help teach English, find a job, and integrate into society. I can only imagine how hard it would be to be kicked out of my home and start anew in a new country, with a different language and culture. Our little group is interested in this organization. We have given the assignment to Shannon to get more information for us. If you want to know more, 

Refugee Action Network. 

There are so many needs all around us. You don't have to be apart of a group or work with an organization to make a difference. Go out and be nice to someone, buy somebody lunch, smile more, give compliments, or just be a good friend. Go do good!

Brainstorming Sessions

Welcome to our Discover group!
My name is Tanja- I like to make weird faces in pictures so if I look dumb I did it on purpose. Does anyone else do this? I am a member of this awesome group and apparently get to make the first post.

I have long been inspired by people who learn for knowledge sake. Who see a need in the world and think "how could I change this?". I love to listen to TED talks and podcasts and read books and I find myself getting on Kahn Academy just to improve my own math skills as a mom of four kids. I want to continue to learn! I wanted to get involved with Kahn Academy and when I looked on their site it stated that if we really wanted to get involved to start an education group. To create a group where we could talk and discover and learn. So, that is how our little group came to be. Now, the first thing we had to do is figure out what we all wanted to learn. Our first meeting was to discover what we wanted to discover. We started out with a brainstorming session. We all stared at the blank white board and were a little hesitant to give our ideas. They started out with grand ideas things that would make us look smarter or more introspective. But soon, due to high amounts of chips and salsa, we were able to relax and say the things that we really wanted to discover together.

What made our brainstorming session work:
         1. everyone knew what problem we were going to address. Prior to the meeting, each person was sent a link for a video to watch on why we should continue to learn. https://www.khanacademy.org/youcanlearnanything
         2. No idea was a bad idea. There were many ideas thrown out that morphed into something bigger than what it started out to be. As we added to one another's ideas we were able to flesh out what we really wanted to discover.
        3. We weren't afraid of pauses. It's OK to stop and have to think. We don't have to have the answers immediately. Silence is good. It means people are thinking or eating. Both are good for the process.
        4. Trust! We started off the group by establishing rules. We have to assume that everyone cares about each other. We also have to agree to not be offended and not to try to offend. With those goals in mind it was easier to give ideas and know that you weren't going to be ridiculed.

See our beautiful board... Ok so there are couple things left off this list and it is hard to read so here they are our discoveries we hope to make:

• Angels
• Savior
• Bible-chronology of it
• Service/charity work
• Painting
• Yoga/Meditation
• french bakeries in the area- which is the best?
• Cartwheel and other things we should know how to do but don't
• Self Defense
• Sundance Film Festival
• snow Shoeing, skiing, or other snow related things. Maybe hot chocolate drinking? 
• Rock Climbing
• Tavel tips
• Retirement planning
• how to do hair and make up 
• hiking-nature
• Astronomy
• History-american history
• Family history-genetics
• How to say 5 basic phrases in 5 different languages for travel
• podcast-what are you listening to?
• Change the world
• Technology ideas for kids
• Cultural awareness-what is going on in the world
• government- why do you do what you do?
• teaching kids? how? with what? 

It should be a fun year. 

 As a group we decided to hold our meetings every other week. It will rotate who is in charge of the discussion each meeting. This means they have to be the moderator, but everyone is expected to come prepared for that discovery. For instance, our next discovery is what charity our group would like to be apart of. Everyone was told to go find local needs and how we might be helpful. Are you passionate about a charity? We would love to hear about it.

Now, go discover something new.