Do you feel like you are having the blues while everyone else is enjoying the summer?  I do. 

In the summer, people have family trips, play golf and go to the beach.  I am working a lot. 

Maybe you don’t have family, or you cannot be with them.  I have a step-son I cannot be with. 

Maybe you have a memory from the summer that can hold you back.  My mom passed away this week 2 years ago.

Maybe you feel you are the only one not having a blast this summer.  Maybe you can’t wait for the fall.  Maybe life just isn’t a blast and you are trying to make sense of what is going on.  Maybe you just need to be with some folks who know how you feel.

Come to Celebrate the Journey.  It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are in life, there is a place for you.  Even if you have the summer blues.

Check out this story at the Chicago Tribune

Melissa has credited Celebrate the Journey in being a huge help in her recovery! Thanks Melissa for sharing your story to help fight discrimination in insurance coverage! Here is an excerpt from the article:

“I was ready to do the hard work,” said Traub, now a junior at Lewis University in Romeoville majoring in psychology. “I realized that God had bigger plans for me . . . and I could do so much more with my life.”

While attendance at Celebrate the Journey is confidential, Melissa has given us permission to share this story.

contributed by Shelley, a Celebrate the Journey leader

It is scary to admit you are not fine. I haven’t been fine. My friends at Celebrate the Journey could see that in me. I even had a coffee and still looked tired. “What is going on with you?” they ask me, “I can tell you are not okay.” They know they had better call me out, and that I really appreciate it. I do. I love that someone cares enough to check on me.

I have been really sad. The second anniversary of my mom’s passing is coming up. Some days it feels like 2 million years, sometimes, times like now, it feels like 2 days. I am a totally different person than I was two years ago, and I am completely confident that my mom would be more proud of me than anyone else. And God has put wonderful women in my life that more than fill my mother’s roll. It still doesn’t make it hurt any less. It still doesn’t make me miss her any less.

In Large Group, we saw the video clip from Indiana Jones where he has to take the leap of faith. I listen to Nicole Nordeman sing “what if you jump, just close your eyes…” and I remember the reason I am doing so well. I took that step of faith when I had nothing to cling to but the promise of God. “What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?” I read the Bible every day, and more and more I am assured of God’s love. I know He is there.

Yet, God never promises there will not be pain and sorrow. In Isaiah 53:3, Jesus is called a man of sorrows, acquainted with the deepest grief. In John 11:35 it says Jesus wept. Jesus cried often. Once he was so worried he sweat blood (Luke 22:44).  Does that make the pain any better?

No, but it makes it easier to bear.

God doesn’t say he will keep us from the fire and floods. He says he will be with us in the fire and as we cross the river (Isaiah 43:2). I know God was with me when my house caught on fire. I may not have felt it, but looking back on it, oh boy you can’t miss it. Daily I drive past a house that nearly burned down and they have to entirely rebuild the garage. I got through it. It could have been much, much worse. I came out stronger.

I know God is with me now, but I still hurt. Celebrate the Journey lets me be with other people who know that kind of hurt. It lets me share and be with people who understand there is no place to look to but to God in times like these. Having the relationship with God that I do now, and did not have two years ago, reminds me why I keep coming back every week.

Somehow when you hurt together, it doesn’t hurt less, but it is easier to bear. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says that a cord of three strands is not easily broken. How about our small group cord of 12 strands? BRICK HOUSE!

Are you on Facebook? Celebrate the Journey is now too! Click here to join!

You must have a Facebook account, be signed in, and then click the “join group” under our logo.

Memberships must be approved by admin.

If you missed Tuesday the 17th, you missed a great C the J!

First off, we had an awesome dinner! Thanks to an anonymous donor (Beth) for providing the main portion of the meal and our supplies. We also received donations from Michael’s Fresh Market in Naperville, and The Upper Crust bakery in Lisle. If you enjoyed the food, shop at those places! Thanks to Mike and Nancy and Erin and Shelley for help with set up and picking up food.

We began with a puppetry performance by Dock. The audience was silent as everyone’s eyes were on center stage. Dock did such a great job, the puppet seemed to have a life on his own.

Then we were treated to some wonderful music followed by an excellent teaching by Glen Wagner. Glen is an excellent speaker and storyteller, and really captivated the audience. He shared a message that everyone could relate to.

The music was amazing, and it was such a blessing to have such wonderful talent on our stage.

The musicians were: Shawn M.- Lead Vocals and Bass, Leroy B.- Lead Vocals and Acoustic, Sean B.- Keyboard, Orpheus G.- Electric Guitar, Dave R. - drums, Carrie L.- Lead Vocals; Christel G.kup vocals.

Also, the show would be horrible if it were not for the awesome job by our tech crew. Thanks to: Steve C- Producer and Audio, Sam M- Lighting, and Rachel W- Media.

Last but not least, a ginormous thank you to our Director, Diane Dassing. Diane had the idea for the night and got everything together for us. Thank you so much for serving us and being a blessing in our lives.

If you were there, and any part of the evening touched you, could you post a little thank you comment or just let us know what you really enjoyed about the evening?

excerpted from a teaching by Brian Zehr on June 10, 2008

If God is for you, who can be against you? Romans 8

Did you know that there are some words and thoughts that we have that Jesus totally IGNORES? Yep, God will totally ignore certain things about us… things that are opposed to who He is and to what His will is on this earth.

One day Jesus was approached by a man named Jairus. Jairus is a synagogue ruler – a priest, a religious man – most of whom were opposed to Jesus. But his daughter is dying… funny how emergencies sometimes turn us to Jesus. He comes and asks Jesus to come and heal his daughter. So Jesus starts to go to his house, when suddenly Jesus is distracted. Seriously – he gets distracted. So he stops – because this woman had kind of worked her way to see him and then she touched him – and she was healed. Jesus stops – he is distracted: by FAITH. You ever want to make sure that God is totally enthralled with you? Trust him… go out on a limb.

But anyway… he stops and takes time.

But as he takes this extra time, someone comes up to Jesus and to Jairus who is dragging Jesus to his house.

And they tell him – Jairus – sorry, but your daughter has died. And then they say this: “Don’t bother Jesus anymore.”

They assumed that Jesus was done. They assumed that he was unable to do anything. They assumed that it was over. The attitude was critical and negative – Jesus doesn’t want you anymore. Jesus can’t help you.

But here is a line in scripture that until recently I have never noticed. It says: IGNORING THEIR WORDS…

When our picture of God and what he can do is limiting, is based on our performance, or assumptive; we can live life as if we are rejected… as if everything is always wrong. No – Jesus stops all he’s doing when people step out and trust him… and he is not stopped by our attitude – he ignores the negative words to move towards healing.

Let me ask you:

Is your picture of God changing? God is for you… no matter what. He heals, he changes us, - when we let him.

Are your words limiting? Are your thoughts assuming what God will do? Are you negative, critical – focused on the rejection you feel instead of the acceptance that is available?

WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE TO LIVE LIFE AS IF GOD ACCEPTED YOU NO MATTER WHAT?

WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE TO LIVE IN FAITH AND IN TRUST?

Idea: start your day with two disciplines

1. Write down and pray – what are you thankful for? In the midst of hellish situations what are you thankful for?

2. What are you looking forward to?

]]> http://celebratethejourneyoflife.wordpress.com/2008/06/16/when-jesus-ignores-us/feed/ celebratethejourneyoflife http://celebratethejourneyoflife.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/have-you-been-looking-for-a-place-where-you-belong/ http://celebratethejourneyoflife.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/have-you-been-looking-for-a-place-where-you-belong/#comments Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:48:08 +0000 celebratethejourneyoflife http://celebratethejourneyoflife.wordpress.com/?p=194

Have you been walking on a surface that’s uncertain?
Have you helped yourself to everything that’s empty? yeah!
You can’t live this way too long.
There’s more than this, more than this.
Have you been standing on your own feet too long?
Have you been looking for a place where you belong?
You can rest, you will find rest.
You can rest, you will find rest.

Let this old life crumble, let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace.
Let this old life crumble, let it fade, let it fade.

Have you been holding on to what this world has offered?
Have you been giving in to all these masquerades?
It will be gone, forever gone.
It will be gone, it will be gone

Let this old life crumble, let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace.
Let this old life crumble, let it fade, let it fade.

Let it fade.

Are you carrying the weight too much?, are you running from the call?
Let it fade, Oh yeah.

You can rest, you will find rest.
You can rest you will find rest.

Let this old life crumble, let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace.
Let this old life crumble, let it fade, let it fade.

Let this old life crumble, let it fade.
Have you been standing on your own feet too long?
Have you been looking for a place where you belong?

Please Join Us for a Special Celebration!

• Come at 6:30 for dinner! 

Extended program from 7:00 until 8:15pm featuring:

• a teaching from Glen Wagner
• special music selections
• video testimony
• PUPPETS!!!

Don’t forget to come EARLY for dinner.  Invite your friends, this is an event that you do NOT want to miss!

Have you found that you are beating yourself up because you make mistakes?  It is hard to live a perfect life.  It is hard with the pressures of this world.  Especially if you just decided to start changing your life, or perhaps you just began to find out who this Jesus guy is and you want to reach for living a life like him.

It is absolutely impossible to be perfect.  We live in a world full of air-brushing and makeup artists who help celebrities to look perfect.  We live in a world where we click on the TV, or go to the moves and we see what appears to be the perfect lives.  How can they solve all of the world’s problems in an hour or two?  They can’t.

Maybe you have tried to be perfect.  Maybe you have tried to drop a bad habit, or to be an example to the kids, or to lose some weight.  Maybe you have seen yourself as a failure.

In support and recovery, the catch phrase is said “progress not perfection” because we have to remind ourselves that it is impossible to be perfect.  It is impossible to be perfect.  Life on this earth will not be easy, and it will definitely not be perfect, but we can make progress.  We can become better than we used to be.

If you drop one piece of china, do you go ahead and smash the whole set because you dropped that one piece?  Of course not! So, if you drop the ball in your recovery, or your diet, or in just trying to live a better life, it doesn’t mean life is over.  Just start again later that day, or the next day, with a fresh clean plate.

Work for progress, not perfection, and find that it is okay when you make a mistake.

Come to Celebrate the Journey on Tuesday to meet other people who are working on progress, and you might find others who have dropped a few plates, but are working on not dropping the next one.