Little Pieces Club

This is Part 2 in our series: The Public Christian Journey. Today we focus on giving "free" gifts, just like Christ sacrificed for us when we didn't deserve it. We focus again on Mark 12: 29-31 and also talk in the Podcast about the connection of Christ's death to the metaphors of The Good Shepherd and the Tree of Life. We look very closely that the prison of unforgiveness and how to apply that to...

Today we start our next big series: The PUBLIC Christian Journey. We pivot from talking about our (marriage) relationship with God in solitude, to our relationship with others in COMMUNITY. We build our theology from Mark 12:29-31. The first blessing of the bible is to love God and your neighbor as yourself with all that you are (mind, body, heart and spirit). We see a spiritual win-win-win as our...

This marks the fifteenth(for kids)/sixteenth (for teens) episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." In this final episode we talk about being open to the mission God has for us. This includes a reminder of how we can use our choices to develop our minds, bodies, hearts, and spirits to get ready for the moment when God reveals which mission(s) He has for us. Until then the...

This marks the fourteenth(for kids)/fifteenth (for teens) episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." We talk about the Kingdom of God and what that vague (to our western minds) concepts should meant to the biblical authors when they wrote about it 2000 years ago. We walk through King Jesus' unpside down kingdom where the weak who sacrifice become exulted. SERIES SUMMARY:...

This marks the thirteenth (for kids) /fourteenth (for teens) episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This week is Chapter 9 in Sacred Rhythms. We put many of the previous practices together to create a weekly plan that is called a "Rule of Life." SERIES SUMMARY: The Private Christian Journey refers to our private walk with God. (As opposed to our public and viewable wa...

This marks the twelfth (for kids) /thirteenth (for teens) episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This week is Chapter 8 in Sacred Rhythms. We focus on understanding sabbath. Whether you choose to make it a regular practice or develop the mindset as Jesus taught, it is ceasing from work and delighting in God's gifts. SERIES SUMMARY: The Private Christian Journey refers...

This marks the tenth (for kids) /eleventh (for teens) episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This week is Chapter 7 in Sacred Rhythms. We talk about the sensing if we are holding God far or near and then making decisions with his input. It should feel like we are walking through life holding God's hand and just having a conversation. SERIES SUMMARY: The Private Christ...

This marks the tenth (for kids) /eleventh (for teens) episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This week we are back to Chapter 6 in the Sacred Rhythms book by Ruth Haley Barton. We look at a self-examination with God. This week touches on Attachment Theory. How we attach to others impacts our attachment to God. We begin to consider securely attaching to God. SERIES SUM...

This marks the ninth (for kids) /tenth (for teens) episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This week we are back to Chapter 5 in the Sacred Rhythms book by Ruth Haley Barton. We consider taking good care of our physical body as honoring it as the temple where God dwells with us. SERIES SUMMARY: The Private Christian Journey refers to our private walk with God. (As oppo...

This marks the eighth-kid/ninth-teen episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This week we are back to Chapter 4 in Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton. We take a look at prayer and how to move past simple word-based prayers. SERIES SUMMARY: The Private Christian Journey refers to our private walk with God. (As opposed to our public and viewable walk with God). This is...

This marks the eighth episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This week we take a very deep dive into Job and Joseph's story. We are wondering "what if I am afraid of God." These stories give us much wisdom in this regard. SERIES SUMMARY: The Private Christian Journey refers to our private walk with God. (As opposed to our public and viewable walk with God). This is wh...

This marks the seventh episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This week we are back to our Sacred Rhythm series and look at the ancient practice of Lectio Divina. We learn scripture can be experienced like a love letter rather than a boring textbook. This episode takes a deep dive in the multistep process that should feel like dancing with God. SERIES SUMMARY: The Pri...

This marks the sixth episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This refers to our private walk with God. (As opposed to our public and viewable walk with God). This is where we encounter His love for us and the free gifts He gives us. We first looked at the power that exists in our ability to choose. (Like choosing to accept His free gifts) But also look at the complicat...

This marks the fifth episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This refers to our private walk with God. (As opposed to our public and viewable walk with God). This is where we encounter His love for us and the free gifts He gives us. We first looked at the power that exists in our ability to choose. (Like choosing to accept His free gifts) But also look at the complicat...

This marks the forth episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This refers to our private walk with God. (As opposed to our public and viewable walk with God). This is where we encounter His love for us and the free gifts He gives us. We first looked at the power that exists in our ability to choose. (Like choosing to accept His free gifts) But also look at the complicat...

This is Part 4 in the Private Christian Journey series. Building on our ability to choose and seeking the character of God, this week we focus on accepting gifts from God. We review the biblical stories where God gives free gifts (Joseph, Job and Jesus). We then look at the origin of our shame, fear and distance from God in the first couple [Adam and Eve.] Finally, we see the path to reconciliatio...

This marks the second episode in a long series devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This refers to our private walk with God. (As opposed to our public and viewable walk with God). This is where we encounter His love for us and the free gifts He gives us. We first look at the power that exists in our ability to choose. (Like choosing to accept His free gifts) But also look at the complicati...

This marks the first in a long series of episodes devoted to "The Private Christian Journey." This refers to our private walk with God. (As opposed to our public and viewable walk with God). This is where we encounter His love for us and the free gifts He gives us. We first look at the power that exists in our ability to choose. (Like choosing to accept His free gifts) But also look at the complic...

In this seventh and last part of our series on grieving we explore forgiveness and reconciliation. Even after the stage of acceptance, a bitterness of blame can linger. We look at the three main "targets" for this blame: God, Self, Other. After considering each one, we explore forgiveness as the antidote for this (easier said than done). More importantly accepting that "unforgiveness" is natural a...

In this fifth part of our series on grieving we explore bargaining. We give kids and teens a chance to become aware of how bargaining might show up in their own thinking. We also talk about "The Divorced Kid's Promise" an understandable but burdensome promise children often make to keep their own children from experiencing divorce and how this can be a crushing expectation in the adult years. The...

In this sixth part of our series on grieving we explore acceptance. We give kids and teens a chance to consider their experience with acceptance either in the past or present. We review some common thoughts tied to acceptance that divorced/separated and traumatized kids experience. Biblical stories where we see the themes of acceptance include Job, Joseph and Jesus Himself. We foreshadow the next...

In this forth part of our series on grieving we explore sadness. We give kids and teens a chance to consider their experience with sadness either in the past or present understanding that often underneath anger is a deep sadness. We review some common thoughts tied to sadness that divorced and separated kids experience. We stress that both God and Jesus model sadness so it is ok. We again use Psal...

In this third part of our series on grieving we explore anger. We give kids and teens a chance to consider their experience with anger either in the past or present. We review some common thoughts tied to anger common to divorced and separated kids. We stress that both God and Jesus model anger so it is ok. Its what we do with our anger where we must be careful. Finally we see how Jesus' sacrifice...

In this podcast we spend time learning about the first stage of grief: shock and/or denial. We give kids and teens a chance to understand shock and denial and then allow them space to invite those thoughts and feelings to come forward. We review common thoughts kids have with grief, and finally how Jesus models and leads us through this stage in Psalm 22. We can feel far from God but are reminded...

In this first part of our grief series we look at the total process of grief. Children SHOULD grieve after a divorce/separation or trauma, but often are caught up in the moment and require space and permission to grieve and express the full range of emotions. They often must be led through grief. Teens may need to "go back in time" and allow the inner kid to grieve. While each individual person gr...