HOW
OUR APPROACH
We desire to try to live out what our Heavenly Father desires for His Children, as found in Colossians 3:12 - 17.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
- Compassionate hearts
- Kindness
- Humility
- Meekness
- Patience
- Bearing with one another
- Seeking reconciliation and forgiveness
- Love
- Thankfulness
As we strive to have these qualities permeate our culture, we also approach our WHAT with these key phrases...
1. Be the best you that you can be
For God's glory and our joy in Him! We're all created by God with unique gifts, passions, and experiences, and our goal is to encourage each other to live into that unique design that our Heavenly Father has made us in His infinite wisdom and deep love for us. We don't have to be anyone else but our best us, so we can glorify God and love others! And the cool thing is that when we live into that reality, our lives become an amazing adventure and pure joy!
2. Fail fast, fail forward
None of us like to make mistakes, let alone fail, but it's a part of life, and by living out Colossians 3:12-17, we can fail in a safe environment where we're loving, honoring, respecting, and being gracious towards that person who fell short. Our ultimate WHY is that we love because He first loved us.
3. Progress, not perfection
Sometimes we're afraid to try something because we don't think we'll do a good job, and we are worried about what others will think of us. While this is a genuine feeling, we need God's help to move us past our pride toward humility. First, knowing that we are okay if we aren't good at something as long as we try. Second, knowing we're doing it out of obedience to God and that His grace is sufficient to cover all our imperfections (2 Corinthians 12:9).
4. How do you eat an elephant?
There are things in our lives that are daunting and keep us frozen. We like to encourage and challenge each other to free ourselves from being stuck by asking, "How do you eat an elephant?" -- the answer "One bite at a time!" Just like a little ant, if we take little nibbles out of that proverbial "elephant," we'll be able to eat BIG ELEPHANTS in our lives by God's grace!
5. Pivot or persevere
Tightly coupled with the mindset of being okay to fail and making small steps of progress, we also encourage an attitude of a LIFE LONG LEARNER. Every failure is a new opportunity to learn and grow. In some ways, failure is a blessing because we learn new things that can help us in the future. We try to find the blessings in mistakes and ultimately grow to have a character of humble confidence.
