Chapters 5-6 were really fun for me. Kelly and I tackled the questions on page 98 together over a period of 3 days. Every morning we would wake up a little earlier than normal, have some coffee, and start crying! As we worked through the chapters it was great to see how God has been healing the past over the last 12 years. Along with the healing has come new discoveries of pain and joy. For my family I can look back on my parents 48 years of marriage and see how their commitment to Christ and each other has shaped me and my view of marriage. I can look back and see how their decision to raise 3 children under the authority of Christ has shaped my view of raising 3 children under the authority of Christ. My past and upbringing has no doubt shaped who I am today. BUT the harder I look into the past the clearer I see JESUS. God's faithfulness is evident all over all of our "genograms" ("Chit-Gino!!!!!") Yes it is "my" story but it is God's story at the same time running parallel to mine - weaving in and out to the point where when I look back I don't even see me or my story, but all I can see by the grace of God is HIS STORY! I have so many thoughts that I need to wrap it up for now - All I want to do is preach and I need to just share =)
More to come on these 2 chapters!
I was just chatting w/ Andy about GINO's!!!! - GENOGRAMS, that is. I remembered that when I mapped mine out for this class I'm in I wrote crosses on folks who had surrendered to Christ. What's interesting is that as the crosses emerged certain patterns of addiction and abuse decreased. Putting the crosses on the GINO was a fairly concrete visual for me of your words, "Yes it is "my" story but it is God's story at the same time running parallel to mine - weaving in and out to the point where when I look back I don't even see me or my story, but all I can see by the grace of God is HIS STORY!" Love the "CLEANO" my "GENO" by Jesus in our stories.
ReplyDeleteReid! I love that you and Kelly went through these questions together! Isn't it amazing to look back, and through the mire and muck of our lives, we can see and say, "Lord, you were THERE. And you were THERE. And you were THERE." His story made perfect in our less-than-perfect lives!
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