Let’s relieve the pressure about needing romance to complete us

On the weekend of Valentine’s Day, Kyle and a panel of folks from our church help us relieve the pressure everyone feels about romance being what will complete us. (For single people, of course, but also for partnered people!) Unfortunately, churches have reinforced this pressuring message just as much as 90s Disney movies, pop music, Hollywood, etc, and just called it “Biblical”. But it’s not!

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The Spiritual Practice of Being with Yourself (Spiritual Practices for Winter Survival wk 4) - Hayley Larson

Being with yourself is not always easy. But being with yourself and being with God are linked. This week, Hayley guides us through two common spiritual practices that many of us may use already in our hopes to more comfortably "be with ourselves", and equips us with a fresh prompt for the weeks ahead.

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Using memories to kickstart prayer (Spiritual Practices for Winter Survival wk 3) - Vince Brackett

Felt connection with God (not just going through the motions of religion) can be fleeting and hard to find one's way into -- even when we're not in the midst of a pandemic and winter -- and even for people who have had a prayer life for many years -- and even for people who have experienced it in the past but don't currently. Vince shares about an approach to prayer that can help many and that utilizes a tool we all have: our memory.

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Non-Reactive Reading (Spiritual Practices for Winter Survival wk 2) - Kyle Hanawalt

First... a brief comment on MLK weekend. Then... most of the reading we do day-in, day-out is reactive: The news of what just happened or the latest takes and opinions on the world. And that’s not necessarily bad. But what we have to be more intentional about to work into our diet is non-reactive reading: Reading that forms us, inspires us, or challenges us, separate from our never-ending news feeds. Non-reactive reading is a key ingredient to spiritual health and growth for many, and this Sunday Kyle leads us in considering a number of options we might try.

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