![\"\"](\"https:\/\/oshetablogs.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/05\/fanny-pack.jpg\")
<\/span><\/a><\/div>\nI was crying when it happened. \u00a0Laying prostrate on the floor in my living room letting tears soak my hair and the dust bunnies I missed under the couch, I wept for the first time since we evacuated New Orleans. \u00a0Oh sure, I\u2019ve cried many times in the two years since we moved to Cambridge. \u00a0Cue the violins, send in the dog, make the toddler say something cute and I\u2019m a mess with a Kleenex. \u00a0I\u2019m just that<\/i> sensitive. \u00a0But, this was the first time I\u2019ve sobbed from a deep, broken, confused place because \u00a0I was lonely and I felt it. \u00a0My best friend who I prayed for for years moved from a short five minute drive to forty-five seemingly endless minutes away. \u00a0The women at my church were spread out geographically and in life stage and I just couldn\u2019t find my niche. \u00a0My seminarian husband was lost to me. Boyd, Pinnock, Bonhoeffer, Paul and Jesus commanded his attention. \u00a0My children, ages 5, 2, and 1 weren\u2019t any help. \u00a0Unless you consider their demands for justice and juice as great conversation- which I did not. \u00a0No, I was lonely in a cold city, with no family, and I blamed God for it.
\n
\n\u201cWhy did you give me a friend only to take her away? \u201d I moaned in between sobs.<\/span>
\n\u201cWhy did you move us here\u201d I complained.<\/span>
\n\u201cI\u2019m just so lonely\u201d I whispered.<\/span>
\n
\nThen the room went still. \u00a0The gears in my head began to creak back to life. \u00a0In moments they were whirring and sparks flew. \u00a0I had an idea to cure my loneliness! \u00a0More accurately, God gave me an idea. \u00a0I know it was Him because the idea was too bold, too crazy to be all mine and the voices in my head aren\u2019t that creative. \u00a0I began to see candles, decorations, and chairs arranged in a circle. I heard soft music\u2013 probably Christy Nockels\u2013, women laughing, and my voice encouraging them from the Bible. \u00a0The interesting combination of Lady Just From the Gym, with a floral Bath and Body Works number, combined with the top note of Thierry Mugler\u2019s popular perfume, Angel and played under my nose. \u00a0I saw women gathering, eating ice cream (or chocolate\u2013 you know, they are interchangeable), while building deeper friendships and feeling loved. \u00a0In my messy living-room, on a cold spring day, I saw a women\u2019s ministry and more importantly I saw women just like me finding a safe place to be herself. <\/span>
\n
\nIn my days as a women\u2019s ministry newbie I scoured the internet for secrets and tips to successfully gather women. \u00a0Sweets? Check! Laughter? Check! Relevant topics or Chick Flicks? Check! Fun games and icebreakers? \u00a0Wha-Huh?!?!?<\/span>
\n
\nThe first time I read the word \u201cice breaker\u201d my mind filled with images. \u00a0Dark, scary images. \u00a0I saw women in coo-lot pants with fanny packs in various hot colors. \u00a0Hot pink, hot green, hot green and purple stripes\u2026 you get the picture. \u00a0These sweet, but clueless women were headed up by me rocking a super stylish multi-colored fanny pack of hot pink and turquoise (that\u2019s right- be jealous). I\u2019m lined up with the women in a gauntlet with our arms out front. \u00a0On the stage, stands a poor lone soul with her back to us. This dear girl, let\u2019s call her Lucy, pulls her trembling arms up across her chest. \u00a0She clears her throat and tentatively calls out, \u201d Sisters, I\u2019m ready to trust you.\u201d<\/span>
\n
\nThen we all say in a creepy monotone, \u201cTrust in Lord, Sister\u201d<\/span>
\n
\nominous pause\u00a0<\/i><\/span>
\n
\n\u201c\u2026and also in us.\u201d<\/span>
\n
\nI shook my head of the disturbing vision, not waiting to see Lucy\u2019s fate with the fanny pack brigade.<\/span>
\n
\nI had to get two women\u2019s events (none of which involved a trust fall) under my belt before my prejudices \u00a0against ice breaker were disarmed. \u00a0I realized that ice breakers are more than gouda cheesy games and antics. \u00a0They are vehicles to move the lonely woman into a loving community.<\/span>
\n
\nI had a similar misgiving about blogs and bloggers until my husband began having meaningful dialogs and building affirming friendships with his followers. \u00a0A beautiful community followed to his blog to talk about life and share perspectives. \u00a0A blog became a vehicle to gather people and gathering people\u2026is what I do.<\/span>
\n
\nSo, welcome to my blog! \u00a0Please comment below to let me know you\u2019re here. \u00a0You are a vital part of this community-heck-you are this community!<\/span><\/p>\nNo longer afraid of icebreakers, but deathly afraid of fanny packs,
\n
\n<\/span>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/signatures.mylivesignature.com\/54489\/180\/8AD54E2015B3E0B0C243444A2C44275C.png\")
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