I arrived in Gainesville from the New York metropolitan area July 1999 and quickly became a member of Trinity. Prior to joining Trinity I had been a member of another denomination and educated in Christian schools. I left my previous church because of their position on divorce and re -marriage as well as a number of other issues. I had just retired from an active and interesting business career as a marine insurance executive.
As many do while in retirement I looked for a way to find more Time For God and show gratefulness for my many life experiences. Especially the protection I experienced over the years. I avoided a major airline disaster, that killed everyone aboard, by taking a plane other than the one I was scheduled to fly. A few years later I experienced two emergency landings during the same month. Thankfully no one was injured.
During 2001 I was engaged in some post retirement work as a consultant. I was to be at a meeting I arranged at the World Trade Center on a Tuesday morning. I decided to arrange the trip a few days earlier and met on the prior Friday. We all know what happened on that Tuesday Sept 11 2001.
What is God asking of me. - Act Justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
My efforts to become closer to God and follow what he asks of me led me initially to the Stephen Ministry. I spent 12 years in that role which changed my life in a profound way. I experienced as a Stephen Minister, people dealing with grief, sickness, loss of employment and other life tragedies.
The Stephen Ministry led me to the Walk to Emmaus. At Trinity I belong to an Emmaus group, one of many in our church. In my group there are eight members, four are Stephen Ministers. The Walk especially with its words and experiences brought me closer to understanding the Holy Spirit. There are prayers in a booklet provided at the Walk. Here are lines from two of the prayers:
"Allow me to see you (GOD) in the lives of those who surround me.
Open my eyes to look at them as You do, with love and compassion.”
and the other prayer lines,
“Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created. and You shall renew the face of the earth”
In a sense the first prayer leads to the other. It”s all about Follow Me.
I try to feel and do what these words say. All of this is totally different from the life I experienced before, which was mostly about me and my career. My life now is still a work in progress.(Anonymous)
As many do while in retirement I looked for a way to find more Time For God and show gratefulness for my many life experiences. Especially the protection I experienced over the years. I avoided a major airline disaster, that killed everyone aboard, by taking a plane other than the one I was scheduled to fly. A few years later I experienced two emergency landings during the same month. Thankfully no one was injured.
During 2001 I was engaged in some post retirement work as a consultant. I was to be at a meeting I arranged at the World Trade Center on a Tuesday morning. I decided to arrange the trip a few days earlier and met on the prior Friday. We all know what happened on that Tuesday Sept 11 2001.
What is God asking of me. - Act Justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
My efforts to become closer to God and follow what he asks of me led me initially to the Stephen Ministry. I spent 12 years in that role which changed my life in a profound way. I experienced as a Stephen Minister, people dealing with grief, sickness, loss of employment and other life tragedies.
The Stephen Ministry led me to the Walk to Emmaus. At Trinity I belong to an Emmaus group, one of many in our church. In my group there are eight members, four are Stephen Ministers. The Walk especially with its words and experiences brought me closer to understanding the Holy Spirit. There are prayers in a booklet provided at the Walk. Here are lines from two of the prayers:
"Allow me to see you (GOD) in the lives of those who surround me.
Open my eyes to look at them as You do, with love and compassion.”
and the other prayer lines,
“Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created. and You shall renew the face of the earth”
In a sense the first prayer leads to the other. It”s all about Follow Me.
I try to feel and do what these words say. All of this is totally different from the life I experienced before, which was mostly about me and my career. My life now is still a work in progress.(Anonymous)
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