Solitude

This is a devotional I wrote for a recent leadership meeting. I thought some of you might enjoy reading it.

Get in groups of three. Introduce yourselves to one another. Read the following scripture verse out loud.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." [Luke 10:38-42]

As a group, try to summarize the basic message of this scripture passage.

In his book, Making All Things New, Henri Nouwen suggests that occupation (being too busy with what we do) and preoccupation (busyness in our minds) are two of the biggest obstacles to God’s Spirit moving in us. For some of us, all we can remember about the past few weeks or months is that we were really busy, everything felt urgent, and we could hardly get it all done. Sometimes we are even so busy doing the work of God that we inhibit the work God wants to do in us.

Nouwen writes, “Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists but also that he is actively present in our lives – healing, teaching, and guiding – we need to set aside a time and space to give him our undivided attention.”

1. What is your definition or understanding of solitude?
2. Why is it so important for us to spend time alone with God? How is that time related to our role as leaders?
3. How much time do you spend alone in silence? [Be specific in your answer]
4. What are one or two things you could cut out of your life to create time for solitude with God?

Spend about 3 minutes in silent prayer. Try to focus yourself on Christ – when other things come into your mind, refocus on Christ. Then prayer together for the following things:
- That Jesus will be empowering and energizing you as a leader
- That you will have healthy balance in your life
- That we will make time to be with God

*Please commit to spending time alone with God this week. Try practicing the discipline of solitude.

Who would have known?

When I was a photo assistant, I flooded the internet with my info to get work. Now that I'm no longer doing that I am now in the annoying process of getting rid of all of my photo assistant profiles. Well in the amidst of doing this cumbersome project, I've come across two really interesting websites.












There's another Jake and Tomi floating out there.
http://www.jakeandtomi.com/

Who would have know?





http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/4665
On our wedding day, while heading to Central Park for photos we came across a guy who wanted to take a photo of us. In our moment of happiness we oblige and as we continued on our way, Jacob mentioned our names and our target registry. That's how this guy was able to post our full names. Random, huh?

So does anyone have any crazy google stories?

Jacob and Tomi in DUMBO

Tomi and I went to Brooklyn for a photo shoot her friend asked her to help with (as the model) and then we went to this little park between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.