North Star Wk 5 - Long Haul Encouragement
/Group Guide
WELCOME
It’s marathon weekend in Minneapolis. A great moment to pause along the North Star journey for some encouragement. Turns out living aligned with our deepest values and intentions is more of a twisty, turning long-haul endeavor than a straight sprint to a finish line. Take heart! This is a week to hear and share some stories about long distances traveled and the unlikely sources of encouragement along the way.
Warm Up, Dig In & Closing ideas below!
MARATHON-WEEKEND WARM UP (10-15 mins)
Have a scrap of paper and pen. Think of a memory involving a long distance. Maybe you ran, walked, swam, rolled or drove; maybe it was a metaphorical journey or a long-distance relationship.
Come up with a headline or a first line for your story. (Headline: Girl Misses Europe While Writing Love Letters. First line: It was forty-two days and then we never talked again…)
Take turns sharing names, your lines and a glimpse into your stories!
DIG IN IDEAS
Listen to one of these Moth Stories about encouragement from unlikely sources.
“Life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood backward.”
Both storytellers describe discouraging times that surely lasted and felt much longer to them than it seemed in the story. Can you recall stretches or seasons of discouragement that seemed like they would last forever? What happened to shift them?
When I asked the staff about encouragement, we started talking about things that come disguised as “encouragement” but usually just end up creating more work for you or leave you feeling worse somehow. When have you been on the giving or receiving end of these kinds of “attaboys?”
Think of times you’ve been encouraged. Use the prompts below to share stories and explore how encouragement works together!
What are some different sources of it for you? Maybe situational, other people or places, direct or indirect. Are prayer and meditation ways you find encouragement?
Is there a difference between finding encouragement and being given it? Can you encourage yourself?
How do you like to receive encouragement from others? Maybe the idea of the Five Love Languages can help!
Consider this study summarized below about illusions of steepness and height.
“With a Little Help: The walk to and from school can’t be uphill both ways, but going it alone might make it seem that way. When judging the steepness of a hill, people overestimated its angle more when alone than when they were accompanied by—or even thinking about—a friend, reports an international group of researchers led by Simone Schnall of University of Plymouth in England in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in May. The longer the volunteers had been friends with their companions, the less steep the hill seemed.
— ”
practice the word 'encourage" in americal sign language
CLOSE
Share one thing you will take away from this time that you want to remember this week.
*NEW - you can share comments below! It’s another channel we’re exploring for keeping the conversation going and deepening as different Groups share what they are discovering and wondering.
Confirm your plan for next time.
When:
Where:
Who will coordinate, facilitate, provide hospitality or other needs:
Remember, anyone is welcome to serve the group in these and other ways. In fact, it is a way you will grow and connect!
keeping a shared why and practices in front of you can be as simple as literally putting them on the table! Pick one of these up on Sundays at the info table.
