Le Vrai Moi / The Real Me

Tonight's Torrents of Hope session was on "le vrai moi / the real me." One parable of this is the masterpiece of a particular painter. God sees every person as having this value. Unfortunately, one of the effects of sin is having paint, fingerprints, dirt, and other matter deface God's original creation in every person. Through the work of Jesus on the cross, the Holy Spirit in changing hearts, and the rubbing of shoulders with other followers of Jesus in church community, God the Father wants to restore each of his masterpieces into its original state of value and beauty.

This picture of each person gives me more hope and a vision for working with people with problems. In reality, we all have our issues, but the external effects of some of these issues is more obvious in some people more than it is in others.

I really appreciate my group leaders Thomas and Aymeric. They and other lay people voluntarily give of their time to be "soul doctors." They raise good questions and help pray issues through. I am in their group along with 4 other men.

We did a trip to IKEA today to give my wife a mental health break, as she needed a change of scenery. We first took our son to our particular IKEA store when he was under 2 weeks old. As we were having lunch, I was amazed at all the changes that he's gone through since then. His growth becomes more apparent when I reminisce about different things that he's done at IKEA at different ages that he's been there. He and our daughter both seem to be getting taller these days.