hi everyone. we are now in houston - we dropped mr pink cheeks off at the airport and after getting slightly lost we have found our way to trish and danny's. hopefully tonight we'll make it to ted and josh's gig at a coffee house somewhere and then we'll see what the wind blows in over the weekend! caroline told me that SOFA had a lot of new faces the other night - congratulations to steve who wins the prize for fastest developmental action towards world domination. God gave Shannon an amazing word about SOFA growing which is really exciting - it is:

1So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. 2Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ--that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.
3Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life--even though invisible to spectators--is with Christ in God. He is your life. 4When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too--the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
5And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. 6It's because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. 7It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. 8But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.
9Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. 10Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. 11Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
12So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. 13Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. 14And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. 16Let the Word of Christ--the Message--have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! 17Let every detail in your lives--words, actions, whatever--be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

jen also found part of this and shared it with us as a group yesterday. i think God is wanting us to dwell on it - it also reminds us of cather's word about worshipping every 6 steps. Jesus is really up for SOFA and he is excited about the people in ti already and those who he has lined up to enter in.

i love you guys - a lovely friend of mine pointed out that it was cheeky of me to be requesting emails when i wasn't sending any out - sorry about this. what i really wanted was for you to respond to some of the things i had been blogging either on our site or thethingaboutit. i hope this explains some stuff to those of you who i upset - i really didn't want to upset andy of you. love bea