Becoming the-Best-Version-of-Ourselves
We met as a core leadership team yesterday, to review how God has been guiding us over the last six months, especially during these last few months of sheltering. We sought to prayerfully discern God’s next steps for our North County Outreach Initiative.
At the end of our time together, each of us shared how God touched our hearts. What we shared, really affirmed, with amazing integrity, our Statement of WHO WE ARE collectively on our website:
WHO WE ARE
We are a united team of community volunteers committed to continuous learning and growing to be all we were created to be individually and collectively.
We are passionate about empowering others through the transforming love of God to grow into their God-given potential, especially children and families with needs: physical, academic, social, spiritual that keep them from flourishing in life.
HOW WE HELP OUR COMMUNITY
Our main focus is on healthy leadership development and community building in our local setting.
We identify and nurture learners of promise of all ages who have the character and openness to become healthy, well-balanced leaders who are inspired to empower others in their own family and community.
UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES for Developing Healthy Leaders and Communities
Our approach to healthy leader and community development is based on over 20+ years of research on healthy leaders, churches and organizations and 100+ years of effective leadership/community development wisdom and experience on our volunteer leadership team.
HOW WE ARE FUNDED:
We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. Our initiative is supported by sponsors and donors who believe in our mission of empowering leadership and community building. Most of our funding provides for local leadership intern stipends and on-going coaching and professional development. Contributions and donations also fund special family assistance and resources for children and family group gatherings.
STAYING TOGETHER AS A FAMILY
Prior to March, 2020, we held monthly gatherings for all the children and families we are serving. Our children shared how they were learning and growing in their love for God and others. We experienced God’s Peaceful Presence in His gift of Holy Communion together. We all enjoyed a family meal and a time of fellowship and celebration of birthdays, baptisms, blessings of newborns and more.
It will be a while before we gather face-to-face as a community, but we are staying connected with our families through our liturgical resources on our website and our faithful local leaders who are calling each family each week to hear about blessings and prayer needs. The children and parents are spontaneously reaching out to their faithful family group leaders/catechists with questions and special needs. We are closer as a FAMILY than we’ve ever been!
We also are in our second week of Our BLESSED SUMMER ADVENTURE where families learn and grow together online with us. Our parents are telling us how much they enjoy learning alongside their children in such an empowering, “doable” format.
See a sample Session: https://www.northcountyoutreach.org/post/our-blessed-summer-adventure-session-2-the-best-version-of-yourself.
Enjoy the captivating teaching videos: https://dynamiccatholic.com/blessed/program-view/first-reconciliation/session-2
This week’s Family Catechesis session, “Becoming the Best Version of Yourself “is remarkably connected to the Collect and Challenge Questions in our Lectionary Study Guide for Sunday, June 5, 2020.
The daily prayer that our children ponder as they begin their conversation with God is:
God our loving Father
Thank you for all the ways you bless me
Help me to be aware that every person,
Place, and adventure I experience is an
Opportunity to love you more
Fill me with a desire to change and to grow,
and give me the wisdom to choose
the-best-version-of-myself in
every moment of every day.
AMEN
The children are learning that as children of God, they have the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit in their hearts to make the right choices that would reflect and magnify God’s character growing in them. They also know that they can only carry out God’s will for their lives as they choose to remain yoked to Jesus in all parts of their lives. The children are learning that God is merciful and gracious and will always give us a second chance as we come back to him with humble and contrite hearts and show, by our changed behavior, that we mean what we say.
Our single-minded focus for faith and character formation for our children and families comes from our own life experiences and belief that effective leadership begins with an intimate relationship with God, resulting in Christ-like character and a clear sense of God’s calling to lead and empower others. As this base of spiritual maturity increases, effective leaders multiply, guide, empower and equip those they serve to realize their full potential in Christ and to work together in accomplishing God’s vision.
We, as leaders, see that one of our our most important tasks is to help others develop greater degrees of empowerment. We equip, support, motivate, mentor and coach individuals and communities to become all that God wants them to be. This seems to be the way God is teaching us to grow healthy leaders of all ages and healthy communities that reflect and magnify His Name. Each of the children and families we are serving have this leadership potential. We look forward to where God will be leading us in the days to come.
We welcome all who have a passion to help children and families live into fullness of life to be part of our volunteer community through steadfast prayer and serving with your gifts of time, talent, and resources.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, AMEN
Susan Bentley
Executive Director
Northcountyoutreach.org
