“Being a part of a Listen To My Life small group changed my life.”

In 2006, I was driving home from a class at church when it dawned on me that I could be doing a bible study in my neighborhood.  With some hesitation, I asked a neighbor if she would join me and she said, “Yes!” and so did several others.  I was planning on doing a simple bible study – like one with the lessons on DVDs that I could just pop in and out each week.  Instead, Sibyl Towner encouraged me  to use the Listen to My Life workbook.  So in the Summer of 2006, several brave women began the inner journey together – in community – literally - in our neighborhood!  

We each shared our current circumstances and our Life Stories – the joys and the sorrows.  The connections between our stories were amazing – like a spider-web connecting our stories one to another. We listened and heard stories that had been buried and had never been brought into the light and healing began to take place.    Pain and regret began to be replaced with peace and acceptance.  We became witnesses to God’s redemptive work in each other’s lives!

Through digging into the Peak Experiences Maps and reviewing our Desires and Longings Maps in community, we were able to understand each other’s strengths, desires, and the activities that bring each of us joy.  This has helped us to encourage each other in the works that God has planned for us – in our neighborhood, church and even in the world!

In sharing our Valley Experiences, we were able to listen & hear & hold the sorrows that each of us has experienced in this life.   It was a gift to each one of us – to have the safe space to share our heartaches and to know that God can redeem these sad stories if we allow Him to work with us in it.

The Reviewing My Days Map and Life-Giving Rhythms Maps helped us to focus on God’s movement and leadings in our lives.  They also helped us to see the patterns in our lives that draw us toward God and the patterns that draw us away from God.  Sharing that in community helped us to be more accountable to ourselves and each other.

Being a part of a Listen to My Life small group changed my life.  My faith in God was strengthened, because I was able to be a witness to God’s work in each of the women’s lives in our group.  It helped me to be more compassionate, because now I really understand that everyone has a story - and everyone has pain that they continue to carry around with them in their hearts.  We are now more deeply known and more deeply loved by one another which has spurred us on to know more of God’s love for us.

Leading a Listen to My Life small group may sound intimidating, but it isn’t that complicated.   The first lesson that I learned was that all I had to do was open up the space for the group (a time to meet & a safe place to share), so that we could listen to one another.  The second lesson was that my role was not to fix or solve their problems, but my role was to believe in God for them!

I hope that you will begin the Listen to My Life journey not only for yourself, but also for a community of others!

Rebecca Madden with her neighborhood friends