Estep / Catlapp

2/12/10

This is Evan checking in with the Estep/Catlapp Mangroup along with: EricEstep, Paul Ham, Tim Vallette, Trevor Broadwater, and our newest additions Jeremy Fahey, and Kevin Shelton.

We are stoked to have Kevin and Jeremy in our group. I have gotten to know Kevin over the years through Joe and Nikki Chappel and the high school group, and now have the chance to get to know Jeremy (who has already been an encouragement  to our group).

Jeremy has committed to go to the Philippines with a medical team through our church. His willingness to undertake such a trip with a wife and young child at home is an example of faith to our group. How’s the money gettinghandled? What’s the plan for the trip? How’s his family going to handle it? It’s in Jesus’ hands. Rock on Fahey!

Chapter 2 was discussed in our group this last meeting and we’ve committed to pray for each other throughout the week.

And an important praise: ERIC MAY HAVE FOUND A DECENT JOB!

We are praying that God would guide and bless him through his integrity while learning this new trade.

This is Evan from the Estep/Catlapp group, signing off!

11/4/09

Our group met at the Estep casa again this week and there was some good conversation about the various ways Satan tricks us into failure.  It always seems like emotion is a big topic of conversation. Anyways, Peter’s dad got hurt, so we’re praying for that, I got a job, praise the Lord for that, Tim needs to go solicit more business, Evan needs to figure some stuff out, Paul needs God’s power to get through the next couple months, and Trevor need to take care of school stuff.  Were gelin’ somethin’ fierce in our group.

10/28/09

I felt like our group really turned a crucial corner this week. Two weeks ago, we had fasted in a couple of waves in support of Eric’s ongoing search for employment, and for Peter as his family navigated their own financial struggles and as he searched for funding for his trip to Uganda. I’m sure we all fought some discouragement when we didn’t see immediate results; it’s human nature to see God as an intergalactic vending machine. We want to pray in our seventy-five cents and get the immediate return of a plastic-wrapped chocolaty blessing. God’s timing is perfect. Ours is nearly always impatient.

But two weeks after the fact, God demonstrated his love and provision for our brothers, providing Eric with a new employment opportunity, preserving the Douglas family in Glendora for at least another month, and postponing the launch of Peter’s Uganda trip, hopefully enabling him to raise more funds and find employment during this window. We hear the verse that tells us that the prayer of a righteous man availeth much, but in my experience, too often I’ve failed to put that into direct practice. But God answers prayer, and our group was able to experience that first hand.

It’s definitely created a new bond in our group, and some great momentum. Now we just need to go Plus One. And I’m not talking about the Boy Band. Because, you know, that’d just be weird.

10/21/09

We went mobile again this week, foregoing our usual meeting to respond to an urgent call for help from fellow Man Groupie (Man Grouper?) Jon Parker to aid him in his quest to reach out to APU students as he promotedCompany122 to those gathered for the Kaleo service. If I’ve misspelled the name of that service, it is to my utter and complete shame.

Our task: lay down 1000 spiffy fliers Mig had created in the space of about ten minutes. Lots of hands contributed from both our Man Group and our brothers in the Giron/Douglas group, and we finished with time to spare. Our reward: not only a great time of corporate worship and focus on God’s desireto reach out to all people, but ice cream sundaes as well, courtesy of our APU sisters. Good times!

10/14/09

We went mobile again this week, meeting at Eric’s apartment for a change of venue and a change of mind-frame, if that’s a term. If it’s not, it is now, having been immortalized electronically within the Man Group blog. As we discussed Kenny’s list of “dark corners” in chapter 4 of Fight, I think our group made big strides in getting real with each other and pointing our collective attention at where those areas exist for us.

Big props to Evan, by the way, who discussed an issue I can identify with. Men are stubborn. Sometimes, we don’t allow ourselves to experience God’s love and forgiveness, because our stubbornness leads to a feeling of self-sufficiency that is blindingly anti-biblical. It also hinders our relationships, because if we don’t allow ourselves to recognize God’s love and forgiveness for us, we’ll be hindered in not only expressing the same, but demonstrating it to others. It was a good conversation with a good group of manly Man Group men.

We also called ourselves to action, setting up a rotating fast to keep Peter and Eric in prayer as they seek direction and wait on God’s provision in their lives. I’m not a good fast-er. In fact, I really suck at it. Maybe it’s a metabolic thing, but I can get cranky. Tim was my partner for the Thursday shift, and his joyful attitude about it really helped point me in the right direction.

10/7/09

This week, our group learned that I, Paul Ham, officially suck at updating our blog. I expect many good-natured ribbings and quasi-lethal purple hermans.

Our Man Group was unexpectedly called into action when we met on Wednesday, the 7th. Tim got in touch with me about an hour before our scheduled start to tell me he wouldn’t make it; Chris and Elissa’s house had suffered an attempted robbery, and he was going to sit with them andestablish more of a presence at the house in case the perps came back (they’d propped open the sliding glass door in a sneaky way, so they obviously had plans to return at some point).

If Tim can’t come to Man Group, Man Group will come to Tim, was my response. Our guys deserve a lot of credit for getting on board and being flexible so quickly. We met at 7:30, took off for Rancho, and had our small group in the Gannon’s living room, weapons at the ready in case there was trouble. No trouble came, though, much to Eric’s disappointment. But the group demonstrated a commitment not just to meeting together, but being available and allowing themselves to be inconvenienced in service to someone else.

So if you run into any Division 6 Man Group Men, purple herman them, too. You know, in a congratulatory and uplifting manner pleasing to God.

9/30/09

This week, we managed to wrap up before the building lights timed out, which is a win! We dove into chapter 2, and I was really encouraged by how our guys engaged not just with the issues, but with each other. It’s a great step forward in solidifying ourselves as a group now that we’re starting to settle in.

On the negative side of the ledger, we did have a group member decide that this isn’t the place for him, and decide to leave. Additionally, another one of our guys felt under the weather and wussed out on us. (No excuses, guys!) But the five remaining carried on well.

One thing we didn’t do, which we should have, was Catlapp’s Corner. That’s on me; without Evan’s mug staring me in the face, I completely forgot about it. But as a group, we were able to follow up on prayer requests and situations raised last week, which is a good sign (I hope) that we’re praying for each other through the week.

–Paul

9/23/09

I’ve got to start this right off with a big praise: my car behaved itself all week, and after I gassed up two nights ago, my “check engine” light turned off. I’m really impressed with how Man Group as a whole has rolled with the punches and gotten over the obstacles thrown at us this last week. It reminds me of Danny Hazen’s comment to me about the weather on September 13th, at our San Dimas High School event: “This is proof God likes to be glorified.”

It took us about half an hour to herd all of our group members into the couch room, but once we got rolling, we actually ran out the clock on the church’s lights! Right as we’re wrapping up the evening with prayer, the room goes black! We managed to grope our way back to the door at the end and hit the lights in the hall. Time flies when you’ve got a good Man Group going on!

As our fellow leaders, I’d ask that you pray for the long-term situation of our corner of Man Group (division 6, I like to call it). With Eric’s ongoing job hunting, Peter’s fundraising for Uganda, and Paul Smith’s current situation, there’s a lot of uncertainty as to what our group will look like a month from now. Please pray we can continue building strong, brotherly relationships with each other that can keep sharpening us, even if the make-up of the official group changes.

–Paul