151. Prepare Your Sharing
I found out that many members started writing down what they are going to share in house church before they come. I think this is an excellent practice which I also have started implementing. Though this is not a rule at all here are two reasons why I believe this is a good practice for all of us.
1. It makes our sharing concise.
As we all know, we tend to ramble when our thoughts are not organized. And what helps organize our thoughts is writing. Sharing in house church doesn’t need to be short. Many introverts (like myself) share too short when they are not prepared. But it should be concise.
You don’t have to write down everything you share. I often write down key events that triggered certain emotions in my week, then write a couple of keywords that best describe those emotions.
2. It helps us get in touch with our “emotion.”
Not many of us were “taught” how to share well, let alone in house church. So, some people only list events that happened in their week and end their sharing in house church. But what people want to know is not what happened in your week, but your “heart.”
As an introvert man, I still ‘don’t feel comfortable sharing my emotions. Also, my enneagram type tells me that ‘I’m not really in touch with my feeling.
But once I started writing down my sharing before the meeting, it helped me to get in touch with my “emotion” deeper and noticed my sharing connects with people better. It is because through writing down, I had a chance to evaluate “why” I felt a certain way.
Our emotion is simply a by-product of our beliefs. We all have hidden beliefs (good or bad) by which we observe and interpret our life. For example, some people are always disappointed at people because they secretly believe they are better than them. Some people are angry at people because they don’t believe that they are failing in the same area. You probably saw a kid yelling at another kid not to yell. (The sad thing is, getting older doesn’t automatically change this!) Thinking about “why” we feel a certain way gives us a chance to discover and course-correct our hidden beliefs, which leads to a better interpretation of life.
Our sharing doesn’t need to be entertaining, but our stories can be engaging enough for people to pay attention to, if we dig a bit deeper into the “why” of our emotions. Once you discover that your sharing begins to connect with others, you will find house church much more enjoyable.
