A Bittersweet Accomplishment

I'm sitting next to a piece of paper that simply says, "Don't placate me." I have no clue what my family was up to last night.

It's Monday, the beginning of a new work week, and...

I don't have to go to work!

It's a beautiful thing, really. But at the same time, it's very bittersweet. Allow me to enlighten you:

Time for Some Openness: Small Group Progress Report

About four months ago, I posted about a life goal that I would be embarking on soon: leading a small group. If you missed it, here's the post. Basically, I was very excited, but also very nervous, to start leading a small group here at MCC. I'm here four months later with an update on this life goal that's been in progress for a while now.

A note/disclaimer/warning: I want to be very open and honest in this post. Members of my small group may eventually see or read this, and I'm okay with that. I just want to be transparent in the way that I live, so I figure that I need to be transparent in the way that I blog about my life and about the struggles and joys of attempting to fulfill a life goal. If you are in any way involved with or connected to Small Groups at MCC or my own Small Group, please read this for what it's worth and don't read between the lines, because there's nothing there. What's being said is how I honestly feel and what I'm thinking, and that's all there is to it.

The short version of the story:

Leading a Small Group has gone slightly better than I expected it to. However, I'm disappointed with myself for a number of reasons (see "the long version" for details). I'd give myself a 6.5/10 as a leader, and my group a 9.5/10 for how epic they are. I hope to do better sooner rather than later.

The long-ish version of the story:

I love my small group. I can't say that enough. However, in my own mind, things haven't been a bed of roses this first semester so far. The small groups at MCC were recently asked to evaluate their leaders, so I received a "progress report" of sorts from the members of my small group...