Advent Wreath Making

On December 2, 2007, we decided to start Advent out right by making our own Advent Wreaths. As you can see below, Leigh was giddy from ribbon cutting and couldn't wait for the day to begin! Unlike our normal TOT gatherings, this one was open to everyone and people were encouraged to bring their children to aid in the wreath making. As you can see below, everyone seemed quite eager to begin making their wreath.

Parents were assisted by their children and on a few occasions the men left the creativity up to their wives while they watched their kids play ball.

We had a great turnout after both of our masses! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was pretty cool to walk around and see what everyone had created. Since the team provided the materials, it was up to each person to create their own masterpiece! In addition to the wreath, prayer cards were handed out to everyone so as to know what prayers to say when during the season. Now, because it is difficult to pick out which pictures to use, I chose to include several photos in this blog to show all the wreaths and happy holiday faces. As I said, it was difficult to choose as everyone looks so cheerful!In the end, I think this was a great way for everyone to begin the Christmas season. What better way to start things off than with lots of love and smiles. Merry Christmas to you all and we hope you had as much fun as we did! The Team

The Seven Habits of Highly Spiritual People

On November 13, 2007, we got together for the fourth time this year! This time we were blessed to have Bill Grimme as a guest speaker. He educated us on the 7 Habits Paradigm. It was an excellent talk with plenty of illustrations for those of us who tend to be more visual.
We discussed how there are both Personal and Public victories that occur in our lives that can be the result of habits we choose to initiate. To begin with we defined habits as those things that a person can do everyday in their life without too much thought. Our goal is to take these tasks and make them habits in our daily lives. Examples of Personal Habits are to be Proactive (instead of complaining, make changes), have a Personal Vision, and Preserve our Current Relationships while Getting Things Done.
Examples of Public Habits would be such things as Balanced Self-Renewal, Interpersonal Leadership, Seeking to Understand Situations before Prescribing Ways to Fix Problems, and finally Creative Communication (taking advantage of people's differences). After learning what these Habits were, we broke into small groups and discussed how various Bible versus related to the 7 Habits.All in all, I think this was a night of learning for everyone. Too often we forget that not only is it important to be a good individual, but also to be a good group member to those around us which involves listening, learning, and of course good communication! In the end, everyone seemed to have a good time and it was a night of smiles and laughter for all involved. Take care and Peace to All! The Team :)

Good Reasons for Standing your Ground in Relationships

On October 9, 2007, we got together to discuss Good Reasons for Standing your Ground in Relationships and as you tell by the picture below the TOT team was ready to go! We were fortunate to have Sharon Lovoy, one of our own OLV members, come and talk with us about "Standing our Ground". Everyone seemed very interested in what she had to say. We talked about a fear of conflict, being defensive, and an absense of trust.

We also discussed the difficulty in having crucial conversations with those around us. Sharon did a great job, taking care to get everyone involved in activities and discussions. She talked about the downfalls of a big ego, stating that having a big ego means "Edging God Out" and saying "we are the center of the world, not you!"

As always, after our talks there is always time for fellowship and great conversations. TOT is a great opportunity to meet other 20s - 40s Catholics like yourself.

We always seem to have plenty to talk about along with refreshments for everyone!

Thanks to all who attended. We had lots of fun! Also, we would like to extend a big thanks to Sharon... you are welcome back anytime! We really enjoyed your presentation and thank you for taking the time to talk with us. And, as a last note I think many of us appreciated being reminded of what it takes to make a great relationship, both at work, with friends, and in our personal lives. Thanks again to all who came and we missed you to those who didn't! Have a great month! The Team

Coffee & Theology

We did it for Lent 2007 and we brought it back again! September 16 - October 21, 2007 was our second Coffee and Theology. We met on Sunday mornings between the two masses at approximately 9:45. This time the topic of our studies was "How to be Happy". We discussed Matthew 5-7, by first reading a Bible verse and then addressing questions pertaining to the verse.

We had many people come out to talk and pray. Bonds were formed within each group. As you can see, we tried to keep the groups to around 5-6 people per group. Coffee and donuts were provided for all who attended.

In the end, a good time was had by all and people are already asking when we were going to do this again. Well, in answer to that question, our plan is to host another Coffee & Theology during Lent 2008. We hope those who attended this sesssion will be able to return and we would love to see many new faces too!

Thanks to everyone who attended! We had a lot of fun and enjoyed all the great conversations! Take care. The Team

The Peace of Christ in a Turbulent World

On September 11, 2007, we met for our second time this season. We brought in a special guest , Shelly Douglas from St. Mary's Catholic Worker House, to speak about "Pax Christi International". Shelly spoke about a movement that began in the ashes of WWII as a Catholic voice for peace and reconciliation. She led discussions on ways to generate peace in our world.

As you can see above, it was an intense topic to discuss as peace is not always so easy to come by. However, once the talk was over everyone had time to mingle before heading over to the church for a Peace Service.

With today being September 11, we thought we should honor those who died during the tragedy only six years ago. The "Prayer for Peace" included talks on several different faiths (Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu, Jain, Baha'i, and Christianity) taking care to note the similiarities between the different religions. Several TOT members participated in the service, so a special thanks goes out to everyone who made this night possible. We concluded the service with a candle lighting ceremony, showing that when there is unity there is more light in the world. In the end, although this evening proved to be a little more intense than usual, everyone seemed to have a good time and left with a smile in their heart. Again, thanks to everyone who came, it was great seeing you all. Have a blessed month and we'll see you in October. The Team.

Keeping a Christian Attitude at Work

On August 21, 2007, we kicked off the beginning of our 3rd TOT season. We had one of our own TOT team members give a talk on how to keep a Christian attitude at work. Matt did an awesome job covering topics from how to examine our own behaviors to how to reinforce others. The slide above explains some of the steps to improving one's own attitude at work and how to be a leader to those around you. After Matt's presentation, we broke into smaller groups to discuss (over skittles and beer) ways to make our own lives a little better. And, as you can see from the slide below, a great time was had by all! I mean, just look at all the happy faces!!
In the end, we really enjoyed seeing everyone again and hearing about your summers. We were quite excited to see so many new faces! Welcome to you all and let's have a great new year! Blessings all around. The Team ... A special thanks goes out to David our stellar photographer for this event. Thanks for the great picture, you did an awesome job! :)

Meet the Team... at least some of them

As always the Theology on Tap team is hard at work to develop new and exciting programs for those around us. On June 8, 2007, we decided to have a get together to discuss events for the year ahead. Below you will see some of the team members.We have across the back row, Sean, Father Ray, Leigh, Janell, and David. In the center there is Mandy and Sister Madeline and across the bottom we have Steve, Meg, and Heather. Thanks to all who attended.

To begin with we had a wonderful dinner supplied by the church and great appetizers and desserts supplied by the team. As you can see above, Father Ray and Meg resided at the table ready to chow!

As the evening wore on, we all gravitated to the floor and enjoyed each others company while listening to lively tunes and telling stories.

While the TOT team is made up of a few single individuals, we also have our married couples. Above you can see Sean and Mandy looking lovingly into each others eyes. They truly are a special couple, with mad newlywed game skills!

In the end, a good time was had by all! For those of you not in attendance, you were missed.. but we enjoyed the leftovers! :) All in all, we got a lot accomplished and we are very excited about the year ahead! We look forward to sharing it with you all. Blessings to all, The Team

2007 Crawfish Boil

On April 21, 2007, we gathered by the church for some good food, fun, & drinks!!!

We would like to especially thank our wonderful cook Lee, one of our very own TOT team members, for sharing his cooking expertise with us. Please feel free to cook for us again!

And, as you can see, we had plenty of good food. Lots of corn, sausage, asparagus, mushrooms, and of course crawfish for everyone!

Even Father Ray and Sister Madeline came out to partake in the festivities and as always were a joy to have around! We partied and prayed well into the night!

And as you can tell by the pictures, the crawfish never had a chance.

And on some occasions, neither did the people!

We would like to thank everyone for their attendance. We had lots of fun and we hope you did too! See you next time!