InterPlay and Grace Making

Dear Friends,

This is the sight that greeted us this morning as Jennifer Denning, regional director of InterPlay Atlanta, and I traveled to Lee Arrendale State Prison in collaboration with Reforming Arts to provide InterPlay to women inmates.

Sunrise October 17th near Alto, Georgia

As we drove the ninety minutes, we conversed about our week and all that we had been up too.  I don't know about you but this Fall has been way too busy!  I remarked that even in the midst of being overbooked and juggling four major projects (including the upcoming 25th anniversary celebration) I had a feeling of Grace thanks to InterPlay.

Last Friday Jennifer (Grace Maker extraordinaire)  had introduced the concept of "Physicality of Grace" to the ladies during our time together.  At the end, they were coming up with a list of activities that created the experience (opposite of stress) of grace for them and they included things such as dancing, music, gardening, cooking, listening to a story, and reading inspirational books. 

It reminded me that we may not be able to eliminate all stress in our lives, but we can build up grace right next to it.

We can focus on joy and we can create grace for each other, ourselves, our communities, the Earth and all of creation.

One way we can do that is to pay attention to what brings us Grace.

Monarch on Zinnia

Last weekend I had several grace making moments when I was on a girl scout camp out with my 7th grade Cadettes. One was taking a moment to take pictures of the beautiful butterflies that were feeding on the fading zinnias.

This week I had the pleasure of attending Deep Play led by Jennifer. In this six week series, we have the chance to deepen our connection to each other and expand our InterPlay forms as we play together with the same friends.  Every time I participate in InterPlay, I experience grace.

Afterwards the InterPlay Atlanta leadership team met to talk about details of the upcoming 25th anniversary celebration.  We are so excited about the growth of InterPlay here in our community, and we hope you can join us on Saturday the 25th for our FUNdraiser. It's a free lunch that includes inspiration, entertainment and celebration!

One of my Grace Makers, Ruth Schowalter

On Thursday,  I also had the chance to play with my Leader-in-Training buddy Hallelujah Truth Ruth who is definitely a grace maker for me as we journey through the leader training together.  We meet bi-weekly on Skype and do a short InterPlay session and then work our way through the Core Element Self-Study Training Program.

I am so grateful to be surrounded by Grace Makers in my life.  I do my best to create grace for others too.  This week a small way I did this was to give a ride home from the grocery store to a friend in need.

Today I finished out the week with InterPlay at the prison (a big shout out of thanks to Jennifer Denning, an amazing grace  maker for me, who drove today and prepped me for our lesson) and then back to town for Atlanta InterPlay's SoulPrint Players performance rehearsal.

Ta DA! It was a grand finish indeed!

As I take a deep breath in and release it with a thankful sigh I give gratitude for InterPlay and the reminders it gives me to seek out Grace and how it is physical.  As the week draws to an end I am aware of how much better I feel when I put this concept into practice.

Wrapping you around with infinite love and grace,
Christine Gautreaux, Leader-in-Training