Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Ask Us Your Questions

Ok, we're a week and a half into Lament and I KNOW you all have got to have some questions.

The Soul Per Suit website is not a completed work- we're still ironing out the kinks and feeling our way through the darkness in several areas. So this is where you guys and gals come in. If you have a question or something isn't clear, please ask! We won't know how to clarify or improve things unless someone says they don't get it. And chances are that someone else is wondering the same thing. So ask!

I'll attempt to address a few of the questions I've heard floating around this week.


I said I'd join the Lament study, but what exactly am I supposed to be doing?
Our concept with Soul Per Suit is a three-pronged approach. First, the Bible Study on Lament. Second, communicating your thoughts and feelings on the blog or discussing them in your small group. Third, making a card to journal about what God is saying to you through this Lament study (or what you want to say to God). If you leave out any of these three elements, you'll be missing a big part of what Soul Per Suit is meant to be- a Bible based (Bible Study), creative journaling (card art) project done in the context of community (blog/small group).

Every three weeks or so, the next installment in the Lament series will be posted to the SPS website and you can start the three prongs all over again.

That said... you may find that a certain lesson really resonates with you and you'd like to spend more than three weeks on it. Great! You might not get much out of a particular lesson and want to move on right away. Hey, fine. There is nothing that says you have to keep to a calendar. Make one card, make fifteen cards. You don't even have to stay on the topic of Lament. We did this project on a retreat once, and there was a gal that had recently gotten pregnant after 2 years of infertility treatments. She chose to make a card expressing her GRATITUDE to God, even though the weekend's theme was Lament. The cards are there for you and your particular situation. Use them as you will. *TaNR*


What in the world is a BLOG and why do we need one?
A blog, to the best of my understanding, is a glorified computer bulletin board. The first time we did an SPS group, all the participants exchanged E-mail addresses. We discovered that it is a thrill to talk with other people working on the same journaling project, but E-mail limits the conversation to only 2 people. With a blog, everyone benefits from the conversation. And everyone can contribute to the conversation. We all have experiences and insights to add, Scripture or songs that we "stumble" upon as God leads us on this journey, even tips and
techniques to share about making cards.
You don't know this, but... I have heard from approximately 14 of you that you'd like to join the Soul Per Suit Lament study. And you thought you were the only one here! :) We want to hear your laments, to see your cards, and to know who you are. Please share yourself with us on SoulPerBlog!


Ok, I see the importance of the Blog. How do I leave comments?
Uh, Rhonda. Help! (I think Rhonda has it set up now so that all you have to do is click "comment" and you can leave a comment. No need to set up an account.)


I REALLY can't draw or paint, what else do I do with my cards?
SPS is not about that at all. Find someone who CAN draw and paint and use their stuff. Clip words and pictures out of magazines, use photographs, go to museum and art websites, and read Rhonda's article called "Refrigerator Art.

Include any other questions you have as a Comment to this thread. :)

3 comments:

rhon said...

Dena - The posts never expire!
No need to rush out here and hope questions and answers have disappeared. This is also great because anyone can join SPS anytime and not miss anything. If someone finds out about us 2 months from now, they can still join, get to know the people in the blog and find all the information they need still here. That's also the beauty of doing a bible study on line. You can go at your own pace and never really be behind. The only warning I would give is that if someone does join several months from now, don't post a comment to a blog that is really old (say 6 months). It may get missed. But your question or comment is still relevent. Just post to a recent blog.

rhon said...

Erin - You are correct -- You do not have to create an account to comment on a posting. But if you comment anonymously, we will never know who you are. But it is totally up to you.

At the beginning of each post is the date of the posting and the title. At the end of each post is "Posted by", the time, and how many comments this posting has received. You can select "# COMMENTS" to read all the comments to that post.

If you would like to make your own comment, select "Post a Comment" at the end of the page. The "Comment Sign In" page will appear. If you have an account, sign in. If not, below the "Sign In" blue button there is the option "Or Post Anonymously". If you do not want to create an account, select this. If you want to create an account, select the blue button near the bottom that says "Get One Now".

AN ACCOUNT
This may be where some have gotten confused. There are three steps to creating an account. The second step asks you to give a Blog title and Blog address. Everyone who creates an account is also creating their own blog. So these names must be unique (i.e. you do not use soulperblog there; it will give you an error and tell you it's taken). I suggest using "soulperdena" or "soulpersandi", etc. Whatever you make up, type the same thing in both fields. You may find out you like blogging and decide to run your own blog and now you will have one.

I hope this clears some things up. If not, PLEASE ASK ME.

rhon said...

The only ones that can post a new blog are the "blog team" (also called contributors). This is Erin, San and I. This is so that we can keep a level of control over the subject matter and manage the information distributed. You are more than welcome to chase rabbits or bring up new issues in your comments to blogs. TaNR (there are not rules) about what you put in a comment. We want people to express themselves and we want to hear how and what you're doing with SPSLament. Another job of the blog team is to make sure that everyone in the blog community is respectful of each others comments, although I know this goes without saying.