Why This Community Exists

SPEAKER_00 1:21

PQ for Christians was one of the first communities of practice that was established in the PQ community. And it began as a small interest group of six people. Six people in November of 2020. And the purpose from the beginning has been to integrate positive intelligence with our Christian faith and practices. So at the outset, the that initial six-person group wondered how compatible it would actually be. So they began exploring the potential blocks as well as the alignments. And six years later, we are still in exploration mode, and discovering how God, leading us deeper into communion, and how to reach others with PQ, not just as a program, but as a sacred tool. So what we value is our grace guidelines. We recognize that all of us come from different diverse branches of the Christian faith. And that everyone is on their own transformational journey. So we're here to offer support and compassion to each other at whatever stage in our journey we happen to be. So we accept that we are all learning and we lead by building wisdom together. Please be open to feeling uncomfortable. Both comes with a little discomfort, and then ask the spirit, the Holy Spirit to help you speak with love and grace because we're here to care for each other. Listening and by operating in our stage power. So I will hand it over to Donald.

SPEAKER_07 2:59

All right.

Guided Prayer Through The Seasons

SPEAKER_07 3:00

And we are going to go directly into our PQ. So I'm gonna pray. And if you want, you can take yourself off camera and just find yourself, just get comfortable. Father, we consent to your presence in action within.

SPEAKER_09 3:37

What season are you in?

SPEAKER_07 3:47

Begin by allowing yourself to be still. Take a couple of breaths in. Slowly breathe in. Slowly breathe out. Again, breathe in. Breathe out. One more time, breathe in, and know that every time we breathe in, we're breathing in the love of God. And every time we breathe out, we're breathing out the love of God. What season are you in? You do not need to change where you are. You do not need to manufacture a different season. Simply arrive here with God.

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Hear the words of Jesus.

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I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener.

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Imagine a vine moving through the seasons.

SPEAKER_07 6:03

Summer comes.

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Fall comes. Winter comes.

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The appearance of the branches change, but the vine remains the same. Now bring your attention gently towards your own life.

SPEAKER_09 7:01

Your relationship with God.

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A relationship.

SPEAKER_09 9:00

A possibility you have not seen before. Tender shoots are beginning to be appear.

SPEAKER_07 9:24

If this is your season, resist the temptation to rush the growth. Simply receive what God is bringing into your life.

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Ask quietly, Father, what are you awakening in me?

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Perhaps it is summer. Perhaps there's fruit on your branches. Prayer feels alive. Relationships are flourishing. Your calling feels clear. You recognize God's presence and blessings.

SPEAKER_09 11:00

Receive this season with gratitude.

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But here Jesus reminds you neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

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The fruit is not the source. Christ is simply asks Jesus.

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How are you inviting me to remain in you amid the abundance? Perhaps it's fall. Perhaps something is being released.

SPEAKER_09 12:23

A role, an expectation, a relationship, a past success, a familiar way of understanding yourself.

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Jesus speaks of the Father pruning the fruitful branches so that they may become even more fruitful. Letting go doesn't necessarily mean something has gone wrong.

SPEAKER_09 13:22

Sometimes letting go is preparation.

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Gently asks, Father, what am I being invited to release into your hands?

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Perhaps it's winter.

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Perhaps nothing seems to be growing.

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God feels quiet and or distant. The landscape that seemed alive now appears empty.

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But winter doesn't mean the vine has died. Life remains beneath what we can see. Roots deepen in the hidden places. Perhaps this is not a season for producing. Perhaps it's a season for resting waiting. Trusting. Hear Jesus say remain in me as I remain in you. You don't have to manufacture spring. You are simply invited to remain. Gently ask Jesus, what are you forming within me that I cannot see?

SPEAKER_09 16:23

What season are you in?

SPEAKER_07 16:30

Winter?

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Spring Summer or Falls You don't know. Even not knowing it can be sacred. As we prepare to return, let me pray.

SPEAKER_07 17:18

Jesus, you are the true vine. Give us grace to recognize the season we are in without judging. Amen.

Returning With One Honest Question

SPEAKER_07 17:45

And as you're ready, return back to camera.

SPEAKER_09 18:45

And how might Christ be inviting you to remain in him right there? Feel free, if anyone willing to share.

Naming Winter Spring Summer Or Fall

SPEAKER_04 19:46

You know, we go through them in the reality of real seasons of life, you know. What happens to our plants in the winter versus in the summer and in the spring and in the winter of the fall, you know, with the shift. And you know, just knowing that we always still have some of those same things in our system, but they go up and down depending on the season of life that we're in. And I think that's what I was listening to. Each one of those going, I recognize each one of those seasons. And I think that the summer was actually a winter for me. Many things that were going on, and the spring came after the winter. So it's kind of interesting, but for me, that's been definitely uh aligned to what happens in our real life, and winter turns into spring. So that was kind of what really inspired me in this conversation.

SPEAKER_07 20:45

Well, I just appreciate you sharing that. And I'm just gonna say these words out that you just said summer was a winter for me. Anyone else willing to share?

SPEAKER_09 21:06

Go ahead, Leona.

SPEAKER_05 21:14

I was thinking about this a little bit before coming on today, and it just came upon me that I'm in between seasons. And interestingly enough, I like playing with words. So I found myself in falter, and then I decided to look up what does falter really mean and why is that where I'm at? And falter means to lose strength, speed, confidence, or purpose, or to move or speak in an unsteady, hesitant way. That's where I am right now. I'm feeling unsteady, losing strength and speed, but through your guided words, Donald, I I feel like it's okay. And maybe that's this is just a time of rest, time of rest that I need. And you know, the words of Jesus, what are you forming within me that I cannot see? And so as I am sitting here in Pelter, I am going to rest and I am going to look with expectancy as to what's what's around the corner for me. Thanks for letting me share that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

I love I love that, Leona. Because to be honest, I'm kind of in that same spot. I'm looking at, you know, making kind of decisions about, you know, to be honest, like do I really want to try to keep up my coaching? It's kind of fun to have a gas this summer. And I'm like, do I prune it? So I'm thinking fall. But I love your I love your your word because it just makes me think, you know, it is kind of a time of dormancy.

SPEAKER_06 23:21

as well and then it's just a just a time of decision so yeah thank you for that i i i like that was some interesting words there so run out of gas do i prune it i just want you to hold on to that one loss go ahead i love those because lee definitely thought about how life brings us through all those seasons but the fur and this is gonna sound silly but the first thing that struck me was how I never stopped to think that God was my gardener and you know we all I always talk about the vine yes and the and Jesus is the vine and we are the branches yes we go through that but it struck me like oh my goodness he is my gardener he is always there he is watering and sometimes not so I I went through that as you kept talking but to come to where I am I feel like I'm at the fall I'm shedding I the word shedding kept coming up for me and I'm shedding sins I'm shedding habits I'm shedding things that get in the way of me growing in Christ and the the surrender word for me this year has been pretty strong and I've always felt that something is happening I don't even like it. So the the the words that said all growth comes from with discomfort that kind of punched me in the gut and and said yeah like right now I'm feeling punched in the gut for many different reasons not just spiritually like I just feel like this is a time where I mean even things that like sins that I have never even thought of have come up have risen to like you know when they bubble up right it's it's like okay it's time to release this for me. So yeah I mean I I still don't have the answer in terms of what Jesus is inviting me to but that word Donald came from last session where you said this could be his invitation and that has been also part of my fall thank you for allowing me to share Luz I I so appreciate you and all of us our vulnerability I'm gonna ask a question if you're willing to share you mentioned about your word for the year are you willing to share what that word is it's been surrender surrender it's been surrender and I even bought a bracelet that had to remind myself at at one point because I I came into this this well even with the PQ never mind my spiritual journey but I came into it with a sense of such strong confident professional like I was this you know I I I did this I grew in my career and this is who I was and there was such a almost arrogance sorry to say that but there was there was but that was my purpose that was like my professional career was my purpose and when I walked away from that to to do something else it it kind of unearthed much of who I am yeah yeah oh man thank you father that's sorry it made me too much stay that we need to stay here this is beautiful anyone else willing to share go ahead Shauna I found it interesting that I immediately kind of went okay well with my coaching practice it's summer I mean like out of nowhere this old client referred this person and referred this person and I do a discovery session and they're hiring me so it just felt like completely out of nowhere all referrals like just summer but personally and just like with relationships it's winter and and you know it's it's a variety of things like you know my dad is about to turn 89 he's falling a lot he just had surgery again it you know his he has several different diseases so you know he's his his health is not good and it just feels like like I think a lot about losing him so that just feels like winter and then there's for my husband and I it just seems like there's so many things in our lives that are just stagnant you know that that I'm you you know God is moving because God is always moving but you know we've been trying to sell our house now for three years.

SPEAKER_03 29:03

This is the not three years solid but in 2024 for a few months 2025 for a few months and then this year we've probably had it on the market now since March and it's about to come off and it and it's not selling and we're like you know Lord you know there's a reason we don't know what it is. It's covered right it's like it's covered in snow or ice or something that it is is not selling and and there's been a a huge in relationships there's been a huge amount of very visible spiritual warfare and that just also I I guess it feels like winter but but it's been it's been very real it's been it's required much devotion to prayer on my part and my husband's part it it has to do with one of our our sons and yeah and then and then another son so we have three sons and then another our oldest son has been just this running of like 17 years now of recycling addiction and all that goes along with that. So that that all of that piece of me is just winter and it feels like you know when is spring gonna come when is all of this going to thaw so that so that I can see the fruit right because his word does not return void and it's these things that I know that I know but you know persistence and resilience and and just you know staying anchored in the truth but you know it's so funny because sometimes my husband and I were just we'll just talk and we're like nothing's moving you know where it's like like we're you know a bar shuck stuck in an ice you know and it's just nothing's moving and it just seems yeah so that's where I'm at so this the summer is great but the winter is still there and I think that probably overshadows everything.

SPEAKER_07 31:20

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 31:25

Anyone else willing to share go ahead I just want to say something that was kind of funny I think it was maybe last week you know I told you I'm in the Florida area and in the mid in the middle of the night the temperature went down to 58 and it was the same temperature as New York City you know for that one you know couple nights and it's just kind of interesting that even when we think we're in the same season sometimes just even in a day the temperature changes and then you know you go back and up you know it's just sometimes it just happening even you know in the in a season you have something that changes it. And so when I was listening to you Sean I was thinking a little bit about that too you know you you have things that you know just shift you know even in a season that you think you're in a regular season there's things that just happen with the weather we can't control it you know thank you anyone else willing to share what season are you in I'd like to just um piggyback on what Shauna was saying about having two things going on at the same time it feels like I don't know what to pick because there's I I feel like there are things that are being pruned as far as my my coaching life goes that there are things that maybe I was there are too many branches so he's trimming some of them off so that I can focus on the ones that are still there.

When Two Seasons Collide

SPEAKER_01 33:16

This past summer my mother-in-law passed away and she was the last of our parents so all of our parents are gone and that felt final but it's it's good because we we know where they all are and we keep envisioning them I think they all have gardens of some kind up there but to be confident that God is working in us and that you talked about having summer in your coaching while you have winter in your personal relationships there's that encouragement that summer's not far away with the winter anyone else I want to go back to the contemplation the vine hear the words of Jesus I am the true vine and my father is the gardener imagine a vine moving through the seasons not the branches imagine the vine moving through the seasons Spring comes summer comes winter comes fall comes the appearance of the branches change but the vine remains our walk with God to bring this into with some PQ in here too we don't control the seasons the controller can't change the season the hyperachiever can't push winter into spring the stickler can't do anything hypervigilant can't worry about restless all the saboteurs do not control the seasons but I noticed a common theme here amongst us and this is what I've been saying God is working in us and through us surrender shedding pruning run out of gas in between seasons summer was winter for me and what is it all revealing multiplication through subtraction the kingdom principle is not to add but it is to let go Jesus broke the bread before it was multiplied He blessed the fish before it was multiplied They ran out of wine before he could multiply the wine So where do you see Yeah yeah that's it where do you see the invitation to let go whatever season you're in where do you see that invitation to let go and trust I think each season that we find ourselves in represents the invitation I don't think the season matters if we look at the idea of the tree or the vine the most important thing I feel is to remember to stay rooted to stay rooted to stay anchored to be rooted in Christ all the rest is like wind blowing all around us it's like maybe a hurricane it doesn't matter it's what's happening outside of us in the environment but we are called as believers to rise above the situation the circumstances to rise above the environment in which we're in order to do this we can't just operate with our physical senses I feel that I am called to be reminded continually to use my spiritual sense to take in information and the most important thing that gets me through whatever season of life is in front of me because honestly my seasons could be changing in a day within 24 hours I have to remember that there's an anchor for my soul Hebrews speaks about that. I think it's Hebrews 6 there's an anchor for my soul and there are verses if we look up to be rooted to be rooted in Christ to step outside of what's happening around us and to dial inward and when dialing inward I think of not so much rehashing my own thoughts but being reminded of what God says about the situation what God says about my future and the path ahead of me. These are the things that come up as you share in this session thank you.

Letting Go Beyond Saboteur Control

SPEAKER_04 40:54

Thank you Marie anyone else I'd like to say something there is also a scenario as we are all coaches that I think is very important for us to assess and to know I think I've told you guys before I have a small nonprofit it's a very simple thing but I've been working with a homeless couple and dealing with you know we have our seasons but when we're coaching people we have to assess their seasons and assessing their seasons and helping them you know embrace the Lord especially in that winter season has been a big part of me working with them and knowing that this is just a very challenging situation. These are young people lots of kids involved it's a very challenging season to see that and to understand that whoever God puts in front of us is also part of our season because we're coaches. We're not just talking about ourselves and a lot of things we actually have other people that we're working with and God puts in front of us through our referrals or through speaking engagements or whatever it is. And we need to really I think embrace this understanding that people are in all different seasons and this is how we can help them in assessing that God is a part of all of it.

SPEAKER_07 42:26

Dr Leah you have no idea what you just did and every every time we come together Steph and I were just talking about this that the the visible presence of God manifests every time because the next question was in what ways can God use the season we are in to meet people he leads to us in their season this is never just about us. He's using us around the globe and I just pray that we have the eyes to see and ears to hear what God is saying to us. And if you if you didn't listen to it go back like six months ago and the question was is how do we invite Christ into our practice it wasn't me it wasn't us the gardener wants the practice drying up what is that a sign of it's ready it's ready for the supernatural notice in the contemplation it was the word I used let me get it I want it I don't want to mess this up and this is such a sweet moment right here talked about where are you your calling your work your inner life and I believe if you're here coaching is no longer something you do a coach is who you are it is a calling it is coming from within you now and your external self thank you Louis for sharing it the successful self is being challenged to live in the calling to trust that sustaining comes from God. That purpose comes from God.

Bringing God Into Coaching Practice

SPEAKER_07 45:02

I'm gonna do something different here and if you have something else you want to share I want to read some verses because I believe whoever's gonna whoever's you here we need this but also there's so much more in what is not being Said. And Steph and I, before we got on, we were talking about this is our church. We were going to church today, and we share how we come here, and it's such an amazing experience with God every time we come together globally. And we have never physically met, but yet God has drawn us together virtually. And we are one in spirit. We are one in Christ. So I want to read some verses here. And I pray that you take these verses with you and just let them permeate you and let them sit in you. Because all of these verses are talking about the saboteurs, but yet they're saying the saboteurs, oh, let me put it this way: John said darkness attempts to overcome the light. Saboteurs attempt to overcome the sage. But the sage wins, the light wins. So every one of these verses, I want you to see how God is answering and showing you exactly where you are. And I love what Marie said. We don't control the seasons. We can go to winter, spring, summer, and fall in a day, or we can be in winter for years. But we're rooted, and that can never be taken away from us. So Ephesians, this is the prayer that Paul prayed to the Church of Ephesus. He said, I keep asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better, you may know the gardener better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the gardener has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparable great power for us who believe. Now I'm gonna read First Corinthians. That was Ephesians chapter one, verse seventeen through nineteen. Okay, thank you. And now I'm gonna read first Corinthians chapter ten verse thirteen for you. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind, and God the gardener is faithful. He will not allow you the branches to be tempted beyond what you can bear. But know branches, when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it or the season. Now I'm gonna read from Isaiah fifty-five. I'm gonna read from verse eight. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts, as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish and yield so that it yields seed to the sower and bread for the eater. So is my word that goes out of my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. One more. Ephesians chapter three, and this is Paul's second prayer in Ephesians, and I'm going to read the whole prayer for you. He says, For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lord's holy people to grasp how wide, how long, how high, and how deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

SPEAKER_09 52:29

Amen.

SPEAKER_07 52:35

Please allow those words to go with you today. And know this that he who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it. And all things, that in all things, God, the gardener, works together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes. So I'm gonna be as bold as to say, enjoy your season. Enjoy right where you are, rest in that. This is different today, so we just gotta go with it. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 53:36

One thing that really struck me is when you were reading about how the rain and the snow comes down from heaven and it covers all the seasons.

SPEAKER_08 53:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 53:48

Whether whatever season you're in, you're being watered.

SPEAKER_09 53:54

Wow. Thank you for connecting.

When A Secular Tool Becomes Sacred

SPEAKER_07 54:08

I mean, you guys are so special to me. I don't I don't think you when God put me here with you. Oh my goodness, this is crazy how beautiful this is. I don't know where my life would be without this group in PQ. I most people don't understand this. Yes, it is a secular tool, but God used that tool to remove the blinders from my eyes, like Paul, that I may see and know that he is God over everything. And I pray that the tool becomes sacred, and the way it becomes sacred is you invite the father, the gardener, into the use of the tool.

SPEAKER_09 55:15

I'm not the same.

SPEAKER_07 55:19

I don't, I I I can't, and I and the thing about it is, is when you get to that place, and Luz, I would love to talk to you more individually, but when you get to that place where you can't explain what's happening, it's God, and God is working in such a way, Marie said it, I just talked about it. When God works on the root system, no one can claim it. But you must understand the roots determine the fruit and the shredding away and the surrendering, all that is God working beyond what we could ask, think, or even imagine. Let it go and allow God to be God in your lives. Allow God to be God in your coaching practice, in your career, in your family, in your marriage, in your neighborhood, in your church, wherever he's calling you, wherever he has planted you. Allow God to be God and the gardener. And watch and see that his word will not return to him void, not us, but to him void. I agape you. And I thank you for for just trusting God every time you come here. And I know that there's something greater going on, and the more of us that understand that, you'll see change. It's happening all around us, and he's connected us for a reason. And let's hold true to that. So thank you.

SPEAKER_06 57:24

I know I've gone over, but may I

The Ivy That Slowly Suffocates

SPEAKER_06 57:27

add something? I'm sorry, I shouldn't. Oh no, please, just only because I have the trees in front of me and I'm looking while we discussing this today. I had ivy around one of my Japanese maple, and I can say that I allowed the ivy to crawl up and it was suffocating the tree. And I feel like when we allow other things to permeate us and our thoughts and our heart, it will suffocate that vine and gardener. It will, you know, it's it's the enemy, of course, but I almost felt like what was speaking to me was I was allowing things from this world to suffocate that beauty around a tree that normally would be orange and blue, beautiful. That ivy was suffocating it, and it really came out like what was I doing to that source, the vine, but allowing it to not blossom within. So I'm sorry if that's it.

SPEAKER_07 58:36

Oh no. I I just hope you all understand this. Here's the thing I want you to get out of this. Oh my goodness. Those that ivory had been wrapping itself around that tree for a while. And it was okay until this season that you were able to recognize it, until the eyes of your understanding were enlightened. So that's a perfect way to end this one.