Well it’s been a month since we hosted the Tribal DMx. I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but this past month has been pretty rough in a lot of ways.
1. Thank you to all who came and put so much effort into making this experience possible. We could not have done it without so many of you. We especially want to thank Ed and Georgette Barnard for the tremendous work and sacrifice they contributed to make this work for all.
2. Please, please, please, if you attended, add your comments to this post. A lot of people are asking us how it went. A lot of people supported the experience in prayer. So please let us know what you learned, what meant the most to you or what you took away from the Tribal DMx.
3. For me, there were a lot of highlights. It was great seeing so many good friends and family from across the decades. It was awesome to laugh and reminisce together. I got to honor Karen, Dakota, Kadin and Kasey on Thanksgiving evening and that was special to me. I have a series of posts coming called the X-Series. These are the my nerdy way of sharing how incredible my family is and how amazing life with them has been. Sharing about my family this way was my biggest highlight of the DMx.
4. We did record some of it but it was difficult as the whole thing was interactive. We will work to post some of it at some point.
PLEASE let us know your reactions/thoughts from the Tribal DMx below.
OK, I’ve tried since September to figure out what Tribal DMx means. Just plain no clue! What does that represent, please? Love Forever… Betty Short.
The tribal DMX (Disciple-Making eXperience) was awesome. I worked with Wes when I was a student in college between 2001 and 2005 and enjoyed traveling with my wife to Idaho to connect with the Coddington’s and others from our days at Langhorne Terrace (near Philadelphia).
Wes, Karen and the kids were incredibly vulnerable and transparent about how they built their family as culture (“Language informs culture” “everything is training”), how the cancer diagnosis is affecting the family and how God’s been faithful through it all.
The most significant thing to my wife and me was the significant time in prayer. We prayed alone, we prayed with people we knew well and people we never met before. We prayed through the attributes of God, prayed seeking insights from the spirit for our friends and family, and prayed through journaling. We were encouraged to pray extraordinarily for our families and friends and ministry opportunities. If we only had been praying for a couple minutes a day a few times, then praying for 10-15 minutes a couple more times is extra-ordinary.
DMX…where to begin, maybe the beginning 🙂 Flying out with my buddy John Snow and having time to talk through how the Lord had already been at work in preparing us for this trip was huge. He and I were praying prior to this trip that the Lord would be at work within us. Well, the Lord came through. Here’s a few big take aways:
1. Our Calling: A great reminder that what we are called to be doing to the glory of God is quite simple, make disciples of Jesus Christ. Over the years, I have overcomplicated this and have lost sight. Share Christ, share life, and watch as the Holy Spirt does his thing.
2. A great joy was to witness the Coddington Tribe as a unit: I really took to heart the fun, Christ saturated family culture that Wes, Karen, Dakota, Kadin and Kasey have. We had a chance to hear of that development over the years and heard some great ideas for building this kind of family culture.
3. A great reminder from Eddie and Wes that people need to discover the wonders of our God and not simply be told them. ASK GOOD QUESTIONS for people to process before the Lord, allow individuals to wrestle with the Word of God and be there to encourage their growth without feeling a need to script their growth…after all, growth is a God thing, it’s on him 🙂
4. Finally and most importantly… I discovered that Wes was a bigger X-men nerd then I remembered, and he maybe did finally confess that the Ninja Turtles would put up a heck of a fight… It’s all in the Japanese Steal 😐
Love ya brother,
A powerful week, the Lord is still stirring and at work in fresh ways because of the time at DMX. All glory to God, grateful for you, Karen and the kids in giving this Thanksgiving to the Lord and his Kingdom.
Even a month later, I’m still processing all I learned at DMx. With sessions from evangelism to practical theology to discipleship in the home, there were so many ways God spoke to my husband and I through the words of Wes and Karen, plus their family and friends. I’ve included some of my biggest takeaways below:
1. Cat vs. Dog Theology: There are ways to pray and serve at church and act generously that are still all about me and not about God. While it may not be sinful to think in these ways, it’s not how Jesus lived and it’s not the best that God has invited me into.
2. Family Culture: I loved hearing the whole Coddington tribe talk about how they built a family culture intentionally, incorporating faith and fun and communication at every step. I learned that as parents you don’t have to do things because it’s how other families operate – you can make choices based on the discernment God gives you and the specific kids He entrusts you with. I loved the rites of passage that Wes and Karen included in their kids’ upbringing as well as the treasure chest of memories and times they have seen God at work.
3. How to Ask Intentional Questions: In the 3 Relationships session, we did a workshop where we practiced listening, asking questions, and giving feedback. This session equipped me with some key tools for one-on-one discipleship and leading small groups.
Overall, we cherished Tribal DMx for the valuable learning and the time with the Coddingtons and their loved ones.
There was so much about this week that was deeply meaningful, and is continuing to have an impact on each of us individually, and as a family
Steve:
1. Time spent in prayer both individually and as a family. Dakota did a great job leading us through various ways to connect with God through prayer that were simple and straightforward, but led to profound connection to God and others that we were praying with.
2. Family culture building: It was awesome to hear from whole tribe about the things that they were intentional about doing that helped them to feel close and connected to each other, and to grow in their faith. One thing that stuck out from this is how much Wes and Karen value each of their kids as people, making sure that they have a voice in what family life looks like, and being sure to consider what each really needs from them. We’ve adopted several things, and are working on clarifying our family values.
3. I think the biggest thing, and the thing that I still am thinking through because its so big, is the idea of living passionately for the glory and “fame” of God. It was good to be reminded and challenged to consider in all situations how I can praise God, and be used by Him to help others know him, for their joy and his glory.
Tirzah:
1. One thing I know we appreciated and value so highly was seeing the generational impact of discipleship. 15 years ago Wes and Karen both discipled us as we prepared to work as youth pastors, and our time of working with them allowed us to teach and disciple 2 students (Brennen and John), who were able to connect with our daughter and make her feel heard and appreciated and encouraged while we were all together in Idaho. It was truly amazing!
2. I also loved the various ways we could connect to God together in prayer – writing prayer down in a journal, praying through the attributes of God, and listening to the specific needs of another person and praying for them. Taking time to listen to the Spirit and sharing words that we felt moved to say to our group was especially meaningful, and allowed me to realize that hearing from the Spirit is not as rarified, sparse, difficult, or quiet as I had thought it was.
3. I loved all of the information and tools we got from Eddie (NAMB) on how to lead small groups. I can’t wait to try them out!
4. Family culture is going to be a priority for us this year, and we are in the process of creating a list of family values that we can put in a prominent place in our home. We will also implement some sort of rite of passage for our daughter (turning 13 this year!), and I’ve been researching swords…
5. All of Wes’ teaching – Life on Life, The Four Words of the Gospel (humility, repentance, justice and mercy), Vision over Visibility, narrowing the decision matrix…all good. But most good is God, and giving Him the glory all the time.
6. This was a great reunion for us. Wish it hadn’t taken 15 years (for our PA group, anyway). Hope we can do this again – it was worth every minute (and every resulting case of Covid in our family).