WE INTERRUPT YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING FOR THIS SPECIAL REPORT: NORTH DAKOTA JUST REPORTED IN!!! ALL 50 STATES, GIRL FRIENDS! ALL 50 STATES! YAHOO-JAH!
(Siestas: Remember that your comments to this post are meant to FOLLOW your Tuesday gathering so that you can tell us a little bit about your time together. This will be our format for dialogue on our Tuesday Bible study days. Can’t wait to hear from you!)
Welcome to our first Tuesday Siesta Summer Bible Study! I hope so much you were able to view the video greeting I did for you because it has lots of information about our Siesta Summer Bible Study. Rough as it is, it comes with lots of love! I promised to put your instructions for your gatherings today in writing in case, as usual, I talked too fast for you to follow on video. You have only two assignments for your first meeting:
A. Please share what you perceive to be your biggest challenge toward walking victoriously with God this summer. House full of children? Heavy work load? Difficult season emotionally? Just had your heart broken? Just feel far from God? Whatever it may be, share it with your small group and take some time to pray for one another in your meeting today. Also, intercede accordingly toward your sister’s need for the duration of the study.
B. Turn to Jude 1:24,25 and read your summer Bible study memory verse-segment. (Oh, yes, you can memorize!!! You just have to learn how to make fun associations that make it memorable!) This is our only memory segment all summer so it’s very doable. Spend most of your gathering time thinking of ways as a small group to memorize it. Get creative! You can make up hand motions or actions to go with it – anything fun, clever, or meaningful to make it easier to memorize. If you think you did a really great or funny job with it, here’s what you do! Fine tune it over the next four or five days then video tape it with all your siestas in mind. Save it to your computer then email it to us using the following instructions:
1. Recording should be on a digital camera with a SD card.
2. With the SD card in your computer, go to www.senduit.com.
3. At the senduit web site click browse and select the video file name (note: file
cannot exceed 100MB).
4. Next (at the senduit web site) select the “Expire” option for 1 week.
5. Click “upload.”
6. When the file is finished uploading Senduit will give a location message and the option to email this information.
7. Select the email option and send to [email protected].
Remember, this will be Jude 1:24-25 (spoken or on power point) on tape with actions that help the viewer memorize it. The video can be no longer than two minutes in length but you probably won’t need nearly that much time anyway. Our LPM staff and I will judge all the entries and choose a Grand Prize Winner. The Grand Prize Winning video will be shown on our blog in two weeks for our second Siesta Bible Study gathering. In addition, the Grand Prize Winning Group (or individual) will receive a care-package that I will prepare personally and send to your location with about ten tons of love. I’m clapping right now like a five-year-old. I love contests!!! Surely we have a few competitors out there! Put that competitive spirit to good use and help your Siestas memorize some Scripture!
Y’all are so fun. Totally jazzed to be in the Word with you this summer. Have a blast with Jesus!
Last night, 9 out of our 10 girls met and started by eating the enchilada and dip, with watermelon for dessert. I was going to make the fresco too–but ran out of time!
Great discussion–especially since not everyone knew each other before.
Ended the study, listening to a song–Third Day’s–Love Song just to remember that when we give up our idols–we are not really giving anything up–How can we not trust Him?
We have 100+ siestas that have visited/posted in our “Siestas for Him” delphi forum. As I’ve read over their challenges I’ve realized that so many of us are hurting in so many areas of our lives. BUT, the good news is that we’re still trying to cling to God in the midst of it all. Praise Him! The challenges all of us face run across the spectrum, for sure. Some have addictions, some are struggling financially, some are grieving over the loss of someone special in their lives, some have trouble staying focused and finding time to spend with God, some are dealing with illness and physical pain,some just are lonely. The list could go on and on. We’re praying for one another. We also plan to have our chats on Tuesday nights beginning next week, as we have just got that part of our forum up and going. If there are any solo siestas out there that wanted to partner and I somehow missed your name when I was pulling the e-mail addresses to contact about this forum, please forgive me and know that if you have nowhere else to go or study with, you are perfectly welcome to come study with us. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Blessings to you all.
Rebecca in AL
We met on Wednesday with a group of 10 ladies in the morning and a group of 7 ladies that evening. We did some house cleaning items first and then discussed our concerns for the summer. This led us into our prayer time and then we spent the rest of the time looking at Jude 24-25. There is one lady in our morning group who does sign language, so with her help we are putting a few actions to our verse.
We are all looking forward to this study and staying in God’s word!
Blessings,
BBG (Bridgewater Baptist Gals)
Hey all! We will always be a few days behind as we meet on Thursdays. We realized that all our obstacles are so valid and truly overwhelming. That said, we are SO grateful that OUR GOD IS BIGGER! We had an awesome time praying together (something some of us are terrified to do) and God really came through. So glad He always does! This study promises to be life altering. Amen!
We are not trying to be contrary but our group is meeting on Thurs. evenings and we are only serving desserts. This is easier for those women who need to get their own families squared away. I served So papilla Cheesecake which everyone loved. The common theme running through our discussion was the busyness we all find ourselves in and prioritizing the best from the good. We’re working on our video. Can we plead for 2 weeks for submission? 🙂
Well, our 3-lady group here in San Diego meets on Thursdays as we are busy on Tuesdays…I promise we didn’t peek at the video or the discussion questions beforehand! It turns out the bookstore here ordered us the “book book” not the “workbook” so we will reorder and then be scrambling to finish our homework by the next meeting 🙂 (A labor of love). But God knew that, and gave us the time to get to know each other and the challenges we are facing this summer…we know God’s up to something putting us together! Excited to share this summer with our siestas around the WORLD!
the thing i got most out of the first session/first day’s homework:
i have a lot of little idols, and they’re things that aren’t bad in themselves- like facebook, or finding pretty dresses- but they’re things i care about too much, or give too much of my time and attention too.
i want Jesus to be my God to fill every need, and that’s not where i am right now.
I just ordered the book today. It is on back order. I will be joining the study. Hopefully (since I am running a bit behind) the book will be here by the time I need to get to week 2.
So here goes:
Heather
Mosinee, WI
solo
Biggest challenge to walking victorious with God this summer?
Probably fighting through depression and anxiety, and all the negative thoughts associated with that. As I am pursuing healing (and God is doing some major work) the enemy is pressing in, trying to keep me trapped. I am a mom of two (ages 2 and 4) so they keep me busy, and I get so introspective as I try to work through issues, it is a challenge to be a good mom, much less a good wife. My biggest thing right now, is i have a lot of head knowledge, and know all the right things, it is applying them in my life, and getting the truth into my heart.
God bless, and I am so glad to join.
Heather
Okay, sorry it took so long for me to do this. Our first meeting was great. It was just 2 of us, but we had a good conversation. Loved the enchiladas and we even discussed my problem with memorizing. We decided since we have all summer to do it we’re going to memorize it in sections. Right now all we’re memorizing for next time is “To Him who is able to keep us from falling”. We’re not even looking at the rest of the verse yet. Just that first part and we’ll add to as we get each part memorized. By the way, I just typed that from memory. I’m not looking at my bible at all. I hope I got it right. Hopefully next time, my friend Mendi will be able to join us.
Wooohooo! We are rockin this summer bible study! Our enchiladas were amazing and God is good. We had four ladies in my home and I can’t wait till we meet again. We are working on our memory verse video…
Deena
Loveland, Colorado
Our group of three met last night after a day at the pool with our kids. An 87-degree day (a scorcher for us MN girls!) and thoughts of swimsuits inspired us to change to a lighter fare with no cooking (chicken/dry cherry/water chestnut pitas and fruit), but we look forward to sharing in the common meal in weeks to come.
Our biggest challenges this summer: fear of submitting to God’s work in rooting out idols; fear of going through the study without being changed. We want and need God to do a big work in us -for our freedom and joy, for our families/children’s sake, and for His glory. We are praying He will.
Linda
I’m sorry for the extra post, but as I sit here in the early hours of Saturday morning, jetlagged from a long flight and feeling very tender (notwithstanding overtired) I felt compelled to sign on and let out what’s been sitting heavy on my heart. As I read Kelly’s introductory chapters on our work book, these words struck a deep chord: “God I worship, but to other gods I give my service” (this may not be an exact quote, but you get the gist…). Well, this is exactly it. I feel like such a hypocrite sometimes, pledging my worship to our Father and, yet, dedicating almost the entirety of my daily life to satisfying my own selfish desires and pleasures. It has become glaringly clear that I haven’t really made ANY effort to clearing house of my high places so that God can pour into EVERY facet , every pore of my life. I *still* allow an inordinate amount of time and “devotion” to my addictive behavior and yet I dare myself to call a follower of Christ??
thank you for letting me pour this out onto this blog Siesta Beth! I could NOT hold it in!
maria cristina
295 comments — probably no one will read this and laugh with me. But, I have a great idea that I think it came from God into my brain for the video. HOWEVER, #2 directions lost me for I don’t know where to put an SD card in the computer—uh oh…I think I can do the rest but #2 got me. So, you won’t see my priceless video that I have so enjoyed thinking about—I’m so competitive. I am so laughing over here. Any alternatives for #2???
Three of us gals in Texas met on Friday night (books finally came) at mi casa around the dining table. We are usually leading studies and are sooo pumped to be ‘in the class’ for a change. The food, fun and fellowship was awesome.
We invited the Lord’s prescence to come be with us and to deep clean our hearts. At the end of our time together and closing prayer, Debbie looked at the one empty chair in our circle at the table and said, “He’s here and that chair is His!”
Can you feel it! He’s here!
(I cannot bel’v I’m actually commenting on your blog, Beth! It’s always seemed like you were so far off. Now all of a sudden we are on the same pages at the same time!!! Whoa! And with one click you could cross over into my world and the dailyness of my blog???)
Hi! Rebekah and Liz from San Diego checking in. We just met Friday. Our meetings times will vary somewhat over the summer.
Our biggest challenges this summer: 1) desiring a clean and organized house more than spending time in God’s Word sometimes. 2) Not making His Word enough of a priority and having the sin of unbelief when it comes to how wonderful and important it is to be in the Word.
Our highlights for the week were from days 1 and 5. We discussed the concept of idols being things we “have our heart set on,” and what those were for us and finally making sure we’re not spending our days and lives on “worthless” things and thus, becoming worthless ourselves.
Lastly, I also did Breaking Free week 1 this Wed. with my church group and after watching the video, I’ve been praying for myself and for you, Beth, that God would make us thirsty for His Word- whatever it takes- (since you ask us to pray that for you during the video session)and that we would indeed be the apple of His eye!
Love,
Rebekah
I would love to join this study with all you siestas; however, there’s this pesky ‘lil thing called the Atlantic Ocean that keeps getting in the way of receiving things in a timely manner. So, I’m praying for each of you as you grow in God’s Word and experience Him in a fresh new way. After Lifeway restocks from all you Siestas crashing their website, after I order the book to be sent to a friend, and after that friend mails it to me (along with some bacon and peanut butter), I should start the study 6 months from now. By the time I get it, all 4 kids will be back in school (with my baby going to kindergarten, waaaah!), so it will be good timing! Keep on, siestas!
Lisa
Turkey
(My last name is not Turkey. I live in Turkey, although I’m a Kentucky girl at heart.)
Hey Beth and crew,
I was thinking about the study this weekend, asking God to show me where there might be an idol, and He conveyed to me that I tend to make physical comfort and comfortable circumstances an idol when I want that more than I want HIS glory or His will for me (essentially, I tend to try to make my life painless)but that should not be my goal. Where is the glory to God in that? God can put people in situations where everyone around them knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the fact that they are in their right mind, and not only that, glorifying God with their victorious life via the filling of the Holy Spirit means that it could only be HIM, not that person:) Thank God for laying it on your heart, Spiritual Mom Beth to facilitate this!:)
Also: (real quick); 1)my lifegroup “laid hands” on my belly (the ladies anyway) this morning and prayed for me with my fertility treatments:) I was sooo blessed:)2)one of the girls in this study told me she was pregnant with her third child this weekend-I am TRULY happy for her!:) GOD IS GOOD!:)
Love you Spiritual Mom Beth and LPM! (sorry for long post:)
katiegfromtennesse
Just getting done with our study
we did it on skype, 3 daughter and mom
and all we can say is awesome
it what great
and good time of sharing and ready to get into this study
Thanks Beth. ANd Happy Birthday too! I cannot wait to get started on this! My love for God’s word is growing deeper and deeper each day and I love to do bible studies and I am excited to be a part of what God is doing and cannot wait to see what it is!
Love you all, Sacha
My sisters, mom and I met for our first meeting yesterday afternoon. I promised myself I would not cry, but as I thanked them for coming to my house and being opened to do the study with me, I started to get teary eyed. But it turned out great.
My 9 year old niece stepped in as our “waitress” and served us. We are in California and it has been toasty here, so we had all kinds of fruit. It was good, especially the chocolate fondue.
My family has not done a Bible study together since we were young and my sisters are now married, and all three husbands are in full time ministry. So it is hard, they are always busy. Ok, we had a great time praying.
Looking forward to our next get together, which will be this Saturday (we are meeting for breakfast) as we won’t be able to meet in two weeks due to vacations.
WE are all excited and most of our struggles are around work and family and my mom’s health. I could definetely already see God’s hand in our lives through our prayer time. It was awesome.
Nuvia in CA
Beth, can you post our questions for our next study before July 1st? I thought I asked just in case there are others who are also going ahead due to vacations and others, thanks!
Our Tuesday night 6/17 “Launch” here in Jacksonville,FL was so fun! There were 10 of us eating around the table with candles and rose petals…but most importantly with Jesus. We bonded and shared basics about ourselves, and then we moved into the Living Room, where we shared our challenges. I believe this summer study will be healing and edifying as we focus on our one true God. Thank you for letting God use you to lead us to this study!
We had a great first meeting. Only six of us could be there, though we’re going to have 14 altogether. We had dinner, then made journals by covering cheap composition books with cute scrapbooking paper and embelishments. We made extras for the ladies who couldn’t be there. It was really fun!
I am loving this study! I was going solo, but thankfully found someone to partner with (thanks to the comments on your sign-up post) via email. I am so excited to get to know her and even more excited to study God’s Word with her! Thanks so much for recommending this study! It is just what God wants me to hear right now!
Had a great first meeting together. We had the enchiladas and the queso. Both were delicious. I also made quacamole. Yum!!! Everybody shared openly their own personal struggles for walking victoriously with God. So looking forward to getting together next time and really getting started with the study. It is a privilege to be doing this with all of you!
Our small group met today! We had such a great conversation on what our difficulties may be. The biggest challenge for us seems to be our tweens/teens and the unexpected curve balls. We are in the trenches together and are excited about what God is going to do in our hearts through this study. We met in the second story of our local grocery store in Williamsburg,Va….what a great set up for us to buy the ingredients for the yummy new recipes.
Thank you for encouraging us to be in God’s Word this summer together!
Michelle
Hello – We met for the first time today and enjoyed the chicken mexican dish. It was a big hit. We are still waiting on one of our books but we were able to decided that brain clutter was our biggest obsticle with the next one being perfectionism – regarding our walk with God and our study of his words. It was a great day and we are looking forward to the next meeting.
Thanks
Kelli in Colorado
Just checking in! (Sorry we are late–we had Bible school last week so we are getting started today.) We had a great first meeting with 12 here and 6 more who want to come! We didn’t get too creative with the memory verse, but we had a good prayer time! Can’t wait to dive in! Oh and yummy enchiladas!
Love the video! Go flip-flops. I love sparkly too. The five of us met yesterday and had a wonderful time. Some meeting the 1st time and putting faces with the names and some meeting after a long break. Tuesday night bible study broke up because beloved teacher moved away. 🙁 So this is wonderful. The subject is something that’s been tickling my mind and spirit to deal with for a long time. Now we can get to work with these tools. So looking forward to it.
We finally got started last night! Because of vacation, we will be a little behind everyone else but we are still meeting, just on the Mondays after the usual Tues. meetings. We have a small group of 5. We’ve done studies together before, but in too big a group to really get to know each other well so I’m looking forward to really getting to know these ladies and learning from them. The two biggest challenges to walking victoriously with God were food and “busy”ness. Thank you Beth for starting this study, we are all ready for it!!!
Elaine
Poplar Bluff, MO
We spent most of our time together (over 2 hours!) getting to know each other. However, our almost unanimous response for our biggest challenge is that we are CONTROL freaks over our kids, schedules, work, and, yes, even God. We want the control over what happens…
Melissa, the recipes were so scrumptious and perfect for a first get together! We munched on the queso for all 2 hours. I do admit I “lightened up” the recipes as I just couldn’t do that to my friends who are always watching their weight.
New Palestine IN, 9 showed up to our study and we had a wonderful time. We are expecting 2 more next Tuesday. We just love the study! I made the enchilada, dip, and butterfinger cake the night before, turn out great and easy for the day of. We all shared our obstacles but it boiled down to focus on Christ. If you get our video you will see 4 of our group practicing Jude 24-25. We may not have found the easiest way but we sure won’t forget it once we have memorized it. Thanks Beth for all you do.
PS We are the ones in the pink women’s room.
I just got my book and I did all of the first session today (6/24/08). I could not put it down. AWESOME!!!!!! I can’t wait for the next session.
Praise God!!!!
Great first meeting. Four out of six able to make it. We all have young children home for the summer–so not having a routine for a few months is our biggest struggle. (But we aren’t complaining because we love having them home!!)
Thanks for organizing this for us–perfect for the summer!
Our group of five met last Tuesday evening and we thoroughly enjoyed the common meal recipes Melissa gave us. We laughed, shared and prayed together. We are all really looking forward to this study. The first week of daily lessons has been great.
We meet again on July 1st and will have a sixth lady to join us.
Thanks for the opportunity you have given us to study together.
Carol G.
Rome, GA
Rockford Illinois Youth Leaders:
Four out of five girls in attendance. We are all excited to be at a place where we can be open and vulnerable about our own struggles. So often, we spend our time dealing with the problems of our students and neglect to share our burdens.
We each shared specific areas of struggle for the summer and then said . . . I can’t believe I just shared that! We talked about how it is a good thing to bring our sin and our struggles into the light. We talked through the memory verse and are going to work on verse 24 for next week.
Additional random thoughts: full moons cause weird things to happen in nursing homes, hospitals and libraries; God and time; 20 minutes on an elliptical can cause soreness for up to 3 days; why God will wipe the tears from our eyes; bitterness is destructive; celery does indeed have a smell; you need to cook a chicken before tearing the meat off the bones.
We had our first meeting tonight (3of the 4). It was wonderful! So good to study and share from the heart with other ladies. After our prayer, talking, study time we enjoyed the Butterfinger Cake and a nice long soak in the hot tub. It is so exciting to look forward to what God has for each of us in this study!
Our group met this past Monday (due to schedules we will meet the Monday after everyone else does…but we excited nonetheless!
We discussed our obstacles with living vistoriously with God to be mostly time based and the need to set a priority to spend the time we need to with Him. We also looked over the memorization scriptures.
Looking forward to our time together, Dana
Ok, Gulf Breeze, FL is signing on to have a blast studying this summer! I’m solo for today, but hope to add a buddy as soon as she gets back in town…I’m heading to Deeper Still on Fri. and am expecting a mighty word and some powerful praisin! I’m starting my bible study right now!
Our group here in Fl started a week late because of prior commitments last week but we will get back on track this Tuesday.
The three of us have never done a bible study together so we talked a lot to just get to know each other better. Just like many of the ladies here our biggest obstacle seems to be the busy-ness of our lives. We had started week one so we also discussed “idols”. How this study is really making us realize all the idols we have in our lives.
We also read the Jude verses and thought of fun ways to memorize it. We won’t be able to get together again until this Tuesday and will record it then. It will probably be to late for the contest but that is okay. We still want to show you all what we came up with. Since we are homeschooling Mommies- we plan on learning it as we teach it to all the kiddies this week. Besides they will be much cuter on camera than we would be HA!
Cara
Hey! Just reporting in from Charlestown, Indiana. We had our first meeting last night (a week late!). It looks like there will be six of us participating in the study total. We ate the enchilada casserole, a yummy salsa, and we used the sopapilla cheesecake recipe (posted a little while ago) for dessert. We so enjoyed that time of fellowship. We also had lots of fun trying to come up with ways to memorize the Scripture verse. Someone thought of the Faultless spray starch to help us remember that word in the verse. This was such a great way to get to learn about the creative side in others! We are all looking forward to the study.
We were a week late starting our study, but are going to play catch-up this week so we can be on track with the rest of the Siestas by next week. Our little group (3 of us) met this morning and are psyched to get started! Our main obstacles to doing the study were all time related. We are just praying to be faithful in making daily time to spend with the study.
I didn’t make the enchiladas because we met in the a.m., but next time we decided to go for it and eat what everyone else is having even if it is more of a “lunch” thing! 🙂 Can’t wait!
We know God is going to have a lot to say to us through this study!
I have come to this late but I think God sent me here out of my current circumstances…so I am going to be a ‘solo’ and I will check out the group that Rebecca posted
Beth, I love you Siesta, just watching the video reminded me of all my Siestas out there….!
I am a Brit living in America (Mass.) so if any ‘solos’ in England see this, please feel free to email me at [email protected]
Hi Beth,
I know this is late; but we just met on Sunday evening; my 2 girls and me. What a blast this going to be. My daughter in law called me today asking how I was doing memorizing “THE VERSE”…I told her I almost had the first sentence and then totally messed it up as I was trying to recite it. I emailed “THE VERSE” to JoJo and Heidi to encourage them; but I need the encouragement.
We talked about our distractions for doing Bible study this summer and Heidi is stubbornly hanging on to some expectations that she knows she needs to let go; JoJo, my precious daughter in law has many trials in her family right now; 5 year old nephew, Tobias, just diagnosed with terminal brain cancer; Kathy, Toby’s mom and the rest of the family are not saved; JoJo’s other sister, moved in with her 3 kids to get away from a very abusive relationship and JoJo and my son want to have another baby and it’s not happening; please pray for them; they are trusting God, but she knows her faith is being tested. I have had a very stressful work situation that seems to be getting better but I’m afraid to get my hopes up.
JoJo told me today that she is loving this study; she’s a fairly new Christian and has attempted a couple of your studies and they have just been over her head. Thank you for recommending this and walking us through the study this summer.
Ruined for Him,
Joni AKA Grammy & 49 year old bridesmaid; in August; in San Antonio…can’t wait!
We had our first get together on June 24th and it was a rare sunny day in England so we sat in my garden. As it was too early in the day for enchiladas (and we’re in the UK and cannot get half the ingredients mentioned ) we improvised with lemon poppy seed muffins and yummy strawberries.
Most in our group agree that our never ending list of things to do presents a challenge and we all wonder if we will ever get to the point where we learn to put time with Him at the top of that list every single day! Why do we STILL need to be constantly reminded of this ??? We are frustrated and continually amazed at how quickly we lose our focus and our good intentions go awry. This is one of the reasons we’re so happy to have a summer study.
Six of our group of 10 made it to the first meeting and we’re looking forward to digging in!
Blessings til next time…
Our group of moms from a large public high school met last night for the first time. We had five of our eight members present and know that because of vacations we will be missing someone each week. But knowing you can check in with the blog if you are out of town is pretty cool.
One of our members suggested we call ourselves the “SEMPER GUMBYS” or “ALWAYS FLEXIBLES” which is their family motto and undoubtedly applies to a number of Siestas on this board.
Though we were all acquainted, this was the first time we had been in a group together and I could feel the grace of God settling as we sat down out on the back deck.
Our challenges are significant–one has a 21 year old son just finishing radiation and chemo after removal of a malignant brain tumor. She will need to stand and believe as they wait on results now that treatment is done. One has a daughter now hospitalized in Houston for treatment of a serious mental health issue who desires to believe for healing and joy in the midst of darkness. Her hand was held while she was talking and weeping by a woman she didn’t know before, whose daughter was hospitalized at the same age for bi-polar issues…and who is now headed to graduate school. Her challenge is a husband who is also struggling with cognitive/mental health issues which have emerged following recovery from a heart attack when he was “dead” for five minutes. Wisdom and healing is needed for them. One of our number was an unexpected pastor’s wife for 7 years when her businessman husband left his corporate job and became a worship director. The demands on both of them were so great that she became burnt out on programs and learned that more than anything she just wanted to “be the church” out in the world. Now they are starting a faith community as lay leaders and she wants to believe that it will be different this time as they focus on caring for people. And the fifth is in the midst of a divorce and had heard God speak clearly for two days that the fear and guilt in which she has lived for years was from “eating the seed rather than sowing it.” To which a friend responded, “Well you’ve sown plenty of seeds in my garden–you just haven’t sown in your own.” So that is her challenge.”
At the end we prayed and wept together and asked that God would meet us so that others could see us and say, “The Lord is good to them,” that we could be the seed of a harvest of community that would grow in our school.
On the way home I turned on my CD player to hear Rich Mullins singing, “My Deliverer is Coming,” and I thought, Oh yes He is.
Another from North Dakota! I plan to do this study across the miles with my 23 year old daughter in Washington, whose husband is in the Navy. Excited to get into the Word!
Kim
This is Cindy from Huntsville, AL. Let me tell you the AMAZING thing that happened to our group of ladies. We thought we would have 6 to 8 of us at our first meeting. We had 16!! Really, there were 14 Jesus Loving Ladies that arrived at our gracious hostess Renee’s home. It gets even better! We have 18 women total that will go on this journey together to find out just what God has in store for us! Yes, 18!! We decided to break up into small groups for discussion and special bonding (thank you Jesus for Renee’s large home) and come together as a big group for fun while eating, sharing, and working towards “doing whatever it takes to make room in our lives for God!” We pray that this works for all! Thank you Jesus!! Thank you!!!
Wanted to sign our group in:
4 ladies met for the first session and 3 more want to join us in Lake Charles, LA
Thank you for facilitating this study this summer!
i know we’re a few weeks late but we had to wait for one of our members to get back from the ukraine (from a mission trip).
we’re a group of 29 & 30 year olds who used to be college roommates and now all work/volunteer as staff members for a college church (at virginia tech).
we all use the summer time to refresh ourselves since the school year can get so busy with ministry. we shared our struggles together and it was a sweet time to reconnect for a group of longtime friends who rarely get the chance to spend time together with the demands of work, family & ministry.
the enchildas were amazing and we are exciting about the study. we’re going to try and do double this next week to get caught up!
better late than never! thank you!
Jumping in late due to backorder on the books, but our group of 13 are so excited to see what truths God has waiting to be revealed to us. I had completed the first week’s homework (thank you to Lifeway for making that available) and know this study is going to remove some idols that are setting themselves up against the knowledge of Christ. It’s been years since I worked through Breaking Free, but this study sounds similar in concept to that study. We discussed last night about what we perceive to be some of our biggest challenges. All the ones you mentioned were addressed and some others added. One shared that the desire sometimes isn’t there even though she knows it’s supposed to be. To address that, we discussed Proverbs 2:1-5, Psalm 25:4, Psalm 51:6, Isaiah 26:8, 1 Chronicles 28:9. I wanted to remind these sweet ladies (and myself) that anything that brings glory, honor and praise to God will not be denied by Him. Asking for more understanding, love and desire for His word is not something He will disregard! Thank you for introducing us to this study, we’re ready to remove and replace those idols with the One and Only!
Love, Amy in OK