Welcome, everybody! We are ecstatic that you are joining us for Bible study this summer! Please read the following instructions quickly but carefully then watch the video. On each of our summer Bible study posts, I’ll always write out the interactives just in case you can’t get the video to work. OK, Sisters! Here goes!
BEFORE LEAVING A COMMENT: PLEASE READ ALL WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS AND WATCH THE VIDEO IF AT ALL POSSIBLE . ALL COMMENTS ARE MEANT TO BE IN RESPONSE TO TODAY’S INTERACTIVES. Your comment today is particularly important because it also serves as your registration for the summer experience.
UNLIKE PREVIOUS YEARS, WE ARE ASKING FOR EVERYONE PARTICIPATING TO LEAVE A COMMENT RATHER THAN THE GROUP LEADER LEAVING ONE ON BEHALF OF ALL. It tended to be too confusing. Your comment to each of the 4 blog posts this summer is your interaction with us here in our blog community. (I know some of this seems redundant but we get lots of questions about these kinds of details so we’re just trying to make sure we’ve covered as much as possible.)
If you are in a SMALL GROUP: you will share your responses to all of the interactives with one another in your gathering. Then, when you come back to make your comment to this post, you will choose one of the questions to answer here. You can answer more if you desire but we are only “requiring” you to respond to one.
If you are GOING SOLO: please respond succinctly to each of the interactives. The whole community will in effect become your group and sharing your answers will be part of the activity and accountability. It will make the summer experience immensely richer for you.
ALL PARTICIPANTS identify yourselves in your comments to this post by: First Name, city, state, and country if not the USA and whether you are participating with a small group or going solo, then respond to your interactives. Here’s a sample comment for our summer Bible study to give you a paradigm:
Cheryl, Shreveport, LA/small group: #3 … (her response to the third question will be written here. Note that she is participating in a small group so, since she’s already answered each of the questions in her gathering, she only needs to respond to one here. If she’d gone solo, she’d answer all of them here.)
 1.   A fun one: What title to a popular song – from any decade you wish – best captures you right now? (It can be serious or ridiculous.)
 2.   Write one sentence describing something about your present season – your right-here-and-now – that makes it unique. Life changes constantly. What is distinct about this particular season?
 3.   In one sentence, what is one thing you wish your sisters in Christ would know about you sooner that often doesn’t come out in your relationships till later? Complete this sentence: “I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I…”
 4.   *Optional: Make a one-sentence comment regarding anything in the video devotional that resonated with you.
OK, Sisters! Have Weeks One and Two of Gideon completed by our next gathering in two weeks on June 25th! We are so happy to have you here and to serve you.Â
Summer Gideon Study 2013 from LPV on Vimeo.
Laurie, Avon CT, solo
1. While I’m Waiting by John Waller
2. I am in a season of waiting as we are approach our last IVF cycle.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ would know that I am new to Christ and this is my first on-line Bible study.
4. I am excited and hope that I see the ripening of summer fruit.
Sherry ~ Hillsboro, OR ~ solo
1. Come Holy Spirit
2. My ex-husband just passed away and I am the executor of his estate. Emotions running wild.
3. I wish my sisters knew that I have head knowledge of scripture but have a hard time folding it into my life.
KellyAnn – Tigard, OR/solo
1. “What Do I Know of Holy” – by: Addison Road
2. About to enter the Promised Land (my 3rd and last child heads to College in August), but all I want to do is go back to Egypt (motherhood is all I’ve ever wanted & now I’m scared to death of what to do with myself)!
3. I desire authenticity in relationships with others…life is too precious to be fake with each other.
4. I’m asking God for “eyes to see my fruit” & the attentiveness to watch carefully over it as it ripens….that I may reap it before my enemy tries to steal it. Thank you, Beth, for this word today.
#1- Lose To Win
#2- Direction and Spiritual Growth
#3- I have a lot of insecurities
Jo, Columbia, Missouri, solo
1. I Fear The Lord
2. Assimilate the tremendous infusion of study and learning God has blessed me with as a new Christ follower this last 2 1/4 years.
3. I want my sisters in Christ to know that I love them and need them in my life.
4. Summer, seasons, this devotional hit me in the heart, that’s where I’m at, what I’ve been struggling to wrap words around in my own mind, thank you so much.
Michelle F., Hamilton, MT; solo
1. She’s a Brick…House…(I’d like to lose some weight)
2. I’m enjoying a few weeks between our school year ending (we homeschool) and my summer job beginning – I’m not used to having down time and don’t really know what to do with it.
3. I wish others would know that while I enjoy listening to them and problem solving together that I would also like an opportunity to talk and share.
4. Lord, please help me to recognize the fruit you put into my life, and then remind me to thank you for it profusely.
Jeri in Texas.
1) Get Here by Oleta Adams
2) Grieving the loss of my best friend, lover, companion, confidant, husband of 26 years. My Life goes on but my “BONE” is gone.
3) I hide the truth about the emptiness of losing a spouse because my friends just can’t take it and I see the fear in their eyes b/ c in me they see their future.
1) Livin’ La Vida Loca!
2) This Fall, my oldest daughter starts college, my middle daughter starts high school, and my youngest daughter starts preschool!
3) “I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I struggle with fear and need lots of reassurance and encouragement.”
4) I love that God gave Beth the word Summer which can be described as the best of times and/or the worst of times depending on your point of view.
Jeri in Texas.
1) Get Here by Oleta Adams
2) Grieving the loss of my best friend, lover, companion, confidant, husband of 36 years. My Life goes on but my “BONE” is gone.
3) I hide the truth about the emptiness of losing a spouse because my friends just can’t take it and I see the fear in their eyes b/ c in me they see their future.
Ashton from Richmond Ky (Solo)
1.) Strangely Dim by Francesca Battistelli
2.) I just graduated college last month and have NO CLUE what God has in store next. I am scare, excited, anxious, etc.
3.) I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I am so hungry for personal, christ centered relationships!
Deanna, Mansfield, TX – Solo
1. Strangely Dim
2. Season of rest, recovery, and hoping to find much fruit to pick! Just finished an exhausting school year for my tweens (new school), just moved across town, husband & I both struggling with injuries. Ready for summer!
3. One thing I wish sisters in Christ could know about me sooner…although we are in a season where kids take most of my energy, I do crave authentic friendships & quality time.
Dottie/Huntsville, AL/small group
#2. At age 63, thinking a lot about the transition to retirement and what changes (good and not-so-good) that will bring.
Diane, Harker Height, TX/Small Group: I’m responding to question #1 – “What title to a popular song best captures you right now?” Mine is “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” from the Rolling Stones. 🙂
Melissa, Greensburg, KY/ solo
#1 Breathe – Michael W. Smith
#2 Learning about intercession in amazing, new ways.
#3 Even though I am a pastor’s wife, I have normal likes and dislikes.
#4 Amen! John 15:8 has so been on my heart and this devotion solidifies what God has been saying to my heart.
Christine/Arlington, TX/Going Solo
1. It feels like one of those nights.
2. I’m a newlywed who is starting a new job and we are in the process of moving to a new house that we’ll be renovating… eeekk!
3. I want my sisters in Christ to know that it’s really hard for me to trust anyone because of many hurts in my past.
4. I am so exciting about being able to harvest some summer fruits!
Teresa; Chadron, NE, solo
#1 song is “I Trust in Jesus” (Third Day)
#2 My husband and I are looking at new work challenges (opportunities?) after doing the same thing for MANY (30+) years – stressful yet exciting.
#3 I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I … care about each one of them deeply and pray for them daily.
#4 Summer can be that hot, dry season but we wouldn’t have fruit to pluck, prepare and store without it!.
Michele, Orange Park, FL/solo
1. “Restless”
2. Oldest child starting junior high, recognizing how fast the kids grow, waiting on the Lord
3. I wish my sisters in Christ new that I do not have it all together.
4. It is encouraging to hear that I have not seen my last fruit-bearing season.
Hadley Johnson – Goldsboro, NC – solo
1. Something in the Water – Brooke Fraser
2. On the brink of entering a new season of life…excited for what the Lord has planned for us!
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I long for deeper friendships to truly hold each other accountable in.
Amy S. Meredith, NH small family group
1. Blessings by Laura Story
2. Struggling with the purpose to my illness.
3. I wish my Christian sisters would know that I struggle opening up but really value close friendships once I feel comfortable opening up.
1. I’m Not Crazy- Matchbox 20 🙂
2. I have a teenage daughter that will be starting to high school this year.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I have doubts/questions about lots of things in my faith right now.
4. I need to ask for God to give me recognition of the fruit – to enlighten my eyes so that I can see it.
Laura, Prattville/AL, solo #1 Fighter,
#2 My current season is one of preparation – all 3 kids finally in school, maybe going back to work, trying to finally ‘manage’ my house properly – really a “what next/now?”
#3 I wish my sisters in Christ knew that my life is NOT perfect, but I am trying so hard to do all that God wants me to do.
#4 thank you thank you for reminding me that during the dry hot season is when the fruit grows! I remember in our study of James you told us how the rain has to stop for the fruit to grow – this is where I am today!
Trish McAllister, Holton, KS, Solo
#1 My song is Free to be Me by Frncesca Battistelli – Not just for the title, but for the words to the entire song.
#2 I am in a season of adaptation. I am a new grandmother, but not by choice. My 19 year old unmarried daughter just had her SECOND child. The oldest is 2 and I am just now warming up to the idea of being a grandmother. This has taken much prayer, but God has warmed my heart to those babies. We serve an amazing God.
#3 I wish my sisters in Christ new I still really struggle with self esteem issues.
#4 I have been praying for a change in employment. I am not happy where I am, and I know that is my fruit for the summer.
#2 This is last summer before we become empty nesters.
Debbie, Olathe, KS, Solo
1. “Words” by Hawk Nelson
2. What is unique about this season is we are empty nesters and enjoying grandchildren.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew how the Lord Jesus and His Word are everything to me.
4. Encouraging video, thanks Beth, loved the part from Jeremiah 40:10 and how it’s so easy to forget what God has done for us and how we need to store this “fruit” in our memory.
Heather, Mt Pleasant, SC,
1. “Patience”: Guns ‘n Roses as much as iTunes sample plays. MORE:
“Not for a Moment”: Meredith Andrews w/ Vertical Church.
2. This week 2 second showings of home I homeschooled our 4, lost beloved dog, married off eldest & brought 1st grandson home as newborn. LOTS of memories. Downsizing to flat for two.
Must do this as we prepare for retirement/debt free. My heart says no but we must.
3. I would liken sisters in Christ to know how much I care about them, pray for them & hold anything said in confidence.
4. Summer is time for harvest. Let it be so, Lord.
Missy S, Winston-Salem, NC (Soon to be Chapel Hill, NC)/solo
#1 – Alabama, “I’m In a Hurry” (see #2)
#2 – In transition – my husband and I are moving in about 2 weeks because he will be starting grad school, and I will be the primary breadwinner for a few years. Aah!
#3 – I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I have a goofy side that is often obscured by my more serious side, at first.
#4 – The whole thing! – but specifically, I am praying that this summer God would teach me to recognize “my banana,” haha!
Laurie; Chester MD; small group
1. Forgiveness by Matthew West
2. Empty nest waiting for Gods direction.
Whitney, Nashville, TN/small group: #2 What makes this season unique is that I am a mom to a 10 month old baby boy, adjusting to living in a city that I love – after living in another city for the past two years – learning how to balance time with the Lord, loving and serving my husband, my baby, time with friends, and still taking care of myself!
Denise, Canton, MI/Solo:#1 “Right Beside You” Building 429; #2 Teenage boy in the house…how can baseball, summer concerts, camp and driver’s ed. schedule up a summer so fast?; #3 “I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I struggle with depression and insecurity; without God’s Word I would really be a mess!; #4 I’ve been feeling spiritually dry…and I’m looking forward to the rain of God’s Word and some summer fruit…Lord, give me eyes to see!
Tensie Palmer, Los Angeles, California / solo
1. “You Are My Sunshine”
2. My youngest daughter is going to be a high school senior.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I don’t have a perfect life and that I am insecure.
4. Summer still comes! God HAS brought fruit in my life!
Thank you for bringing God’s Word freshly into my life Beth.
Jill H., Aurora, IL
1. Blessings by Laura Storey
2. This is a season of change for my family with Grandpa dying, having to take care of my family and driving 3.5 miles to take care of Grandma who is 94 with Alzheimers, and asking for God’s protection over my marriage.
3. I wish my friends knew that I long for deeper relationships but don’t know how to fit everything into this season.
4. Since Grandpa’s death, and taking care of my Gram, we all have been saying that this is for a season and there is always going to be change in life — looking forward to God giving me the eyes to see the ripening of the fruit that will be ready for picking.
Oops, I meant 3.5 hours.
Valerie, Birmingham, AL – Solo
1. Running on Empty by Jackson Brown
2. I am in a season of new beginnings, beginning a new business and beginning a weight loss/getting healthy program.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I am naturally shy and that it is hard for me to interact with people I do not know.
Mandy, Birmingham, AL – Solo
#1 – “Courageous” by Casting Crowns
#2 – I am in a season of trying to figure out my role as a stepmom and really trying to work on my anger and irritations of those little things that in the big scheme of things, really don’t matter.
#3 – That while I keep it together on together on the outside, sometimes I am really struggling on the inside.
1. Stop in the name of love
2. This season is unique because of all the losses among family & friends.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew how much I want to be obedient to Jesus.
4. Don’t just consume the fruit of my summer for my own benefit but turn it out to be used & consumed by others.
Mema Jeanne;Eden,NC; solo
#1. “We are Family”-Sister Sledge–as I truly feel a part of family when I am in a Beth Moore study
#2 God is teaching me so much in His Word, and I love it!!!
#3 I wish my church family knew the real passion I have for God’s Word and studying it. I would love for us to really get into His Word with real Bible studies-not just touching the surface.
Lyli, Fort Lauderdale, FL / Solo:
1. I would have to say the song “Come Rain or Come Shine” by Billy Holiday stands out for me as my hubby and I have faced a lot of rain in the last year or so.
2. I spent most of last year recovering from a “surgery gone bad,” so now that I am feeling better, I am just super thankful to being back to “being me” — I am seeing everything with fresh thankful eyes, thanking Jesus for His mercy, and enjoying every moment.
3. I wish my sister in Christ knew that I struggle with a lot of the same insecurities that they do — I am thankful for friends who pray me through.
4. I blog, and the theme I chose for this year for my blog is “fruitilicious” or fruitfulness, so when Beth started talking about harvesting the summer fruit, I was so OVERJOYED — that was so a word for me. (Thanks, Beth!)
1. “Sovereign” by Chris Tomlin
2. I’m in a season of waiting, and what makes it unique for me is that most of the time I’m peaceful in the wait. God is waiting with me — yeah!
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew that it’s not that I’m strong enough to handle my life difficulties, but that God is my strength. God’s strength is really real — not just something we Christians talk about.
Rebecca S; Tucson, AZ; duo with my girlfriend Aly!
1. “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line
2. My current season is that of a holding pattern; going in circles doing the same old each day…eager to start the next phase of my life and feeling inpatient.
3. I wish my Christian sisters knew how much I care for them and how I’d love to spend more time with them.
4. I have been learning recently that I do not do a very good job identifying all the “fruit” that I have been blessed with. I take too much for granted.
Deb from Longivew, Tx/solo
1. Oceans by Hillsong United
2. I am currently in an intense season of ministry to friends who are suffering illness and loss.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ understood my own sufferings (which the most intense ones I cannot share because they involve confidentiality with others) and the state of total reliance and trust in the Lord that I fight to maintain on a consistent basis.
4. Praying for enlightened eyes that will recognize the fruit of my life and the continued leading of the Holy Spirit to show me how to share that fruit with others.
1. I won’t complain
2.I am in winter season, a catappillar in caccoon waiting for new spiritual growth.
3.I wish my sister in Christ knew even when my faith is strong, I need positive feedback.
4.Not having a dry season and staying in the word of God.
Crystal, Atlanta, GA:
#1 Girl on Fire
#2 My present season is developing a deeper relationship with Jesus
#3 I wish my sisters in Christ knew how hard it is for me to put myself out there when building relationships because of my childhood.
#4 Summer is not just a time of rest and relaxation but a time to do so through meditating on the word of Jesus.
Cathy B; Stamford, CT; Solo
1. “Worn” by Tenth Avenue North.
2. My present season is one of trusting God to provide and to not give up.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew what a blessing they are to me and how much I need their support.
Jan/Siler City, NC/Partnership 🙂
1. “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)”
2. I am a stepmother to a 17-year-old girl. Enough said.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I still secretly hold shame for some of the things from my past.
4. Video: “There is a banana this summer with your name on it!”
Cheri, Savage, MN, Solo
1. If You’re Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands! 🙂
2. I am in a season of being a grandma-JOY!
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I do not compare my gifts or talents to theirs.
4. Please Lord, give me eyes to see fruit that has ripened from something I have sown.
Pamela, Mechanicsville, VA, Solo.
1. God Only Knows – The Beach Boys Sounds of Summer.
2. This season brings learning to listen rather than give well meaning advise, and to be thankful to God for everything.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I am a very kind hearted person who is extremely sensitive to the needs of others, and very careful about who I trust.
Kelly, Redmond, WA, solo/phone group
1. How do you solve a problem like Maria-we are very into Sound of Music right now! Also, I have a three year old and a one year old. We’re kind of like Maria!
2. This is a season of big change for us! Walking, toilet training, new jobs, new fun, new challenges.
3. I wish my sisters in Christ knew that while I may not have time to devote to outside activities, I still value hearing about their lives. I maybe can’t “get away” that often, but I treasure the opportunity to pray for friends!
1. The Dance
2. I am a year into fighting cancer.
3. Even though I am very outgoing, people don’t know that I struggle with panic attacks.
Anticipation!
Watching and praying over my young adult children that they will follow Jesus wholeheartedly.
I am a listener encourager but sometimes I need someone to listen and encourage me.
Tina, Zalma/MO, small group, #1 Celebrate Good Times
#1 – “Worn” by 10th Avenue North
#2 – I am 15 weeks pregnant with our surviving twin: feeling scared & confused but hopeful.
#3 – I wish my sisters in Christ knew that I really see them and hear their heart.
#4 – It’s time for me to use my gifts for the glory of God and finally bare fruit for His good purpose!