Last MM & L meeting: August 4th

Last night was so precious! I had such a wonderful time talking with my bible study buddies and concluding such a wonderful time of God's teaching and the spiritual growing season we all have endured together!!
We started out on pg 102 & 103 where Jennifer talks about our memories being "books on a shelf". We were asked which books we pull from the shelf to review most often and assess whether they are "profitable" memories.
We all shared how often we tend to pull up those past, painful memories that produce such ugly soul talk. If we avoid those tough times and don't label them with a meaningful purpose, the memory becomes an enemy that traps us in guilt & shame and enslaves us. One gal brought up how all her memories were not really based on bad decisions, but facts...things she could not change. But how it brings her power to be able to see how her past has produced opportunity after opportunity for her to minister and show compassion to others now who find themselves in similar situations. (Talk about finding the benefits of God in our painful memories from the past! -Wow!)
We all identified with having "triggers" in our lives that made us think of the Lord & his promises...whether it be the picture of the Lord's supper at a church where you grew up, or a special spot in your house where you have quiet time in God's Word, bible verses framed around our grandmothers' homes....whatever the trigger was, we all had them & they all have had significant influence on us! Visuals that help us to not forget the benefits of God! How we need to have our own triggers to express God's benefits for our own families! If we have them in our homes, they will stick with our family members. At at time, when they (or even you) need the word--they may not be able to recall anything from the bible except maybe those visual triggers from around your home!
We talked about on pg 112-113 where Jennifer connects a complaining spirit and a sense of entitlement. How often we justify certain actions we take, because we feel "entitled"---we feel we rightfully deserve some benefit we've deemed we must have! Oh, I'm so glad I don't get what I DESERVE! God is so good in his grace and mercy to us! We should work to replace that sense of entitlement with a sense of gratefulness. (Easier said than done--but he knows our hearts & our motives!)
We each shared the most significant thing we've recongized about our self-talk--Each of us recognized how silly we would sound if we said the things we say to ourselves-- to others. Often, we are capable of giving others in our same situation-- compassion, grace & understanding...however we are so judgemental of ourselves! Often we carry things on us, that simply are not true, that weigh us down & keep us from God's full potential and His Will--which is just what the enemy wants!
We had fun sharing the "Colors" of our personalities, memories, secrets, feelings, treasures & thoughts on page 130! You had to be there for this one!
On pg. 136, we were asked: What is the most frequent song you're singing to yourself right now to help you persevere and keep hope alive? Beth shared that hers was "I will rise". Others shared were, "Little Things" & "You are Worthy"---sorry can't remember the exact names of the songs. (Wish I would have jotted those down last night!Sorry if I didn't quite get that right!) Mine was the praise chorus," You dance over me, while I am unaware. You sing all around, but I never hear a sound. Lord, I'm amazed by you, how you love me." Whether or not we are praying like we need to; whether or not we are spending time in his presence like we should; whether or not we are in good times or awful times in our lives----he's with us!
Every minute of this study has been challenging yet fun; painful, but still we kept coming back for more! God is faithful to complete a good work in us and I believe as we've persevered through this study, he is so very proud of us! Those of you who did not make it, you were so, so missed! I hope you all have a smooth start to the school year! I pray the Lord will give you strength to stay connected to Him through His Word! It is our divine weapon to demolish those strongholds and we need to stay prepared!
Love to you all!
Becky

MM & L Bible Study Meeting 3: Weeks 3 & 4

Tonight's bible study was so good! I missed some of my bible study buddies tonight! I hope everyone is doing well! I just want to encourage you all to pray for the ladies in our group. We ALL have "things" in our lives that the Lord is tending to. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves, but a cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Let's lift each other up!
Now to the bible study:

It was easy to track the emotions to actions-What isn't always easy is choosing to listen to Wisdom. I hear the alarms going off & well sometimes I just go ahead and pitch my fit--even if I am the only in the room! (I know: tisk,tisk, tisk-Gotta let that Watchman of my thought-closet (Wisdom)do Her job!)

The one defining circumstance from which other issues flow took some time to really think about...glad I took the time & pinpointed it!If you didn't get this far in your homework, it is really worth thinking about...

Recurrent convictions lately-it's funny because during the day an "issue" will pop up & I think to myself "where did you come from?" and then I get busy with the day--I forget to bring it before the Lord. Asking us to think of any recurrent convictions we might have had lately, helped me to take the time to think about it & tell it to the Lord! No longer a weapon the devil can use! I'm so grateful.

Each of the folks in my group tonight, including me, had an accountability partner! Praise the Lord! There is safety in relationships! It is important to have someone you can trust to talk to. Yeah, I don't want to hear that I look fat in my favorite jeans--it would definately hurt my feelings, but my accoutability person would definately tell me & I need her to! She's watching my blind spots for me! (Proverbs 27:17-"iron sharpens iron")

Left tonight with a sweet, sweet peace that as we are in the trenches, dealing with our issues, God is preparing each of us for the specific call on our lives that we may stand strong & remain in the peace of God when the roaring lion attacks.

We only have one more meeting (Tuesday, August 4th 6-7:30 p.m. @ Carpe Diem Coffe & Tea). We will be going over the last 2 weeks of homework. I've already done a couple of days in week 5 & I HAVE to say---the best yet! Love you all! Good luck with your thought-closets!

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Just wanted my bible-study buddies to know, the meeting location for our next meeting (July 7) will NOT be changing. I checked out the space at Carpe Diem's upper room this morning, talked over the needs for our meeting with the manager and am assured it will be perfect for up to 30 folks. Coffee & Tea along with the fixin's will be free of charge, of course. However, if you're tempted by the pastries or anything else on the menu, you are more than welcome to bring some cash, that is up to you. Now, no more hinderences from me! I'll try to leave you alone to do your workbooks! (Always in my prayers, though.)

After-Launch Party....

It finally happened-- the Bible Study launched tonight & with 24 ladies attending!! I am just counting that as confirmation that God IS going to do awesome things in this Bible Study! Tonight's launch was a fun time of getting to know gals we didn't know, & getting to know the gals we already knew- a little bit better! We prayed together & watched the mini-session from Beth's website, got our instructions & split into smaller groups at random with some very sweet volunteers to help be discussion guides for the small group meetings.(Thank you girls for being willing to jump in!) Each gal was asked to write a text-message starting with this sentence: "Please pray for me. I..." It was a sweet time to hear the intimate needs that were in the small group (We kept each need anonymous, but prayed for each one.) Next, we read Psalm 19 from the Message translation. It proved to be one of the favorite parts of the night. We discovered what the Word of God does for us & the many benefits of studying scripture....it pulls our lives together, it gives us clear signs to the right roads, it shows the way to joy. God's directions are plain. It warns of danger & directs us to hidden treasure, keeps us from stupid sins. (Just paraphrasing....) We came back together as a group, closed out in prayer & took a mighty awesome picture! (Wen-the pic you took was the best as far as getting the most faces!) A BIG thank-you to Wendy, who must have burnt a thousand calories running around, pushing chairs to & fro & serving cold drinks. Yes, my sis-in-law, who also had the connections for the amazing board room we met in!Just a note from me...personally. I was so touched by the friendship that is desired by many of the women there. Women who need fellowship with other women.Genuine women, who love the Lord & simply want more of God. It was inspiring, encouraging & powerful just to be in that room of gals, who walk in so many different roles. We came together tonight, not just as moms, students, wives, the lady who works @ such & so place...we came together as daughters to reach out to our Father & bless Him! I believe we brought him much joy tonight!

Some of you showed an interest in watching Jennifer's videos at home to fill in the blanks on your listening guides in your workbooks. To access those videos, copy & paste the following in your URL: http://www.lifewaystores.com/lwstore/product.asp?isbn=L02980450X. It takes you directly to our Bible Study products on Lifewaystores website. All the way at the bottom of the page under Product Companions, you'll see each session's video which you can download, or just watch for $5. It is low resolution, so it is meant for individual use (not for a big screen). They are all 20-30 minutes long, so if you want feel free to watch at home in your jammies or split the cost & call a few of us from the bible study--meet somewhere (some places have free Wii Fi) & watch together!

If you missed this week....The homework is to work the first 2 weeks in your workbook by our 2nd meeting Tuesday July 7 (6 pm - 7:30). The second meeting is suppossed to be at Carpe Diem Coffee & Tea Co on Old Shell Road. I'm going tomorrow with my personal Civil Engineer by my side to decide if it is going to be big enough! ; D What an awesome "obstacle" to have! Praise the Lord! I will let you know if the location changes. In the meantime, ladies---look for those "hidden treasures" in His Word over the coming weeks--they are for YOU!

Me, Myself & Lies Bible Study Launch

Tonight is the launch of the women's bible study: Me, Myself & Lies by Jennifer Rothschild! I could barely sleep last night, I was so excited thinking about how God is going to teach me and also about all the women I get to meet, & get to know & hear about how God is also working in them through this study! It is an inspiring thing & I can't wait for it to begin!

I have to admit, since we are using Beth's mini sessions, as opppossed to buying the leader-kit for this study, I have felt so un-prepared! There has been not much at all to do to prepare for this bible study--and there are a lot of women planning to come.....am I not doing something right? Could it be THIS low-stress and easy? Well, I hope so! I sure don't want anyone to be disappointed! God has it in HIS hands. I believe the Holy Spirit helped me to stumble onto this bible study--so I know I can only expect GREAT & WONDERFUL things for SO MANY women--including me!

I don't know if this is normal for most folks, but anytime God wants to do great things around this house, it usually (not always) means there will be some obstacles to overcome...but I know God will bring HIS WILL about--no matter what! So I stand on guard today, claiming God's glory in all that tonight's study holds, despite what goes on between now and 6 p.m.! I pray over all my sisters who plan to join me, that today will be a good day for them!