Bible Study with a Friend

My friend Lizbeth is coming to stay for close to a month – she’ll be here Saturday.
She said to me yesterday, “Why don’t we do a Bible study together while I’m there? I haven’t been in a women’s Bible study in a while.”
So this took me off guard.
I immediately tried to assess her motives. She’s worried about me being out of church. She thinks I’m a heathen backslider who needs her to help me.
Then I took a breath and realized – hey she loves the Lord and maybe just wants to do a Bible study.
(I immediately go to the dark side. It is one of my horrible flaws.)
If you have any suggestions of a Bible study that we could do together, throw it my way, quickly before I hyperventilate on the edge of the dark side.

No Day of Rest

It is after midnight and I am still up and going strong. I have been trying to get a PDF file made of the More of Him, Less of Me Bible Study that is starting up this week. I was happy to do it, but it seems that whenever I attempt this kind of project, everything possible fights me! Word was giving me a fit, spitting out formatting symbols, etc.
That is really the least of our problems, however. Yesterday afternoon, I got my husband into our bathroom to show him a spot on the wall in the closet that backs up to the bathtub that seemed to be continually wet. It was also right next to the towel hamper, so I wasn't sure if the kids were maybe putting really wet towels against it, and it just wasn't getting a chance to dry out. Well, he pulled the wallboard off and saw it drip, drip, dripping from the last shower. Ugh. We had to turn the water off immediately. I washed my hair in the kitchen sink this morning before church (which is another post altogether), the dishwasher is full, there is a pile of laundry in every hamper, and the kitchen sink is piled high with dishes. Thankfully the neighbors have been letting us fill up buckets with water so we can flush the toilets. Travis did some repairs, but as soon as he turned the water back on, it shot out everywhere! He is going to have to stay home tomorrow to work on it some more. You don't realize how much you take running water for granted until you don't have it.

More of Him, Less of Me

Years ago, I went through a Weigh Down Workshop. I lost 30 pounds while doing the study, but more than that, I realized that dieting was a lie. In God's word over and over again He tells us that food rules don't restrain our appetites, and that everything He created is for our enjoyment. Dieting is slavery - and it is likened to being stuck in the desert after being freed from Egypt. This was amazing stuff. I totally got it.
Then there was "the controversy". Don't you know that is just what the old devil needed to try and steal truth from me. But just like my friend, Helen says, (insert Kentucky twang here) "The truth is the truth even if a liar speaks it!" Let me clarify that I am not saying that anyone is a liar - I am just saying that the truth is still the truth, regardless of what is thought about the one speaking it. So, around we go again.
I blogged about my struggle with my weight not long ago, and my friend Sandy told me about a lady who had put together some of the concepts of that study, and we conspired to work on it together. Having support is super. Having accountability is even better yet. So here we are, wanting to get started - and then there were three - my non-blogging friend Carol wants in too.
Anyhoo, we want to start a yahoo group for support of this Bible study, called More of Him, Less of Me - or maybe Less of Me, More of Him. I am certain it is not More of Me, Less of Him - although sometimes isn't that the case?
The study is free of charge, and we want anyone interested to participate. I am hoping that we get started this Tuesday or Wednesday. Please comment here and leave your email to let me know you want to participate. You will have to have a yahoo account in order to do so on the Yahoo group site.
Here's looking for more of Jesus in you!

Me and Beth

I don't want to brag or anything, but you know Beth Moore, that lady Bible teacher - well we go way back. She is a woman of deep theology, with witty sayings like, "....in Texas we believe the higher the hair, the closer to God." The first time I heard about Beth Moore was years ago at a Women of Faith conference. No she wasn't there. I was stuck in a line for-ev-er next to a very hyper woman that really really loved Beth Moore Bible studies. She went on and on - she had done this study, and she had done that study. Her enthusiasm verged on like, somebody should call Beth Moore - we may have a stalker here.
(Rabbit trail - the last time I had felt like that was when a friend who sold Tupperware took me with her to a management meeting. Geesh the things I've had to go through after being lured by donuts and coffee! Picture the environment - podium at the front, facing rows of seats - typical lecture environment, yet a hush fell over the room not unlike the environment at church. There were testimonies, chanting, a lot of standing up and sitting down. These women were way too excited over the plastic things and their capability to belch air. Freaky.)
The woman's rambling took me back to that meeting - I was waiting for the plastic bowl to be put on my head and for somebody to spin me around. She rambled on and on (bless her heart!) about Beth Moore Bible studies, almost to the point of causing an aversion in me. I can be that way. I was none to happy to say goodbye to the overly zealous woman in need of some lithium when our turn came, and never thought of her again until the first opportunity came to participate in a Sunday School class where they were doing a Beth Moore study A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place. Guess what? I didn't take it. But I saw something happen in the ladies that I knew that were taking it - they were getting really excited about God's word. Not long after, I swallowed my pride and signed up for the Breaking Free study - and suddenly I understood the crazy lady in line. God is using Beth Moore in a mighty way to help grow women's hearts for His kingdom. I have taken a bunch of her Bible studies and am currently doing the one called David: A Heart Like His. It is awesome.
So if you have never participated in a Bible study by the delightful Mrs. Moore, I suggest you do so posthaste! Come on over here, I'll put the plastic bowl on your head and spin you around. And for those of you who don't already know it, Living Proof Ministries has a blog now! Beth and her daughter, Amanda write to inspire and encourage women - and let me tell you that apple didn't fall far from the tree! Don't miss Beth's PMS post, or Amanda's Do Over post! They're so real, and so over the top for the Lord.

Workbook Heebie Jeebies

Workbooks freak me out. Can I just say this without offending anyone here in my own little corner of the blogosphere? No offense intended. I have a dear friend who delights in them. I am waaaayy too compulsive - and have to fill in every blank - and not only that - I must write nicely. These are obsessive compulsive tendencies are derived directly from years of elementary school education. I just can't leave a blank undone. What does one with this issue do with a Bible study workbook? It makes me feel fake - because whether I've pondered the issue or not - I must have an answer every time. Yes, some are easy enough - the answer to the questions are direct and found easily in the material. But what about the spiritual issues with more depth? I have to mull those over in my mind. I took the Experiencing God study because our previous church required it for membership - and like a good little student, I filled in every blank. In all sincerity, I got little out of it. Later, when I was a leader of the group, and was able to use my first book that was already completed and able then to just focus on the material, I benefited far more from the lessons. Today I started a new Blackaby bible study for the Sunday School class we have started attending called, "When God Speaks". The information in this first lesson was basic. I didn't find the information to be difficult, but the two questions at the end of the chapter hanging in the air are completely unsettling to me -

• What did God say to you during your study today?
• What will you do as a result?

I feel like perhaps I should have had a major revelation from God during this time, but I didn't. God usually speaks to me when I'm doing the dishes, or making a bed, often taking a shower. I find it difficult to fit the relationship - I talk to God and then I listen to see what He has to say - into a workbook format. Yes, sometimes it does come very clearly and suddenly - but other times it is a process. Is there an elementary school purgatory for those of us who cannot fill in all the spiritual blanks? The Bible studies that ask these things of me come across cheesy, even if there is depth in the rest of the material.
Can anybody feel my pain?
I'm off to take some Benadryl - I think the whole thing gave me hives!