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August 2011 Archives

LPL - Salt Lake City, Utah

Melanie - August 31, 2011 - Comments (0)

Living Proof Live - Salt Lake City from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

FREE webcast today - Teen Girls and their issues

Melanie - August 30, 2011 - Comments (2)

I'll be back later this afternoon with the winner of Friday's giveaway, but wanted to put up a quick link.

Today at noon (central time) LifeWay women will have a FREE WEBCAST on Trials and Truths for Today's Teen Girls.

You don't want to miss it. Here's the link.

I warmly recall a particular night facilitating our ladies Thursday evening Bible study at church due to the peculiar snack food that was brought and the response the ladies had to this peculiar snack. And it taught me a lesson about the sacrifice and dedication women of all ages and walks of life make to attend a women's Bible study. I learned this lesson from a beef jerky incident.

The lady who had signed up for snacks said she forgot about it being her night and grabbed the only thing she had at her house at the last minute, which was - cheese, crackers, and beef jerky, of all things!

Cheese and crackers which is always good, but beef jerky? A large bag of tough, hard to chew beef jerky? I have to admit, I have never seen beef jerky brought for snacks, and I thought to myself, she will be taking that back home. The crackers and cheese will be eaten, but the beef jerky will be passed by.

But no, these ladies were hungry. The beef jerky completely disappeared. Every single hard to chew bite was consumed.

The lady who brought it was very surprised and shared with me that she thought for sure she would be taking the beef jerky home again, and almost didn't bring it in the first place since it would be such an odd snack.

It turned out that no one had time for lunch at work that day and didn't get to go home from work before Bible study. I listened to ladies describe barely making it to Bible Study on time, coming straight from work and not having time to eat, husbands getting home from work late, barely in time to be there with the kids so mom could go to Bible study, and I found myself very moved by their dedication.

Beef jerky opened my eyes to tiring schedules and genuine hunger, and yet it was obvious they were definitely hungry for more than food. They came with their prayer requests and burdens, and they came with their Bibles and notebooks. They came with a need for fellowship, and many of them came hungry!

For these ladies, Thursday night Bible study was an oasis of fellowship, studying and learning about God's Word, and it came at the end of a long, long day. They needed refreshment in more ways than one!

Psalm 107:8-9
8 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

I have always loved being involved in women's Bible study, I love cracking open that brand new workbook, and diving in and learning from those whom God has gifted to teach us and make us go deeper into our Bibles. I love gathering with ladies I know, and also getting to know new ones that come into the group. I appreciate the opportunity to share my life and my prayer needs with an intimate group of women I feel safe with, and hope everyone else feels that way, too.

How about you, how are you blessed by the women's Bible studies you have participated in?

Kathy Cheek is a freelance writer with articles appearing in various Christian publications, including Journey Magazine. You can read her weekly devotion on her site In Quiet Places @ www.kathycheek.com. She and her husband live in Dallas, Texas and have two grown daughters who also reside in the Dallas area.

What's Happening Behind the Scenes?

Kris S - August 29, 2011 - Comments (5)

The last couple of weeks have been crazy busy but really great! I thought I'd catch you up on what's going on around here with LifeWay Women. We just finished taping a new Bible study by Kelly Minter. This will be the third in The Living Room Series. If you loved No Other Gods and Ruth, you're going to love this one! It's on the book of Nehemiah, taught like I've never heard it before.
Final Nehemiah Cover 005371581.jpg
Nehemiah will have the same fun elements of The Living Room series, with recipes, songs, but we'll also include 20 minute videos each week and this study has a real "GO/Mission" element to it. So, get ready to be changed! It comes out February 2012. We'll talk more about it as we get closer to release date.

We also had a fun time with Lisa Harper last week. Some of you may know Lisa Harper from our Women of Faith friends. Well, we're really excited to have Lisa join the LifeWay Women author team! She's a great story teller, funny, and serious about the gospel! We're publishing a study with her from the book of Malachi, but wait!!! This isn't a study on tithing! It's so much more. Lisa will teach us in practical ways that no matter what, God does not leave us. He responds to us in mercy when He could have responded in wrath. We're not taping this study until December, but rest assured, you'll be hearing more about it in months to come!

And then I found myself in a meeting with a few others from the LifeWay Women team and Tyndale House Publishers, discussing new authors and how we might work together in the future. It was so cool to hear how Tyndale operates much like LifeWay and how we're really all about the same thing: To draw people to Jesus.

And lastly, we had two amazing events this past weekend. Thanks to everyone who either prayed for or attended the Living Proof Live in Salt Lake City and the Going Beyond event in Jacksonville, FL.

I'm ready for another great week here at LifeWay Women, anticipating how I'm going to join in with what God's already busy doing! I can tell you it's a good feeling to get up in the morning and look forward to going to work every day, but more than that, I know it's a calling and I'm just thankful to be a part of the work.

What are you thankful for today? In the midst of the muck and the mire, the really hard stuff, we can still be thankful. Thanks for sharing and have a great Monday!