I know I say this every week but I am seriously loving the Esther study. Not only do I feel like I'm reading the book of Esther in a way I never have before, but I am finding so many God-breathed lessons along the way.
The most profound thing for me this week was something Beth said in the Session 3 DVD. I don't remember her exact words, but the way I wrote it down was like this: "When we're walking on the path to destiny, we usually come up on the heels of some crisis that leads us to the next place".
What she is basically saying is that God will often use a crisis to move us in the direction He wants us to go.
I remember when Caroline was a toddler that she'd crawl around on the floor and find random objects to pick up. Every now and then, she'd get a hold of something she wasn't supposed to have, so I'd rush over there to pry it out of her fingers, which was easier said than done. She'd hold to that piece of candy or small button or whatever it happened to be with a death grip. There was no way she was letting go and she certainly didn't care that it might hurt her.
Sometimes that's how I am with God. I just hold on to what I've found with all my might because I WANT IT. Meanwhile, He's trying to show me that there is something better or that what I want isn't the best thing for me.
And ultimately there are times that He has to bring me back to a place of complete dependence on Him so that I'll quit being so focused on what I want and pay attention to what He has for me.
I'll be honest, it's usually not very fun.
But if there's anything I've learned, it's that He always gives me the things that are better-suited to me than what I would have given myself. He knows me best.
I'd love to hear what you learned from Esther this week!
I don't know about y'all, but I think "Esther" just keeps getting better each week. I am so wrapped up in the story now even though I've read it a bunch of times before and know how it all ends.
There's something about the way Beth brings out certain details that has made it come alive for me. I swear I'm sitting on the edge of my seat to see what's going to happen next.
The day that really got to me this week was Day 3 entitled "Brilliant Evil". It was all about how Satan can influence our thoughts. Beth says, "Though he can't possess our minds, he profoundly and destructively influences our thoughts."
She goes on to share how Satan's most effective tactic in her own life is to trap her in mental torment. Don't we all know what that feels like?
This week has been a hard week. I've felt discouraged and I've felt fear. In fact, two nights ago I went to bed and my mind began racing with all the things I needed to worry about and before I knew it I was totally worked up about things that will probably never even happen. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.
Satan trapped me into believing his lies instead of God's truth. God is the one in control of my life and He is good.
I woke up the next morning and this was the verse I turned to during my quiet time.
"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed." Isaiah 54:10
His love will not be shaken. His peace will not be removed.
What about y'all? What stood out to you this week? And even if you're not doing the "Esther" study right now, what do you do when the fear starts creeping in?
OK, you don't know me but I add the videos, fix broken things, and host of other things for the AllAccess blog. So, when I went to the wonderful AllAccess people and asked to hijack a post, they graciously allowed me. Maybe it was because they realized I could make their pictures look funny or shut the whole thing down, but I am just going to think it's because they are THAT AWESOME and they want you to know about a good thing.
Our ParentLife magazine people are venturing into the blogosphere and it's about time. This is for Moms AND Dads of kids - well, I guess there is an assumed kid when you say you are a mom and dad - but what I mean is that they are preteens and younger, down to babies. And just like a baby is brand new, so is the ParentLife Blog. They want you to stop by the delivery room and tell them how cute or not so cute they are and one person will actually get a free book for the feedback given. Oh, and if you work with kids or just like cute kid picts, the ParentLife Blog is also a place for you. You can also send in cute kid pictures and submit your funny stories. Based on what they hear, there may be some tweaks and changes or a massive overhaul (I originally typed overalls ;) so that it is the best parenting blog - evuh!
I want to hijack more posts. This was fun. I feel like a pirate - ARRR. Until then, back to your regularly scheduled bloggers.
It's Friday which means it's time for our weekly roundup of thoughts about "Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman" except this week I'm going to let y'all go first and share your thoughts in the comments and I'll chime in later.
Doesn't that sound good?
So, here's the real story. I'm in Houston right now after attending a fun event with some blogging friends and I forgot to bring my "Esther" book with me.
And you know what would help me talk about what I learned from "Esther" this week?
Having my workbook.
I'll be back this afternoon with my thoughts on the week. I know I loved it, that much is certain.
How about y'all? What did you think of the first week of homework?
I can't tell y'all how excited I was to start the first session of "Esther" on Wednesday night. I've been looking forward to this study since the first time I heard about it and judging from the introductory session, it is not going to disappoint.
Also, I am totally going to start using the phrase, "I don't need the whole Megillah" because it makes me happy.
The biggest thing that stood out to me this week was the fact that God's name is never mentioned in the book of Esther. I've read it many times and I'd never really thought about it. I just knew that His hand was in the middle of that whole situation.
But isn't it interesting how I can read Esther and see God's hand all over it, yet sometimes wonder if His hand is all over my life? Does He really care about all the little things that make up my day?
I loved that Beth pointed out that this is a Bible study where no obvious miracle comes. We never see Him, but we know He's at work.
That is where I'm living right now. It's trusting Him for the day-to-day stuff. There are no big miracles or revelations. It's just His faithfulness in giving me my daily bread.
And I'm clinging to Phillippians 2:13 "God works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." As Beth said, "If you seek Him, God's will will find you."
How about y'all? I'd love to hear your thoughts and input on this first video session.
Yesterday was one of those crazy, hectic days where I felt like I had a million things to accomplish and not nearly enough time to get them all done. Add to that the fact that it was the coldest, windiest day we've had so far and all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with some hot chocolate.
But I dutifully ran all my errands because my family tends to need things like milk, eggs and toilet paper to survive.
By the time I picked up Caroline and got home, I was exhausted from all the running around. I walked in the back door, loaded down with school bags and groceries and dropped them on the counter as I went to check the mail.
Look what showed up! A sign from God.
He knows it's tough being a woman.
He made us this way. Monthly hormones and all.
My Bible study group can't wait to begin this study in January. I'd love to know if any of y'all are doing the Esther study as well.
If you are, I thought we could come here and discuss it in the comments on a weekly basis because, y'all, we're all in this womanhood thing together.
That's right, ladies. LifeWay Women insists on helping get your 2009 off to a great start! Wouldn't it be fun to take the women at your church on a fun weekend retreat ... without having to plan that retreat from scratch? Why not let us do that for you?
Well, here's what we're going to do next in our efforts to spread the Christmas cheer.
If you've been looking for a great way to get your best girlfriends together for some fun, fellowship and some bigtime focus in God's Word - THIS retreat is your answer. In fact, a retreat like this may be the perfect ministry opportunity to reach out to unchurched friends in your community and get them involved!
This retreat kit is chocked full of terrific bible teaching by Beth, with some downright funny stuff from Living Proof Praise & Worship guy, Travis Cottrell. There are even some suggestions for games and goodtimes to help retreat leaders "fill in the gaps" between awesome teaching sessions from Beth on how to "love well".
And of course, there WILL be some discussion to share about hair products!
So, wait no longer. Comment on, girls. We'll hold the random drawing and announce the winner November 28!
Thanks to everyone for your participation in the Esther giveaway. Unfortunately, we only have one study to give away, but the good news is we'll be having other giveaways each week between now and Christmas.
Because we are all about spreading a little Christmas cheer!
This has been quite the busy week here on LifeWay campus. We've got 500 women walking the halls and attending the National Leadership Forum. It has been a great week so far. Angela Thomas was keynote last night and girls, she is so good. If you ever get a chance to see her live or do one of her Bible studies, you gotta do it. I laughed so hard and got tears too. God's gifted her and using her in a mighty way.
Okay, well, don't want to keep you waiting any longer so here goes. We're gonna give away an Esther Bible Study kit (yes, I said kit, not member book!) with a drawing we'll do here from ya'lls comments. So , post a comment about why you want your church, friends, neighborhood girlfriends, etc. to do this study. Comments will be open until November 21. So comment away and we'll use random.org to draw a winner on November 21.
The role of men in society has stayed the same for thousands of years, where the role of women continues to shift and change. We are a generation of women that has been raised to believe we should be able to do it all.
But sometimes it's hard to do it all between all the runny noses and the dirty diapers and the carpool lines that never end. It's hard to do it all when you are making three trips to the grocery store because you keep forgetting the Monterey Jack cheese. (Not that I've done that. It's just a hypothetical scenario.)
If you're like me, you want to be able to juggle all those roles and responsibilities and make it look effortless. I honestly feel guilty when I let something go and have to admit defeat in that area.
I returned home from my trip to the Dominican Republic on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. and had to immediately jump back into my role as wife, mother, daughter while still processing my role as temporary missionary and writer.
And that doesn't even include all the laundry that had to be done. My husband is a great Mr. Mom but doing my daughter's laundry isn't part of his repertoire. As for my laundry from the trip, I had to bring in a HazMat crew.
So, yes, it's tough being a woman.
What is the toughest part for you? The balancing act? The expectations? What do you hope to learn from Beth in this newest study?
Most of y'all probably know that Beth Moore has written a brand-new Bible study called Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman. In fact, there's a little promo video over there in the sidebar. If you haven't watched it yet, feel free to go ahead and watch it now.
Really. It's fine. I'll wait. Because you're just that special.
Anyway, last night I was clicking around the LifeWay site looking for some information on another Bible study, and I found the most unexpected little webby treasure: two sample lessons of Esther - FOR FREE.
I don't know about y'all, but I am such a fan of free. And this particular freebie would be a great way for you to sample the study before you invest in the whole kit and kaboodle.
Sometimes Mondays hold unexpected delights, don't they?
Jennifer Rothschild is one of our LifeWay Women and we've got something coming down the pike early February you'll all want to check out. She's already written two other LifeWay Bible Studies. This study is based on her trade book, Self Talk/Soul Talk. Jennifer's been on Good Morning America. We love her! Stay tuned for more.
Well, this is a mighty big day for our friend Travis Cottrell - because his new Christmas CD, Ring The Bells, hits stores far and wide and all points in between. That also means if you won one of the caption contest CD prizes that Melanie and I volunteered Travis to provide (oh God love him), your prize is going in the mail today.
We're very official-y and stuff.
I know that I've mentioned Ring The Bells a time or nine before, but it really is so great, y'all. And in case you don't believe me, you can now listen to full-length samples of several songs from the CD and see - or hear, as it were - for yourself. This is a Christmas CD you don't want to miss. In fact, you can order one right here, oh yes you can.
Finally, Travis is working with Operation Freedom Bell in conjunction with his CD release to provide Bibles to American soliders, so please take time to read about how participating in Operation Freedom Bell affords you a very unique way to encourage and support our troops.
So there you have it, internets. I guess it's All Travis, All The Time around here today.
And you know what? We wouldn't have it any other way.
Edited to add: Ring The Bells received a GLOWING review in CCM Magazine today - they're calling it the "Goosebump-Inducing Holiday Record of the Year." Yay, Travis! We're so proud of you!
I had the opportunity to meet Pat Layton this past June at the She Speaks Conference in North Carolina. She introduced herself to me and told me about her Bible study entitled "Surrendering the Secret", which is specifically targeted to women who have dealt with abortion.
Melinda at Traveling the Road Home is giving away five "Surrendering the Secret" DVD leader kits and member books. Click on over to enter the drawing. This would be such a powerful tool to add to your church library or even for personal use.
I know I've mentioned two or ninety times that my Bible study group is going through Anointed Transformed Redeemed right now, and something from this week's homework (written by Priscilla Shirer) really hit home with me.
I struggle with managing my time, and even though I keep a calendar so I know what's coming up when, I don't budget the time in my day. My husband is a HUGE proponet of budgeting your time, and he has no problem working on one thing for an hour and then moving on to the next scheduled task.
But honestly, I'm too scattered most of the time for that approach to work. After all, it's hard to stick to writing a blog post when you're also trying to cook supper and change sheets and redecorate your dining room.
I'm only sort of kidding about that.
This week in our study homework Priscilla encouraged us to examine how we budget our time. She writes, "just as we budget our finances to determine where our money should be going, it behooves us to budget our time to ensure that we spend it wisely."
And it occurred to me that my tendency is to let time control me instead of me controlling my time. I'm forever feeling like I'm at the mercy of deadlines, of last-minute preparations, of trying to juggle six things at once instead of sitting down and doing one thing really well. I don't know if any of you have the same struggle, but it's probably no surprise that sometimes I frustrate myself to no end with my lack of time management.
So what about you? Do you have any tips on time budgeting? Had any success with it? Any suggestions you could offer the rest of us?
Check it Out!
First, Turn off that allaccess video to the right. Trying to get that thing to stop playing automatically. Sorry if it's driving you crazy. Bear with us!
Hello everyone! Kris here. I know, you haven't heard from me in so long and I am way convicted! I don't want to sound like a marketing strategist, but well, that's what I am and this bit of information is too good to not let you in on it! I just got this video today - hot off the press - straight from our amazing video production team.
Get ready girls. Esther, It's Tough Being a Woman will be available November 17th. Here's a message to you from Beth. Check it out. (First, you'll want to stop the video over there to your right)
4. Kay reminds us over and over that God is a covenant-keeping God. He never breaks His promises to us. Our relationships with our husbands are covenants, and we should never take that covenant lightly.
5. At the end of session three, Kay points out that we have a responsibility to reset the standard our culture offers young girls. And she says that we can't just speak the truth; we have to model it in the way we behave and the way we dress. We shouldn't use our sexuality to manipulate, to look for approval, to find what we think is love - we need to remember that sexuality is a gift from God.
6. This could be a really neat study for moms to do with their (older) teenage daughters. As I listened to Kay in session three, I kept thinking about how well she articulates the WHY of purity, and if a young girl is spiritually mature enough, I think she would be so encouraged by Kay's teaching. There would have to be a high level of spiritual maturity, though. For sure.
I AM SO WAY BEYOND EXCITED ABOUT GOING TO LIVING PROOF LIVE THIS WEEKEND.
But I have a confession.
My hair's not going to be all that dreamed it would be. I'm at a critical in-between highlights juncture, so my color isn't going to be as fresh and, well, BLONDE as I prefer.
However, I'm going to press on despite this small hair-related hindrance.
So. What about the rest of you who are going to San Antonio? Anything about the weekend that has you a little bit nervous? Anything causing a few butterflies?
So I had every intention of being more consistent with posting (for many weeks! in a row!) about Kay Arthur's latest Bible study, Return to the Garden. But our group's summer schedules proved to be way more unpredictable than we anticipated, and it was hard to find times to meet when everybody was actually, you know, IN TOWN.
So instead of being finished with the study, I'm at the halfway mark. And I thought this might be a good time to fill you in on some of my thoughts and reactions at this stage in the Return to the Garden game.
Oh, this is terribly exciting.
And there again, I feel weird using the word "exciting" in relation to a Bible study about sex. Because I am twelve, apparently.
1. This is a study that's well-suited for a small (as in three or four people) group. And it would also be good if those three or four people are close friends - because the material goes a bit beyond polite "getting to know you" conversation. You need to feel really comfortable with your group.
2. There's a question somewhere in the first week of homework that continues to resonate with me. Kay asks, quite simply, "Is everything in His temple [your body] saying 'Holy to the Lord'?"
EVERYTHING?
I mean, in addition to the aspect of that question that relates to sex, think about health. Think about endurance. Think about rest.
Humbling, huh?
3. When Kay mentions that she went through a time of spiritual rebellion and fell pretty deep into sin, she says that one reason she was so susceptible to compromise was because "I had a religion, not a relationship." And I just thought that was profound. I've been in the same boat - and I've wondered how I fell so far so fast (different circumstances, different sin, but a pit just the same). After all, I was a "good girl" who grew up in church, and I should've known better. Kay's words really gave me some clarity.
All righty, girls - hopefully that'll be some good food for thought over the weekend. I'll post the second half of my first-half-of-study highlights on Tuesday.
I do hope that the anticipation won't keep you awake for the next four nights.
And seriously. Return to the Garden is a good word - for a whole host of reasons. It's not always comfortable, mind you, but it's good.
This past weekend my husband cleaned out my car, oh God bless him. Because while I realize that there are probably many of you who keep immaculately maintained vehicles with nary a curly French fry in sight, I confess to you right here and now that I struggle in this area. The car cleanliness thing tends to get away from me.
However, the up side is that if you're ever looking for a Coke-stained notepad, a small piece of a Happy Meal toy or an assortment of gently-worn Starbucks napkins, I can HOOK YOU UP.
You're welcome.
And here's even more good news: when my hubby and my little boy cleaned out my car, they discovered one flat-out treasure: my notes from a Living Proof Live in Knoxville in 2005.
Honestly, I can't remember why the notebook was even in my car - I think I threw it in there a few weeks ago to take to a meeting. Regardless, I was beyond tickled to sit down at my kitchen table yesterday afternoon and read through those notes. I'll be doggone if I didn't get me a good word AGAIN - three years after the event.
The focus of that weekend was Loving Well - the idea that we'll never be able to love others well until we let God love us well. And after a little interweb searching, I found out that the teaching from that conference is available as a weekend retreat in a box, and it's called - YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE THIS - Loving Well.
What a crazy coincidence.
I remembered yesterday that what resonated so deeply with me that weekend was how sacrificially we have to love the people in our lives who, for whatever reason, are difficult to love (and for the sake of our discussion, we're talking about people who are ornery, bitter, manipulative, etc.). Beth used four different passages from Scripture to illustrate how we're called to love those "testy" people, and here's what just jumped off the page at me as I re-read my notes yesterday:
"The people who drive us crazy have been assigned to us, positioned for us. They bring out the worst in us because God designed them to bring the worst [in us] up and OUT."
My tendency sometimes is to try to "escape" difficult people - to avoid them, to push them away, to distance myself from them because I so dislike the feelings they bring out in me. But Beth reminded us that "God pours His perfect love into my imperfect heart," and our calling is to extend that love to others. Period. 1 John 4:19-21 is pretty clear on this matter: "We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."
So what about you? How do you handle this issue in your own life? How do you deal with people who are difficult to love? Have you ever experienced restoration in one of those relationships? Do you have any wisdom you'd like to share with the rest of us? Any encouragement you can offer?
I think it would be safe to say that I'm a people person.
And what I mean by that is that when I meet people, if I have time, I love to look for common denominators: shared friends, shared backgrounds, shared interests, shared favorite colors, shared favorite song in the summer of 1989, etc. and so forth and so on amen.
Not too long after I started blogging, I joined an online group study of Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of The Spirit with about fifteen other women. Every week, after we completed our homework, we'd post about what we'd learned. And while the Word was always, always central, I thought that one of the neatest things about walking through that particular study was the opportunity to read about each participant's life experiences in relation to each week's lesson.
You might say that I'm a smidge relational. And I mention that to (hopefully) explain why I think what I'm about to tell you about is OH-SO-COOL, MY WORD.
Priscilla Shirer is working on a new Bible study called Going Beyond, and there's something called Open Access that enables you to be a part of the study throughout the writing and editing process. Participants won't just go through the study before its made available to the general public; they'll also influence the content by contributing their own illustrations, examples, feedback, and more.
Open Access is a whole new way of writing and publishing a Bible study - and if you'd like to hear more about why Lifeway is taking this approach, you can click over to the Open Access blog and watch a mighty informative video. And get this: you can even follow the development of this project on Twitter. It's Lifeway 2.0, y'all.
Back when I did the LBY study online, we thought we were pretty tech-savvy with our chart-o-participants in our respective blog sidebars. This Open Access deal is a whole new level technology-wise - it's Scripture-centered, forward-thinking and community-driven. Love that.
If you decide to join the study, leave us a comment and let us know. We'd love for you to keep us posted about the Open Access experience.
Oh, it warms me to the core of my overly relational heart.
You know, the part of my heart that cannot resist the temptation to tell you that my favorite song of 1989 was "Love Shack."
I loved reading all of your suggestions and recommendations for Bible studies, and I thought I'd throw a suggestion in the ring because, well, I like to share.
(Total sidenote: earlier today I told my little boy that I wanted him to repeat something to his daddy that he'd said to me, and he looked at me for a second, sighed, and said, "OH, MAMA - ARE WE ALL GONNA TALK ABOUT IT OR SOMETHING? I GET TIRED OF ALL THE TALKING."
And what I wanted to say - but didn't - was "Son, you are an official resident of an over-communication zone, where no topic is off-limits and no conversation is EVER short."
The child comes from a long line of over-sharers. Bless his sweet little heart.)
ANYWAY, there's a new Bible study called Anointed, Transformed and Redeemed: A Study of David. It was filmed at Deeper Still in Nashville last September, and y'all, when I tell you that it was the most impactful weekend of teaching I have ever experienced in my life, I mean it.
The structure is clear and effective: Priscilla focuses on David's early life; Beth focuses on David's middle-aged years; and Kay focuses on the last part of his life. I think anyone would be blessed by the teaching from that particular weekend, especially if you're in a season where you know the Lord is calling you in a new direction (which is right where I was livin' last September).
There's not a doubt in my mind that you will be encouraged and convicted by what you learn. I cannot say that enough.
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
92 - Bobbie Jo
113 - strawberry rose (11:40 comment)
45 - LeAnn (3:15 comment)
79 - Nicole @ On The Run
25 - Kari Decker (3:08 comment)
61 - Deborah McCartt (6:56 comment)
62 - Tracy (6:57 comment)
19 - Darlene
130 - Tracy Harvey
117 - Annette (7:11 comment)
If you won, you don't have to do a thing right now (except for jump up and down, of course). Someone will be emailing you to get your mailing info since it is oftentimes handy to have a person's full name and address when sending her some sort of prize.
We're hoping to do even more giveaways in the weeks and months to come, so if there's a Lifeway product you'd love to try to win, let us know in the comments. We'd love to see if we can make it happen.
Because I don't know if y'all have been in a bookstore recently or not, but there are sort of a lot of books in there.Twelves of them, even.
But Vicki's book is so excellent that it stands to reason it was recognized. Teen Virtue Confidential offers "God-focused answers to real questions sent in from teenage girls," with emphasis on "The Future, Guys, Body Development and Sex, and Faith." And in addition to the great content, the design of the book will appeal to moms and daughters alike - it's modern, fresh, funky and fun.
So in celebration of Vicki's award and her phenomenal book, we're giving away ten (10!) copies of Teen Virtue Confidential. All you have to do to be eligible to win is to leave a comment. Just say hi. Or tell us a joke. Or share your new favorite color of lip gloss. We love variety.
This giveaway will be open until Monday, July 28 at 9 AM central, at which point we'll close comments and use random.org to select the winners.
Melanie
Melanie
Sophie
Sophie
Pam
Pam
Paige
Paige
Kris
Kris