Not waving...

Today was our first Bible Study.  We started small, three of us gathered in my kitchen. :) It was a good time of fellowship and sharing but I am really hoping next week perhaps we can double in size! :D

We talked about presceptive.  How our attitude can color the way we view situations.  How sometimes we need to take a step back and readjust.

I shared my devo from "Jesus Calling" --

Rejoice in Me always!  No matter what is going on, you can rejoice in your Love-relationship with Me.  This is the secret of being content in all circumstances.  So many people dream of the day when they will finally be happy: when they are out of debt, when their children are out of trouble, when they have more leisure time, and so on.  While they daydream, their moments are trickling into the ground like precious balm spilling from overturned bottles.
Fantasizing about future happiness will never bring fulfillment, because fantasy is unreality.  Even though I am invisible, I am far more Real than the world you see around you.  My reality is eternal and unchanging.  Bring your moments to Me, and I will fill then with vibrant Joy.  Now is the time to rejoice in My Presence!  (Jesus Calling, pp266)

We also discussed Operation Christmas Child.  We decided to pack two boxes (minimum) one for a girl and one for a boy.  I will have a box next meeting and we will continue collecting until its time to send them off. :)

Now on with the Study....
Chapter One is entitled I'm not Waving; I'm Drowning.

• Define in your own words what it means to be broken.  Shattered.  Helpless. Feeling like I am falling apart.
• Sheila quotes Stevie Smith's poem, "I was much too far out all my life/ And not waving but drowning." {The poem talks about a man thrashing about in the surf fighting for his life.  But is unable to gain help from people on shore.  Some of them even waved back thinking he was merely waving}   What is your own drowning experience.  How did you survive?
•  Some brokenness stems from sin in our lives
• What do the following verse say about sin and how God's people respond?
  
  • Isaiah 6:5-- Woe to me
  • Psalm 51:1-9--  praying for deliverance
  • Luke 5:8-- go away from me Lord
    
    These verses certainly show how detestable sin is to God.  How it can be uncomfortable to be around God when we are lost in sin.  I like how the Psalms passage also offers a ray of Hope...Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean, wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.  (Ps 51:7-8)

"I have often found anger more comfortable than fear. Anger gives me the illusions of control, while fear leaves me naked and exposed."  (God Loves Broken People; pp 2)

• When we are faced with conflict, it is easy for our sin nature to react.  We tend to go where our comfort zone is, whether that is to respond in anger or to retreat in self-pity.  What does your "sin comfort zone" look like?
• Read Psalm 88.  Personalize each paragraph to reflect your prayer and confession to God. 
• Though this Psalm ends in lamnet, how does it show faith in God.

" Isaiah gives us a second hook on which to hang our hats.  Not only do we rest on the solid rock of the Word of God, but we are called to open our eyes and see what God is doing in us and preparing for us right now!  God speaks through the prophet to tell us," (God Loves Broken People; pp 12)

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way is the desert
and streams in the wasteland.  (Isaiah 43:19)
{This is a personal favorite of mine.  And one I committed to memory when I was going through my own "drowning" experience.  It was one I had to say over and over and over again.}

Shelia goes to talk about how we sometimes spend our life looking in the rearview mirror so to speak.  But who can drive starring in the review mirror.  We must keep our focus on the road ahead of us.

"God says to you and me, "It's time for something new in your life.  I open up new roads to you.  I want to fill the desert of your soul with living water and satisfy your thirst with heaven's swift, cool brooks.  Don't dwell on the past, and refuse to camp in the tragedies of your history or family background.  Leave it all behind!  And then come with Me, for I have something brand-new in mind for you.
So with one hand firmly gripping the Word of God, and the other hand reaching for the fresh future God is busily at work preparing for us, let us walk together on this journey into God's best.  It maybe hard, but it will be worth it.  (God Loves Broken People; pp 13)

I am looking forward to next week. :) I encourage everyone to bring something from their devo this coming week to share, as well as some "gifts" you experienced this week....and perhaps a little something for our shoebox child. ;) Next Wednesday we will be at Jessica's, 9:30 am :D  Talk to me or Jess if you have questions or need directions.  I look forward to see you and am praying for you this week!

The plan right now is to meet every WED (except the WED before Thanksgiving).  This will put our last Study on December 12th.  We will then have our Christmas Party on Dec 19.  And then a break for Christmas and possibly the month January.   We are also hoping to have a fall family outing to an apple and or pumpkin patch followed by a chili get together.  More details on that to come as well as a Mom's Nite our to DD sometime SOON!!