Day 25: Friends are the Best Bible Study Buddies!

(My hubby Seth, me, her hubby Terry, & Traci)

I have some great friends.

I love doing Bible study with my friends. :)

My hope is that all of my friends will want to remain my friends after the Bible study. Haha!

All of that said, I want to praise God and tell y'all a little about my current Bible study group.
There are 4 of us ladies, and we are following an online/Facebook-driven study on Renee Swope's book A Confident Heart.  It is organized and done by Melissa Taylor with Proverbs 31 Ministries.  We meet on Monday evenings in each other's homes and have a  simple supper.  Then we review the previous week's chapter, the end of the chapter questions, and anything else Melissa wants us to focus on.  Lately, we are good to get through all the questions!  However, if life gets in the way and we can't meet, then we can still do the study because of the online community.  It has been a great study.

Like I said, there are four of us in the group. I'd like to tell you about them.

1.  One of the wonderful ladies in our group, who has become a good friend to all of us, is Cassie.  Now, Cassie has some spunk to her, although she seems quiet.  She has such wonderful stories of God working in her life to share with us all.  I am always so encouraged by her.  She is just as cute as a bug, has a wonderful husband who is still trying to "find himself", and two beautiful daughters--one of which is a part of our youth group at church.  Such a fantastic family centered around God's will in their life!

2.  Another good friend in the group is Carol.  Now Carol loves the Lord more than anyone I have seen.  She does have a very hard life.  Her health keeps her down a lot, but she is powering through it.  She has twin 16-year old boys that she is raising alone, and she tougher than I could ever be as a mama. She has had a lot of hard knocks in her life, but the glory of it is this:  She is consciously trying to rely on God to get her through all of it!  Praise God!  Thank you for Carol in my life and thank you for making her part of this group.

3.  The third dear friend in our group is Traci.  Traci and I have such similar thoughts and "issues" sometimes that it is a little "spooky."  We get each other on a level that is very rare.  That is so cool to me!  Traci adds a very confident dynamic to our group.  She shares her heart, her life, and her thoughts from God.  She's honest with us all, but she very loving about it.  Traci is one of those beautiful ladies that looks absolutely perfect without makeup, in a T-shirt and sweats, and/or out in the yard working.  During study, she digs deep into the Word to pull out more of what God is saying in scripture and then shares her insights. She is married to a great guy (who is friends with my husband) and has 2 daughters. 

4.  And then there is little 'ole me.  I felt God leading me to start another Bible study group that was a little more flexible and self-sustaining than the ones we have at our church currently.  I try so hard to be honest with our group and hospitable.  My husband is the youth pastor at our church, so I feel like everyone thinks I have to "have it all together." News flash:  I don't!  This group lets that be OK, and I am so grateful for that.

I hope, when we are done with this book, that we can continue in the study of God's Word together.  I really am enjoying this season of study--even though it has been very tough as well.  Having good friends as a part of your study time with God makes a great difference, too. I hope you have the chance to study God's Word with your friends, too!

Lots of laughs, tears, inside jokes, and love.

Thank you Lord for this time together and thank you for Traci, Carol, and Cassie.