a gathering place for online women's bible studies....
"He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure." Isaiah 33:6
Welcome to our gathering place for online women's Bible studies. Our current study is, Esther by Beth Moore.
I was so blessed to have been able to complete the first day of homework sitting all by myself at Panera Bread Co. After that day, however, I've been roughin' it at home.
I was hoping to have posted a few thoughts about the first few days' of homework but I just haven't had a chance to get it from my heart and put it to words (yet).
In the meantime, does anyone have something they'd like to discuss or share from this week's homework so far?
I can't tell you how deeply I wish we were all sitting together, devouring copious amounts of coffee and cake, while discussing what God spoke to us through the first video.
Seriously, I'm bummed like you'll never know that we can't do that.
But, we'll make the most of our cyber-visits together, OK?
First, I thought it was intriguingly interesting that God isn't mentioned in the book of Esther. I've read it no less than a dozen times over the years, I'm sure...yet I've never noticed that. What does that say about me? I shudder to think. But I love how Beth covered that, didn't you?
And the way she talked about the fact that God is seemingly absent from our lives from time to time was huge to me. It really can be confusing when we don't feel God near us. But that's yet another reason to really know Him. When we have a deep relationship with Him, we know for certain that His promise to never leave us is true.
The other thing that stood out to me, BIG TIME, were the three things she posted as being the toughest parts of being a woman, based on her poll.
#3 Yielding. I don't feel like this is an issue for me...but umm, I'm sure I'm just blinded by my own denial of it. I'll ask my husband, I'm sure he'll have a hearty opinion. Ahem.
#2 Balance. Oh, baby. Is this ever an issue for me. On so many levels, I can't even tell you.
#3 Hormones. Ding, ding, ding, ding!! This is me, to an embarrassing degree. Where do I even begin? I won't.
I just had a thought. There are at least two of our gals here who are dealing with really sick kids right now. And a couple others haven't received their workbooks yet.
Do you want to delay our study by one week to help everyone get caught up?
I know it's soon to be doing that already but I sure do hate to have any of you starting out behind!
Let me know.
**UPDATE** I immediately heard from one of the moms with sick kids. She would be so very grateful if we delayed this by a week. Let's do that then. OK?
Feel free to continue on with the study! We'll just delay our discussions by a week.
I was absolutely certain that you could download the workbook...but it has been brought to my attention that it isn't on Lifeway's site. I looked, and sure enough, it's not there.
Dang it.
SO, my apologies if this messes anyone up. If you were planning on downloading it, I guess you'll have to go buy one or order it online.
If anyone needs me to email you a scanned copy of the first few days' work until you get your book, I can do that. *Probably not "legal" but as long as you buy a book, I'm sure it will be fine. Don't ya think?
Girls, I just had to jump on here to tell you that I took a sneak peek at the Intro video.
Well....the fact is, it wasn't just a sneak peek.
I watched the entire thing.
I was just too excited to wait a single minute longer. Plus, I needed the head-start. All I can say is, we are in for a ride!
In true Beth Moore style, she digs deep...and requires the same of us.
And if you've done a BM study before, you know her humor will leave you laughing hard and feeling refreshed. You won't be disappointed.
We'll discuss it at length starting Tuesday evening! Just thought I'd let you know that there is MUCH to look forward to in this study. AND God has something big for all of us. I just know it.
Hello, fellow sojourners! I'm so excited to get started on this study! Let me take a moment to explain how this will work (if you don't already know):
1. Watch the weekly video on (or before) each Tuesday, following along in your workbook as you fill out the video guide pages.
2. We will begin a "discussion" here at this site Tuesday evening...and/or Wednesday.
3. Beginning on Wednesdays you will complete the homework in the workbook over the next five days.
4. We will discuss the homework every few days...or every day if we want to. :)
Since this site is dedicated solely to this study...feel free to pop in anytime to say what's on your heart. Please understand that I may have to moderate comments if spam and/or other weird comments come in. I will publish comments as quickly as I can.
Right now this site will remain public so that even those not actually doing the study can gain from it. If we feel we need to have more private discussions, I will change it to a private site. I want everyone to feel free to say what's on your heart without feeling intimidated.
In fact, if that's what the majority wants....I will go ahead and do that now.
Let me know!
In the mean time, gear up to dive in!
Oh, and one last thing....if at all possible, add yourself as a follower if you're doing this study. If you don't know how to do that, let me know. I will help you, or add you to a list on the sidebar of those following along (first names only, of course) who are not on the "followers" list.
Sure hope I didn't make this more complicated than necessary!!
I was so blessed to have been able to complete the first day of
