My Bible Study

Last year about this time, Michael began speaking at the church where he is now pastor. There was a lady there around my age who asked me if I was involved in a Bible study group. If you know me, you know that after I had Calli, being a mommy is all that I did. I had a hard time transitioning to the new role that God had placed me in from the first day that I found out I was going to be a mother. I had always enjoyed having a job, and I really enjoyed teaching middle school; it’s like I had found my niche. Just when you get comfortable…Anyway, Marlea asked me to come and be a part of a ladies’ Bible study at Spartanburg Community Church on Tuesday mornings. She said that they were starting that week and that they were studying the life of David in the Beth Moore study, “A Heart Like His.” I was apprehensive about leaving Calli in the nursery, about being around a group of strangers, and I was still nursing, so I was unsure about the scheduling. My first morning there, Calli cried when I handed her over to the <total stranger> ladies in the nursery, we were late because I was so concerned about packing everything we would need (that would’ve lasted us two days), and I just felt like crying the entire time.  Brenda Blankenship, the pastor’s wife and the facilitator of the study, began by saying that she could remember her first day of Bible study when she was a young mother, and the feelings she described were mine exactly. I just wept. She encouraged us (me) not to give up, not to worry about getting the homework done, but to keep coming and to keep yearning for God’s voice.  Well, I took that challenge, and I am so glad that I did. I cannot tell you the number of days that I felt like pulling the covers up over my head and not going to Bible study, but when I got there, God had prepared a Word just for me.  As I began to see Brenda and the other ladies, including Beth Moore, live out and speak about their love for the Lord, I longed for their kind of close relationship with Him. I began praying that the Lord would help me to love Him more. It was so surprising, and so life-changing what began to happen. God started showing me His love for me through His Word and through other people. The small things that I just sort of carelessly prayed about began happening. He has shown me that this is really what the basis of being a follower of Christ is all about. It is his kindness that draw us to him, and it is His ultimate act of sacrificial love that provides hope for us and a reason to live! Wow, what a difference a year makes. I cannot imagine my life without a group like this now. Yesterday, I walked in with Calli and she walked right into the nursery, turned and waved, and ran to the nursery worker, Michelle, who has now become one of her favorite people. I am so amazed at her transformation and mine. I’m not saying that I have it all together–at all. I’m still late most of the time because I’m packing enough food and diapers/pull-ups to keep her fed and dry for a week, but I just have to keep on going. It has been a lifeline for me over the past year. I have told Michael time after time that if we only came to this church to make that one connection, it was all worth it. Thank you God for your unending, all-encompassing love!

Whew!

 

We’re off to the beach today for an entire week. When Michael and I first started considering this trip, we looked back over the past few years and realized that we have not taken a true vaca in like five years!! Needless to say after Calli came and Michael took a church in addition to his “day job,” we are bogged down in our busyness much of the time.

Anyway, from today until next Saturday, it’s no laptop, dead cellphone, unplug time for Michael, Calli, David, Danielle, and me! We have our plans made, which are no plans at all, and we are ready to R-E-L-A-X! I am looking forward to taking more photos of my Calli Girl and reading a good (fiction!!) book or two.

So, I’ll be back soon. Until then…pray for Grant Jones, a 4-year-old who is undergoing heart surgery Tuesday. This is all I ask.

LOVE!