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You did it Ladies!
It's our final week of Breaking Free!
Ladies, with determination and perseverance, we’ve finished our study of Breaking Free - Yahoo! I didn’t provide discussion questions this week simply because I felt we would benefit from having that short amount of time used differently. I had only one question for us that we discussed last night to do together as a group and if you are willing to share, the question is … What has been the most memorable experience of the Breaking Free study in what you learned about yourself?
In our final video, we saw Beth give a visual demonstration of breaking free from captivity and it was REALLY good! I always lurve a visual example as I will remember those. At the end of the video, Beth instructed you to write a letter. I’m inviting you to mail the letter to Sue or Myself, I will read it, reseal the letter, and return it back to you, just as she describes in the video.
Sue and I thank you for your perseverance and your commitment to finish your study. Ten weeks is a LONG journey and MANY of us have come through it bruised but no longer broken. Each step we took was another step out of our captivity. If you will allow me, I’d lurve to hug each of you to thank you for staying on your journey. Sue and I pray continually that God’s blessings abound in your life and so you can walk in freedom with Him.
Now, many of you have asked what will happen next for Women’s Ministry? We have a Ladies Tea coming up on Saturday, May 1 with a guest speaker – I’m even going to host a table – so somebody please come sit at my table! Tickets are on sale right now for $17.00! We are also planning summer groups for you that will have different themes and formats and I can’t begin to tell you how significant it is that you do SOMETHING this summer! Many people think they deserve a rest from months of studying and that’s exactly what the enemy would like for you to think. Even the natural tendency for a church in summer is to go on hiatus with their groups because vacations bring lower attendance however we don’t do that. Don’t lose the ground you’ve already made in having your established routine for studying. If you fall away from it, it’s especially hard when you try to pick it up again in the fall and if you have children in school, it’s even harder because often we are helping them stay focused with the homework / study routine. I’m successful about 4 days out of the week in my routine. Don’t let your morning routine change to the variety of ways you can toast a bagel, okay?
I will be leading an evening group again, to which I have now definitely decided will be a “Book Club” like I did last year. The purpose of my book club is for everyone to be encouraged to show up having read the current chapter, participate in the discussion and focus particularly on the spiritual and practical theme of the book. I want you to invite your girlfriends who are enthusiastic about reading in our shared passion – reading faith-based fiction and non-fiction books. Last year we read Nicole Johnson’s “Fresh Brewed Life”. It was a light read yet powerful in the way it made you think and staying true to the title of the book, grinding coffee beans every morning became the metaphor of our life. Some of us even did a crafty thing with it to journal our experience through the book and the feedback from that was it was really fun!
This summer I have selected a historical novel, a book of fiction, called “Israel, My Beloved” by Kay Arthur, written almost 10 years ago so it’s not easy to find on the store shelf now, in fact I had to order mine so we’ll have to order it for you too or you can pre-order it yourself on the internet and probably get a smokin' deal. Although it’s a work of fiction, it is based in historical fact. The story deals with a Jewish family, whose main character is a heroine (something for us ladies to connect with) and her name is Sarah. The story hovers mainly in the Old Testament of the Jewish people from before the Babylonian captivity - so think Jeremiah the prophet time here - to the not too distant future. It deals with marriage, faithfulness and infidelity, slavery, idolatry, suffering, hope and if you like prophecy – I think it will thrill you and if you’ve ever had a hard time getting your fire on for the Old Testament, this will ignite it.
So keep in mind, this won’t be a traditional bible study where we are digging into scripture, it’s a book club. We read and discuss the chapters we’ve read and if you’ve not participated in a book club before just bring an open spirit that is prepared for discussion and enjoy yourself in fellowship with the other ladies. More details will come out in a few weeks in the Sunday bulletin of when we will begin, yada yada yada... and remember those registration cards that we handed out in the first few weeks of class? Those are what we use to gather our mailing list, so if you missed it, let me know your address so you'll be notified when it officially gets announced to register.
Ladies, it has been a joy and a privilege to walk alongside you these last 11 weeks. It blessed me to know that we all created a safe environment within our group to share our ourselves. Many of you got to know me and the baggage in my trunk and I lurved your feedback. We laughed, cried and ate some delicious treats along the way!
See you this summer!
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