I’m so thankful for the opportunity I had this past weekend to spend it with about 20 women from Bay Leaf studying God’s Word and building community. I wasn’t really sure what I was getting myself into going in, especially since the only person I knew well was Lacy and I only spent small amounts of time with a few of the other girls but I knew I wanted to know but I didn’t know how much I needed to go. The things we talked about went right along with what God has been teaching me.
Our verse for the weekend was 2 Corinthians 12:7-10: “or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Saturday, four of the girls shared their story. Through Caitlyn, I learned that I have to look for God’s character in the tragedies. Sarah reminded me that I don’t always have to have something to say, sometimes we have to sit in the uncomfortable moments and that we need to real and authentic with each other. Jennifer gave practical steps for taking thoughts captive.
- Is this thought a true? Or is it a lie?
- When I start thinking this?
- What does God’s Word have to say about it?
It’s a matter of going through that process over and over until it something can do quickly. “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 {The cool thing is that these are my verses for 2014, I love to see God using them.} Paige shared her struggles and talked about opening up and building real community for the first time. She said “The Lord says he’ll renew our mind, not remove them” probably the biggest thing I got out of the weekend. The Lord has been working on me with mind and the things I think about over the past few years, I’m glad I got practical application for this weekend. It was great weekend and I’m so thankful for the community that out of it, I can’t wait to get the girls more.
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2
Walking in My Shoes 