The small group that I lead, for moms who have preteens/teens, is starting a new study book entitled Living Above Worry and Stress (Women of Faith series).
It was actually a total "God thing" that I decided to go ahead with this book.....a couple of the women were sharing about their fears, worries and stress in their lives. This book seemed like the perfect study to do now that we've completed the Got Teens book. That was a good book for us to really get to know each other as women and moms. This new study will have us going deeper and will really cement our friendships. When i announced it to the group, every single woman loved the idea!! (we originally had 10; we are down to 8 of us due to 2 of my friends having a conflict on our meeting nites.)
So...in keeping with what happens at Women of Faith conferences (I've been to 2 and they are just amazing!!), the book has a "treasure trinket" for each chapter. This first chapter is a leaf. To remind us that our worries are a lot like the autumn leaves scattering about...and although very pretty, they are difficult to rake up and keep together. The study wants us to think of our lives as a fresh, new leaf clinging to the branch....like in spring! So.....I decided that for our meeting, I'd hand out spring green paper leaves for every friend at the study. I put Psalm 1:2-3 on one side, and a small photo on the other side. This will help the women to remember that we are "turning over a new leaf" in regards to worries, stress, and fears. And clinging to Jesus, the One who can help us overcome those sins.
But...that's not really what I wanted to write about today.
I wanted to share the verses that I'm going to share with the small group and then share the verse that just happened to be in a portion of Scripture I read before work this morning! God always amazes me.....He must really want me to be thinking on these things this week!
Psalm 1:2 & 3 says:
"....his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season. Whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."
And this morning I was in Jeremiah 17, verses 7 & 8:
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green. And will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit."
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| taken from the website, fineartamerica.com |
To me, this group of verses means that no matter what comes our way (a dry season, anxiety, "heat" which often is defined "stress"), we are to continue to produce fruit....we can be firmly planted by the River of Life....(Jesus, the Living Water).
We need to give our worries, stress, and anxieties over to Christ. By doing so, we tell Him we trust Him. By not doing so, we are sinning......and we'll reap the deadened, dry, and brittle leaves of life.
Which leaf do you want your life to portray? Let's try for the new, spring-green one.....as though planted by the waters......
We need to give our worries, stress, and anxieties over to Christ. By doing so, we tell Him we trust Him. By not doing so, we are sinning......and we'll reap the deadened, dry, and brittle leaves of life.
Which leaf do you want your life to portray? Let's try for the new, spring-green one.....as though planted by the waters......
6 comments:
This was really good, Faith. I love the idea of something you can touch and grab ahold of to remind the lesson learned in each chapter. This was exactly what I needed to hear today.
Thank you Susanne! Have you ever been to a Woman of Faith conference? they always give us verbal trinkets to remember the various lessons learned...it's so awesome! and I am a "gifts" person so making little trinkets for my friends is gonna be a fun addition to the study!
I have been to one but nothing like that was given out. This was the first one in this city and didn't have the usual Friday evening more intense teaching that they usually have, so maybe that is where they give them out?
it wasn't an actual thing to hold...they would say things like "this lesson's trinket will be a leaf...to represent turning over a new leaf" or something like that..the one I went to would say the trinket after the main message (I never went to the friday events..just the all day Sat ones)...one year one of the treasures was "hammer" so we could "nail" stuff to the Cross and to remember to love our neighbor...and let God "fix" them. Another time it was a 1/2 mustard seed so we would remember "great is thy faithfulness"....etc. I wrote them down in my Bible!!I decided to actually make something tangible rather than just us remembering the item...i wanted something for the moms to take away and place on a shelf, etc.
I love these Scriptures. They paint such a wonderful picture of beautiful strength in the Lord. I think your small group sounds wonderful. I hope that when I have teens, I have something similar to be a part of at my church. God bless your group and you as you teach it!
Hi Kimberly: I'm thankful you were blessed by this! Our church, with several small groups to choose from, didn't have one especially targeted for moms of teens either! So..because I had completed the required training course for small group leaders, I asked if I could start a group and the head of the ministry said yes! It has been a huge blessing, especially because most of the women who joined were already women I was starting to have friendships with...GOD IS FAITHFUL TO PROVIDE!!
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