Two days ago I penned a weepy missive about my wonderful friends, and I feel in danger of doing it again, but I will try and stop myself. I've been thinking a lot the past couple of days about a particular group of girls back home. I was so blessed to be part of a ladies Bible study group that was just amazing. Now I know that sounds like a bunch of women with their hair tied up in buns and noses stuck in the air, but only if you've never been part of a group like this. Over the past 5 or 6 years we went through a number of studies written by Beth Moore, a brilliantly talented and hilariously funny author and teacher, and we all felt just like she was a member of our group. At some point we started calling ourselves, for lack of creativity, "the BM girls". What a sad name! Each year we would start a new study and we'd have a full house on the first night. Then as the weeks passed and the homework piled up our numbers would dwindle. There is quite an elite group of ladies who actually made it all the way through one full study (10 weeks that we would cover in 20), and even fewer who made it through all of them. I hate to brag, but I did finish all of them! Those of us who did journey through an entire study together developed a real closeness to each other. If you have travelled through any of Beth's studies with me, please know that I feel a special affinity toward you. God has used you in my life, and we share something that a lot of people just don't get. My husband certainly doesn't! If I had missed a week and was watching the video at home when he walked in he'd say "Listening to that woman yelling at you again, are you?" Ha! She doesn't yell -- She just gets excited!
This week my friend Jocelyn took me to the local Christian bookstore. It was my first visit, a long one, and I left far too much money there. (Oops, I forgot that my dear husband reads this blog. Oh, well, how could I help it? At least it isn't conveniently located in our corner of the city!) I noticed Beth's latest book on the bestseller shelves, 20% off! Could I really be expected to leave it there? Especially when I read the title.
Three years ago, around the same time that Chris first mentioned that a move may be in the works, the BM girls and I started studying The Patriarchs. I was determined to stay put, but God's steady message to the patriarchs was "Go". The next year, when I had started to think I was safe in my bubble in Fredericton, we began to study A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place, and as I dug deeper into the tabernacle I began to feel my heart prepared for a change. And last year, the week we put the house on the market, the ladies and I opened Esther, and talked about how it's tough being a woman, but learned God gives us strength for everything He asks of us. After all that, why should I have been surprised, here in this new city where I feel so small and insignificant and invisible, to read the title of Beth's lastest book, So Long Insecurity? Did she write it especially for me? I've read the first two chapters, and she claims it was written for all women, since most of us struggle with issues of insecurity. But it might as well have my name splashed across the front cover.
After I read the first chapter, I decided to go on Beth's website to see if she had any study materials to go along with the book. I found her blog, and Tuesday's entry brought me right back to my BM girls! It was all about laughing with friends. If there is anything that my girls and I have done together, besides praying together, it is laughing together! We have laughed until our sides split over so many things! And I can't wait to do it again. Keep your calendars clear, girls, because there will be lunch dates and cheesecakes nights coming up that you won't want to miss!
So, BM Girls, I'm diving into this one without you. But I'll be taking you along with me at the turn of every page. Unless, of course, you'd like to join me...
I just heard about this one. I bet it'll be good.
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