Bible Study

It seems like this week several of the blogs I follow posted about Bible studies they were starting or have enjoyed and I felt really encouraged to share about the bible study that I attend, as well as to invite anyone reading this to come with me! I also wrote about it a few years ago.

I started going to Bible Study Fellowship in March 2012. At the time I felt like my life was kind of a mess and I was looking for something. I had started going to church on my own and out of no where a former coworkers wife called and invited me to come with her. At first I was unsure, but I thought 'why not give it a try.' At the time I was really struggling with having close friends in Columbus and I was definitely interested in having a better and more regular church experience.

That first year was great for me. I met a few friends that were in my class and really met other girls that were going thru the same trials in life as me.

The following year (2012-2013) my friend Abra came to the first Welcome Night of the year and she also has really enjoyed it. She's still coming and we've been in class for two years now. My leader that second year was great and I had a good class that I liked visiting with once a week. this year we studied Genesis and I loved learning about the beginning of the bible.

My third year (2013-2014) my friend Jill also attended. We were all in different classes, but I still enjoyed the lessons. That year we studied Matthew, which includes the birth and death of Jesus Christ and so many other wonderful stories that I had heard thru Bible School when I was younger, but had not actually read. So it was also a great year for me. This group was a quiet group and I didn't do great about always having my lesson done ahead of time, so I do feel like I talked a lot some weeks while others I didn't talk at all.

My fourth year (this year) we're studying Moses. There are four books in the Bible that are part of Moses and we've already finished Exodus and will be wrapping of Leviticus soon and then the second half of the year will be Numbers and Deuteronomy. I absolutely LOVE my group this year and our group leader. Marcey has just been such a blessing. When she calls to check in on Sunday I don't avoid her calls and she has been such a support with a few things I've been going thru lately. For the first time ever I give her a prayer request to share with the group. I never did that before because there would only be a few from my class and I didn't want to share my struggles with other people for fear of being judged. This year I've really started opening up and sharing meaningful prayer requests - about grad school, about inviting friends and family to come to class, about having better communication with friends and especially family. I appreciate it so much that these women pray for me and I make it a goal to pray for their requests as well. Every week everyone has an A.S.K. (Ask, Seek, Knock) and it really makes me happy. And I've also been getting my lesson done ahead of time each week, so that's great too! I can feel a real difference when I'm putting Bible Study and God first in my life.

One of my New Years Resolutions is to study the Bible more. In addition to doing my BSF lesson, I've also been trying to read books with a Christian background. I just finished the Growing Up Dugger book by the oldest Dugger girls and found a lot of stuff in there that I agreed with (not everything, but some). I enjoy hearing about others walks and how once they were at the same stage that I am now and God has led them to do great things. I know that if I put my faith in him for everything, I will be blessed as well. But sometimes, it's just hard.

If you're interested in coming to a Bible Study Fellowship class with me, let me know! The class I go to is on Monday Nights at 6:55pm off Bethel Road. It goes until 8:45pm. You have a few questions to answer each day. Or you can just do them all at once. :) There are day classes around Columbus too. Visit the BSF website for a complete listing of classes in your area. I really wish Columbus had a Young Adult class. Or that we could do a fellowship with the Men's class on our same night! :) hehe.

I've never done any kind of Bible study other than BSF, so I'm thinking that this summer I might try to do a shorter study. Maybe a Joyce Meyer or Beth Moore study. Or one for single women. :)