Bible Study Recap

Many of you know that I signed up to do the Early Risers Bible Study at my church. It was a big leap of faith for me and not something I normally do. I totally refrained from blogging about it until I was finished with the first half. There were some things that I loved and some things that I didn't. Here's the recap.

Things that I didn't love:

1. Getting up at 5:10 to get ready and leave the house by 5:45. I was shaking the first morning from the tiredness. It probably wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't already at church so late the night before because of junior high. But I was rarely able to get into bed by 11, so mornings were rough.

2. Not feeling totally accepted. I was the youngest person there. Not too many people made an effort to welcome me - not in the beginning anyway. I think if I weren't so committed to making this work, I would have left a long time ago. A good reminder for me as I interact with visitors to our church. I finally clued in to why this might be when the 3rd week I arrived and one woman shouted, "Eliza's here!" I said, "I get that every week. You guys act like you don't expect me to come." Her reply was, "We don't." Apparently most people my age with jobs and things are not as dedicated and often fizzle out.

3. Myrna. That's the name of the woman who wrote the study. I think Myrna might be dead now, but I'm not sure. The study we did was written in the '70's. Yes, God is God and is unchanged by decades, but there were some places I wished it were more relevant. There were times were I couldn't figure for the life of me what answer she was seeking. This could partly be because I was just coming off a Beth Moore study, so anything else will be a hard adjustment. It's like when I finished reading Great Expectations and then started reading Left Behind, it takes some getting used to.

4. That I let myself get behind on the homework. Each Wednesday was a scramble to keep up towards the end.

5. Making a cup of tea there and tasting the coffee grounds in the "Hot Water" carafe. The same thing also happened Friday night with my apple cider at the Christmas party. They really should designate those at the start of their life time.

Things I loved:

1. Getting to study God's Word with others. I've missed that.

2. Getting to work super early on Thursdays. We end at 7 and my school is just right there. I've even had some really great opportunities with students because of it.

3. Prayer. I love praying with others.

4. Challenging other's preconceived notions of me.

5. Only missing 3 times. Two were because I slept in by accident and one was because we were leaving town and I was sick.

So that's basically it. I'm pretty sure I will continue through the rest of the year. I'm sure the more time I spend there the better it will be for me. I didn't go to any of the extra Saturday things because I'm trying to keep my weekends all about my family - especially Saturdays. Perhaps if I had, I would have felt more accepted, but maybe not. I think I need to be putting my family ahead of other things, so I don't regret my choice at all.

Stirrings

This summer my mom, sister, and I all did a Beth Moore Bible Study together. It was amazing and I loved how much I learned and grew. Now that it's fall, I have to decide whether or not I want to get involved in small groups at church. In previous years, the conversation went like this:

Me: "Do you want to do a small group this year?"
Josh: "Sure. If you want too..."
Me: "Okay, let's look at the list"
Josh: "Okay, I'll bring one home from work"
Me: "What do you want for dinner?"

And then that was it. We never decided to do one or not to do one. It was a decision made by not making a decision. And that's how it's been for the last 4 years.

This year is different. I really want to grow with other believers this year. I want a time where I'm learning, instead of teaching. I've really missed that. Since I don't want to take away any time from my son, and we can't really find a group to join, we're not going to do a couples study. Instead, I've decided that I'm going to do the Early Risers Women's Bible Study. They meet once a week at 6:00 am. I'm hoping that I'll be dedicated enough to get up and get there each Thursday. I have to say it was hard for me to sign up. I looked at the list of ladies and I really don't know them all that well; the ones that I do know are more my mom's friends. I worry that they'll feel like I'm intruding on their special early morning group. I'm scared that they won't accept me. But I also know that this is something that God has put on my heart to do. I'm tired of feeling like I don't really know anyone outside of the junior high and high school department. I'm tired of making excuses for why I don't do Women's Bible Study - especially when I really don't have any good reason for not trying it. So this year I'm stepping out on faith and making a change.

I'm nervous.

I'm excited.