Bible Study Starts Tonight!!

I am starting a new Bible Study tonight and I am so excited. I have missed it so much since we took a break for the Holidays in November and December. We are starting "Lord, I want to Know You" By Kay Arthur. "This is a devotional Study on the Names of God - To know God is to know His character, and that character is revealed in His names. Each name is an aspect of His sovereignty over your life. If you want a deeper, abiding faith, this study will help you see and understand how powerfully He works." (taken from her website)

I have never done a Kay Arthur study before, but my Mom has, and she has great things to say about her. I am really looking forward to starting this study, and to see what God is going to teach me over the next 17 weeks.

If anyone in the area is interested in doing this Bible Study, we would love to have you. It starts at 6:20 pm and usually lasts about an hour and a half. E-mail me if you are interested Katiebug810@hotmail.com

A little bit of everything

It's been a while since I posted a new blog. So here is just a little bit of what's going on:

- For the Bible Study that I am currently working through, we are supposed to memorize Psalm 121. It has been a long time since I memorized any scripture, so I'm a little nervous / excited about learning this one. It is a very familiar verse, so I'm hoping it will be easy to recall the entire thing. This week I need to have the first four verses memorized.

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;

From where shall my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

who made Heaven and Earth.

He will not allow your foot to slip;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep."

- Today marks 3 weeks without any sweets! Only one more week to go! 8 more days! I will not eat any sweets...I will not eat any sweets...I will not eat any sweets.

- Last weeks, the city of Gaffney, SC pulled together to honor a fallen hero. On Wednesday, we lined the streets of Gaffney as his body was transported from the airport to the funeral home. Thousands of people lined the streets holding American Flags, with tears in our eyes, as the processional went past. In the words of a local child, "It was the coolest, saddest thing I have ever seen." I have never been more proud of my community as I was last week. The funeral was on Friday, so again, thousands of people lined the streets from the church to the cemetery to honor a 20 year old who had given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

The Heart of our Desires

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Last weekend, I attended the Beth Moore Simulcast. She was live in Wisconsin, and we were sitting in a church in Duncan, SC participating. The whole event was wonderful, and I am so grateful that I was able to participate. Travis Cottrell led worship before each session, and he did an amazing job. Being able to worship with 400 women, and knowing that all over the world there were over 90,000 women coming together to Worship God was incredible. There were a total of 516 locations doing the simulcast in 4 countries. AMAZING!

The theme for the conference was “The Heart of Our Desires,” and God knew exactly what I needed before I stepped one foot into the church. Beth gave 7 points to go along with Psalm 37:1-9, but she focused mainly on verse 4.
1) Nothing dictates our lives like our desires.
-- Desire is a sustained longing that is unaffected by mood or situation.
2) Beneath the desires of our hearts, is the heart of our desires.
-- What motivates you more than anything else?
-- Look for what is present, in the absence of your desires.
3) Delighting in God, adapts our desires into inevitabilities.
-- Grant me a heart that delights in you Lord.
4) Nothing external can steal our right to delight – NOTHING!
-- What is taking a bite out of my delight?
---- Jealousy vs. 1
---- Anger vs. 8
---- Worry vs. 1 & 8
5) To make room for delight, we’ve got to commit to HIM.
-- Stop doubting and believe
6) Nothing is passive about patiently waiting for desire to turn into delight.vs. 7
-- God is not inactive; He is always at work. Sometimes you just need to be silent and listen.You never learn anything while talking.
7) Till faith becomes sight, Trust God and do good. vs. 3
-- Dwell in the land that God has given you and feed off of his faithfulness.
-- It is more important to do good, than to be right.

At the very end of the event, she had us find a partner, hold hands, look them in the eye, and repeat the following “Commission” to them:

My Dear Sister
God has not overlooked you
He has not ignored you
He hears every petition
And intimately knows
The heart beneath it.
Give Him full access
To all your longings
Pray every single day
To become a person who delights in Him.
When it seems to disappear
Remember to check your JAW
Are you jealous?
Are you angry?
Are you worried?
Roll it all on Jesus
He's strong enough to carry it
Big enough to handle it.
Trust God with all your heart
Now leave this place
And go into the world
And do some GOOD.

I was there with my dear friend Jennifer, so with tears in our eyes, we commissioned one another. What an incredible way to end an incredible weekend.

Talk about willpower

Tonight at Bible Study, someone brought this dessert to share with everyone. I am so proud to say that I stood strong, and did not even eat a single bite.

So, Day one of my Month of no sweets was a success! 1 day down...29 days left.

So much to blog...So little time...

I have wanted to blog about so much this week, but I just haven't had time. Here are some pictures from last Saturday. Jennifer is officially home from Germany, so we all had to get together to "celebrate." It started out with breakfast with her Mom and Brother and Nieces. The rest of the day was spent at Car Dealerships (Jennifer needed a car, now that she is home), The Mall, Barnes and Noble, Babies R' Us, Target, and Downtown Greenville. It was so much fun hanging out with these girls. I love them all dearly and I have said it before, but I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Tonight, Jennifer, Jessica and I will be attending the Beth Moore Simulcast. Beth Moore will be live in Green Bay, WI, but thousands of churches across America, will be doing a live Simulcast. This is the first one I have ever done, but I know it will be great. The topic is "The heart of our Desires" from Psalm 37. I am really looking forward to it. I will give you a full report on Sunday - Hopefully. Ta Ta for Now.

You're invited...

Three times a year, the ancient Israelites traveled to the temple in Jerusalem. Now it's your turn. Tuesday evenings @ 6:20 PM beginning September 1 (no class on 9/8/09, resuming 9/15/09) West End Baptist Church - 400 Overbrook Drive, Gaffney, SC $13 per person (covers the cost of the book) Stepping Up: A Journey Through the Psalms of Ascent by Beth Moore, is an in-depth look at 15 psalms. Just as a song or poem can express feelings of fear, doubt, hope, and joy, these 15 psalms model how study participants can voice their own petitions and praises to our God, who is always available and ready to hear us. Explore the major feasts of Israel and journey through Psalms 120-134 in this 8-session study. Themes such as unity, joy and gratitude, redemption, repentance, the power of blessings, facing ridicule, and more are explored in detail. Modern-day believers can learn much from these treasured Psalms in their journey toward greater intimacy with God. Contact the church office (864-489-3123) by noon on Aug. 31 to insure materials will be available for the introductory session on Sept. 1. I am very excited about starting this Bible Study. I love going through Ester, so I'm sure I will love this one just as much. Leave me a comment if you would like more information.

While I'm Waiting...

Last night at Bible study, we learned about waiting. We are currently on the 5th Chapter of Ester. Beth Moore did a great job of addressing the topic of having to wait. In Ester Chapter 5, it shows the importance of timing and waiting. There were four main points she made.
The importance of knowing:
1. When it's time
2. When it's time to wait
3. When it's time to wait for someone else's time.
4. When the meantime is God's time.

Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."


The key is to Wait upon the LORD - not wait for the thing or the event that you have been praying for, wait upon the LORD. His timing is always perfect.

Andrew and I have been in the waiting process for a long time. Andrew started working with Chick-fil-A 3 years ago, in the hopes to one day become a Chick-fil-A operator. We knew it would be a long process, but we weren't sure just how long. Every time it seems he makes progress toward getting his own store, there are setbacks. Last night's Bible study really hit home. The funny thing is that Beth Moore said in the video that Chapter 5 is not going to be the chapter you look back on, and see where you really saw God working in the book of Ester. But I disagree, this Chapter showed me the importance of waiting, which is exactly what I needed to hear last night.

This song was in the Movie Fire Proof, and is a great song. Please listen to it, and really hear the message.



I just have to remember, God is never inactive, the longer we wait, the harder He is working!

Bible Study

Last night, I started a new Bible Study with my Mom at her church. We are going through the Beth Moore Study - Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman. I haven't gone through a Bible Study with a group of Ladies since College. I'm really looking forward to this study, and seeing what God has in store for me to learn. Have any of you ever gone through this study before?