First, I want to say a special thank you.
Thank you to all of those, who after reading my blog post titled: Will You Pray For My Family? , prayed!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have felt your prayers and your love.
I cannot thank you enough for the abundance of encouraging comments and emails. I am so sorry if I have not answered your email. I am not sure that I will EVER get to answering them all. I had over 1,500 comments and emails and Facebook messages combined – but I read everyone of your emails and I appreciate it!
Thank you to those who sent me snail mail – some of your Good Morning Girls groups sent me packages and letters – thank you – that was so thoughtful! Thank you also to those who sent flowers, gifts (some came internationally!) and I even got a meal in the mail from Send Them a Meal! Wow! You have shown my children the love of the family of Christ and for that – I can’t thank you enough.
So where do I go from here?
I don’t have that answer. Right now – I wake up and I do the work that God has put in front of me each day. I’m putting one foot in front of the other and trusting God to guide me.
A verse that God has laid on my heart this past month, while I’ve been quiet here on-line, is 1 Thessalonians 4:11. It says:
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
The word ambition means: a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.
God says, “make it your ambition” or in other words – your goal, desire and plan — to lead a quiet life.
But how can being a blogger and leading a quiet life coincide?
This the tension I am feeling right now. I am trying to answer the question – how do I live out the great commission and lead a quiet life? Isn’t that a dichotomy? Even if you are not a blogger – if you use social media or do a lot of real life ministry – then you probably feel this tension as well.
I am a social butterfly on-line and off-line. God made me this way for His purposes but I am feeling a heavy need to pray more, read more, journal more, and process more. In order to make room for these things – I have to be quiet more but being quiet is NOT my forte. So I will have to ambitiously and diligently work hard at leading a quiet life.
I pray that what blossoms from my quiet spaces is a depth in my walk with God and in my writing.
So – as I put one foot in front of the other – I’m excited to return to the journey of reading through the Bible – one chapter a day – cover to cover.
God gave us 66 books in the Bible and I believe he wants us to read everyone of them!
{Cue the Confetti}
It’s time to announce the new Winter 2017 study — 1 Samuel!
Our study begins on Monday, January 9th and our GMG Regrouping and the re-opening of our Facebook Leadership Group will start on January 1st. I’ll post more details about all of that after Christmas.
This is an awesome book to read. I could not think of a better way to start out the new year than in 1 Samuel.
Some major themes of this book include:
The Sovereignty of God
God does not choose who He uses based on appearances
Obedience is better than sacrifice
The Example of the friendship of Jonathan and David
The Courage of David Against the Giant
One of the most famous stories from the Bible, is found right here in 1 Samuel. David, the shepherd boy, trusted in God and defeated the giant Philistine named Goliath.
We all have giants in our lives but I love how David stands before the giant looking him square in the eye and says:
“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty.”
May we remember when we are facing our giants – that no human weapon can stand against our Almighty God that protects us.
“No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed.” (Isaiah 54:17)
So I hope you will join me on this journey through 1 Samuel. From chapter 1 to chapter 31 – this book is action packed. We will weave our way through the history of Israel’s first King -Saul and the choosing of the second King -David. We will see the power of our God unleashed through answers to prayer, the slinging of a stone, and the rise and fall of Israel’s Kings. It’s going to be so good – you don’t want to miss this!
The 1 Samuel Journal is available now exclusively on Amazon!
We also have a Good Morning Guys 1 Samuel Journal
for your sons ages 10 and up.
Both journals have an identical interior and guys can follow my nephew, Johnathan, over at GoodMorningGuys.org as he blogs through the Bible as well!
Inside the journals you will find:
*An Introduction to the Book of 1 Samuel
*An explanation of how to use the signature S.O.A.K. method of the GMG’s
*The GMG Coloring Chart
* The Verse of the Day each day
*A Reflection Question for each day
* Blank space for SOAKing each chapter of the Book of 1 Samuel
This companion Journal is NOT required to join us.
If you are new, welcome to Good Morning Girls!
We are so glad you are here!
We are Reading Through the Bible– one chapter a day – five days a week.
There are no sign-ups or enrollments.
We are reading the books switching back and forth between the New Testament and the Old Testament.
So far we have completed:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Esther, Job, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Matthew, Mark, Acts, 1 & 2 Peter, 1,2, & 3 John and Jude! You can find all of the links to past studies on the GMG Resources Page.
To keep track of all of the books you have completed use this printable below. Notice there are no dates on any of our reading plans so anyone can join us anytime.
1 Samuel Blog and Social Media Schedule
Visit the Blog
On Mondays, here at WomenLivingWell.org, I’ll post all of the FREE resources for the week including the Daily Discussion Questions and printable Verses of the Day.
On Fridays, I’ll post a devotional here on the blog and invite you to fellowship in the comments.
Visit Instagram
On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, I’ll be posting both in the morning and evening, encouragement for your study in the book of Judges. Follow me on Instagram here.
Visit Facebook
On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, I’ll be posting the Assigned Reading of the Day at 7:45am and an open discussion takes place there. Check it out! It’s wonderful! Go to Good Morning Girls Facebook Page here.
Here is an explanation of the
Signature GMG SOAK Bible Study method:
Here’s the Printable Bible Coloring Chart Bookmark
Click here to print the Bookmark Coloring Chart
This is a wonderful method that slows us down and helps us soak in every single word.
Here’s what it looks like in my Bible (and some of yours). You can find more pictures like this out on my Instagram page.
Still not sure how this all works? Here is a video explaining it further.
Here are the highlighters, pens and pencils I mentioned in the video:
Highlighters – Acid Free – Bible Hi-Glider
Fine Line Non-bleeding Pens – Micron Archival Ink and Multi-Colored Gel Pens
Colored Pencils – Crayola Twistables and Crayola Colored Pencils
I use the ESV Inductive Study Bible as my personal study Bible.
Did you know GMG is also translated into over 15 languages?
Check out our GMG International Page !
Mark your calendars for January 9th!
Spread the Word! Share this post with your friends! And look for the free resources and more details about our winter study coming after Christmas.
Have a very Merry Christmas and thanks again for all of your prayer support. I thank the Lord for you all and I love you.
Keep walking with the King,
Courtney <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2/72x72/1f642.png" alt="