Forgotten God

This Fall, our church is doing a congregation wide small group study. We did it last year and it was great so they are going to try this monumental event again this year. We have close to 2,000 members in the church and so far 1,200 have signed up to be a part of a small group. How awesome is that?!?!?! Raymond and I did a mini small group this Summer called Love and Respect (based on the teachings of Dr. Emerson Eggerich) and really really enjoyed our group. At the end of it, we were approached by the leaders to start up and host our own small group. What?!? Us?!?! We just joined!!!! We're not equipped with the resources to handle such a big task!! Raymond and I also were timid about the idea, in that, we are far from being perfect in our walk with God, in our marriage, in our parenting, in our friendships, in our families.....who are we to help lead a group? We did not want to subject ourselves to this pedestal that I am afraid we fall very very short of. After prayer (and prayer and prayer and prayer) and meditation, our hearts were filled with the calling that this is something we felt God was pulling us to do - for many different reasons. One being, I feel it holds you accountable- it keeps you involved in the church and active with fellowship. It keeps you real and grounded. It keeps you questioning your Faith and digging deeper into the mercies of our wonderful Savior. It helps you meet other people who have the same ideas, questions, fears, worries, anger, trials and tribulations. Raymond and I often sit down and talk about our goals with our marriage and one area (that often becomes a deeply sorted discussion) is our Spiritual life. One thing we are working so very hard on is allowing ourselves to be open to God's plan. Our plans for our life together, as partners and parents, is sadly not always going to play out like the movie we imagine it to be. We strive for our hearts and our ears to constantly be open to where God is drawing us. It is so incredibly difficult. Much more than I ever thought it would be. It requires a DAILY reaffirmation on my part-for every morning I pray that I will have a renewed strength, and that I will be open to God's will. We are so excited to be a part of something so much bigger than us. We truly love our church and are so thankful for all of the opportunities that it has placed before us. So, in just a few short weeks, we will kick off the study of.............. I am super thrilled about this book. It calls us, as Christians, to look at our own lives and see how we walk with Christ. Are we living a Christ centered life? Do our actions reflect our words? Do we talk too much about God, and do little living for God? Do we just sit in the pew on Sunday and open our hearts for just that hour- or do we go home and let the words of the scripture seep into our souls? Do we read the scripture from an unbiased point of view, and attempt to live our life according to the Word? Or do we live our life how we want to live it, and then when called, twist the scripture to fit our actions?
This book has so many levels and will be a very rude awakening for myself, as I am sure it will be for many people. Here we go! I will definitely keep you all posted on how it goes!!

Some other books that I wanted to pass along to you are these.....we used these as resources in our small group this Summer and this guy is on to something!!!!! I love Will Davis' style of writing and these are not exactly what I would consider "self help"....I don't really do self help and so I find that these books are merely a suggestion to you if you are looking for something bigger in your life. The first one is directed towards you, as a person. The second is geared towards marriage, and the third towards parenting. If you believe in the power of prayer, but need that boost, these books are tremendous.

courtesy of

Hope all of your weekends were wonderful!! Tuesday is here and over halfway done!!! The Summer is flyyyying by!!! I am ready for Fall and all those beautiful clothes I have been eyeing!!