Tuesday Teaser for 10/1

Hello girls! I hope everyone has been giving some thought to real loyalty this week. How many have written that vow? (See previous post) The next lesson will have us addressing some difficult topics, especially for those of us who like to wear masks and participate in foyer friendship. Since you have the books I hope you will read the verses to prepare your thoughts (1Sam18:1-9, Pr 17:17, 18:24, 27:5, & Eccl 4:9-12).

Let's come prepared to talk about intimacy/openness in our relationships. We often ascribe the word to a marital relationship but it has so much more to it! I want us to think of how we can grow this quality in families, friends, and particularly in our fellowship here at Farragut. We know authenticity when we see it, perhaps because it is so rare. To be intimate we must be willing to wade into new situations and perhaps come away a bit more mucky.

Ecclesiastes is full of wisdom, even when harshly stated. But the author notes how difficult it is to break the strands bound together. Think of the "intimacy" of the strands of a rope. They are wound around each other over and over, but their strength is greater than the individual by far. God calls us to that level of closeness in His family.

See you tomorrow!

Real Loyalty Summary

Thanks to all that could make it last evening to our ladies class. For those of you who could not and are checking in to the blog - YEAH for you. I would love for this to be a consistent place to check for thoughts. We really can communicate more than twice a week! :) I thought our discussion went well and I want to apologize for not yet having the hang of the difference between the student and leader books. I truly have never taught from a leader's book before - so maybe I was giving the wrong answers in the past, either way this is a learning experience for us all. I wanted to touch again on the ideas we went through last night on loyalty. You will of course recall that the scripture was from the book of Ruth 1:1-18. I thought our dramatic readers did quite well and even matched the ages too!

If we want loyalty that will stick by us even when it is not beneficial or fulfilling we have to show that loyalty to others. In this fast paced drive through culture we have to be willing to sit down through several courses, some of which you may not even find palatable (I refer now to the current trend of serving asparagus with everything at restaurants!). However, asparagus may be required of me if I am to walk along side those in my life in a committed and loyal way.

We discussed that loyalty sometimes breaks blood ties, cultural ties, and the bonds of self-fulfillment. Remember Christ's examples as He walked His life out for us to bear witness. He showed the willingness to show loyalty outside His blood ties (Mk3:34), outside His cultural ties (John 4:4-7), and to break the bonds of self-fulfillment (Luke 22:42). God does not ask of us anything He has not done Himself.

The practical home works were good again this week. For those who did not furiously write them down I will give them again:

• Make a list of instances when others stuck by you when not to their advantage - This should be motivating to us to return the favor
• Write a vow of loyalty to someone you are in a relationship with - this can be a spouse, friend, child, parent, sibling - you pick!
• Thank God daily for His faithfulness - The Bible is chock full of examples of His faithfulness, never a promise made that is not kept

Be sure to check in again on Tuesday for the teaser - although now that you have the books I may need to get a bit more creative....

Tuesday Teaser for 9/24

I hope you all enjoyed the lesson on real friendship last week and are ready for our next REAL topic - loyalty. When I opened the lesson this week I was thrilled to see that the example for real friendship that Ryan gave was our lesson for loyalty - Ruth and Naomi. One of the few times that female friendship is evident in scripture. We will spend time exploring this friendship and how loyalty to that relationship is seen through the actions of Ruth.

Prepare by reading Ruth 1:1-18 and ask yourself some of these questions

• What do you think about when trying to decide to end a friendship? Have you ever intentionally ended a friendship?
• Do you expect some side benefits from some of your friendships?
• How important is it that you share faith in God with your friends?
• How determined are you to have loyalty in your friendships?

The icebreaker questions are interesting again this week - no superheroes this time.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!!

Fall Quarter Wednesday Night Ladies Class Intro

Hello to all who have decided to check in on our ladies class on Wed nights. I thought this would be a different way to throw out ideas to think on during the week. Since I know that so many of you have extra time to devote to blog reading. However since it is different maybe that will be an inspiration and also something you can share with friends who are interested and can not make the class on Wed for whatever reason. You will learn that my writing is a bit like my talking - run on sentences and occasional tangents but eventually right back on track so hang with me.

Last night went really well I thought, despite the teacher being late. Which I think shows promise of good things to come. Please feel free to invite any other girls you would like to come along - again feel no pressure to study ahead, but boy would it help me with the discussion.

We talked a great deal about how Jesus can be our model of an ideal friend and what we can do in our own lives to imitate Him. Remember the four qualities we looked at -

• Revealing our true thoughts and feelings
• Respecting the desires of others
• Sacrificing for others
• Encouraging the talents of others

(For those of you who are interested, and also so that I do not plagiarize anything, most of the good stuff can be found in the book Authentic Relationships: being real in an artificial world. It is a Life Connections study from Serendipity House)

I want to encourage each of us to try the application suggestions of setting aside three hours of friendship building, sharing something new with a friend, and identifying two talents a friend has and encouraging him/her in those. I also promised some other questions to ponder from the book. Let's re-look at the verses from John 15:9-17 and ask...

• Verse 9 - How has Christ shown His love to you this week?
• 10 - What command do you need to focus on obeying more?
• 11- In what way has your faith brought you joy?
• 12-13 - Have you ever sacrificed something for a friend?
• 15 - How can you open yourself to the idea that Jesus is your friend?
• 16 - What fruit are you bearing right now?
• 16-17 - What do you need to ask for to strengthen your friendships?

This was a great lesson for me who enjoys my small circle of friends with little natural interest in pursuing more. God has pushed me many times to broaden my horizons in friendship. If it were up to my instincts I would hide behind others whenever possible. Many of you know that I do not hide much. This is totally a God Thing. He has convicted me that if I feel strongly enough about something - ie church fellowship and the family of Christ- then I need to be willing to do something about that. Unfortunately for my instincts, that something is opening myself up to new relationships and actively pursuing those if necessary. I hope we can all feel the hand of God on our back propelling us forward in relationship with others.

I want to thank all the ladies who came and those who may be joining us digitally. I hope that you will find a new passion for authenticity in your friendships and your life. On Tuesday I will post a teaser for the Wed night class. I am not promising something dramatic each week but you never know. :)