(Rachel)  Previously, I shared a bit about our ladies’ Bible study in the book of Ezra.  Another major women’s event at our church is a Biblical counseling series I’ve been teaching on Thursday evenings.  We just finished a series on the philosophy and methodology of Biblical counseling, wrapping it up by looking at 2 specific topics, Marriage Problems and Eating Issues – Anorexia, Bulimia, and Over-Eating.  We did this series a couple times last year too, and looked at the topics Worry, Fear, and Anxiety, and Abuse.

My goal with this series is not that the ladies will be able to go out and set up shop as counselors, but rather that they would be better equipped to care for one another right where they are.  As women, we talk with one another about a lot of things, and we do counsel one another, for good or bad! My hope is that these series would help the ladies to turn to Scripture as all-sufficient for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), and that the conversations we have with one another would be edifying, encouraging, and wise.  This is the third time I’ve done this counseling series, so the base of women who understand these concepts is growing! Pray for these ladies who are encountering new truths about themselves and God’s Word, that they would apply what they’ve learned in their relationships with others. Pray for us as we make plans for the next series – at least 6 more ladies are interested!  And pray for me also as I prepare two new topics, that God would make my study of these topics profitable in my own life, and that He would grant me the ability to communicate with the ladies clearly and accurately.

(Rachel)  I love spending time with the ladies of our church. I like getting together with them for tea, or chatting with them after the service on Sunday, but most of all I like studying the Bible with them. I feel like I’m sounding over-spiritual when I say that, but here’s what I mean: I believe that the Bible is true and that it changes my life as I study it. It’s full of deep, thought-provoking, soul-challenging truth. When I study it with other ladies, we share the experience of God’s Word and His Spirit changing our lives. We learn things together and help one another know how to apply what we’ve learned. It’s a group context, but what happens is deeply personal. The ladies I study the Bible with are the ones who know me, and I know them. I laugh more readily with them, and I cry more readily with them, because I know their hearts.

These past couple months I have had 2 opportunities every week to study the Bible with the ladies from International Bible Fellowship Church. I’ll just talk about one of them today: our regular Tuesday morning Bible study.  We’re about to finish a study of the book of Ezra.  This study is pretty intense with lessons and homework that involves lots of searching through the Bible to understand what’s happening in the book and what God is doing in the grand scheme of history at the time this book takes place. When the ladies showed up at our house a couple weeks ago, I thought they were going to mutiny!

“Do you think I went to theological school?!”

“Rachel, this is hard!”

And you know what? They’re right. It is hard. But by the end of the morning, the comments were a little different.

“This is good for us.”

“We need to get our mushy brains going!”

“Vacation is over; we have to study now!”

I’m so thankful for these ladies and that they’re willing to work hard to understand the rich truths of God’s Word!  Please be praying for us that we’ll be faithful to study diligently so that we can present ourselves to God as “workwomen” who do not need to be ashamed, rightly handing the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).