love to paint

I just finished reading By His Wounds You Are Healed by Wendy Horger Alsup .  It is a Bible study about the book of Ephesians for women.  I have been challenged to think about many things as I've gone through this study.   Before I talk about the rabbit trails I wandered along, I want to share what I think about this study.  It's a really good Bible study.  It's laid out a little differently than other studies I've done, though.  There are 35 lessons that would take about 15-25 minutes each.  It depends on how much time you spend in prayer or reflecting after the lesson.  The length of the lessons vary from 2-5 pages.  I am not a good at reading recipes all the way through before I begin them and I'm the same way with books.  With this book, make sure you look through it first. There's an introduction, then the lessons with space for reflection after them.  After the 35 lessons, there is a section with 1-3 questions for each lesso...

As women, our lives get busy and our attention has to be on so many different things that it is often difficult to slow down and articulate what we believe and be intentional about how we live our lives.  It is easy to get overwhelmed by the pressings and priorities of now and lose sight of the big picture.  I have had several women say to me that they don't want to read books that make them think.  They would like to read easy to read books.  They don't want to sort through theology and what they believe if it isn't easily decipherable.  At first, I was surprised by these comments and honestly shocked.  And then, of course, God put me in their shoes!! A few weeks ago, I said to a gal at church, that I just couldn't read any more heavy books about theology and living out the Gospel-centered life.  I was reading a book about the Emergent Church , Doctrine by Mark Driscoll, and another book at the time.  I was overwhelmed because I don't always h...