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“I Think We’re More Game Night People”

When my friend and I thought of starting a Bible study in the neighborhood, we knew we would definitely need to start with some kind of event to get to know people. I knew only a handful of my immediate neighbors; she didn’t know many at all. The NBS2GO website suggested inviting neighbors to a tea or coffee event. As we thought of that, it didn’t have much appeal to either one of us. “Would you come to a neighborhood coffee?” I asked her. “Probably not,” she said. So we decided to brainstorm what kind of event we would be likely to attend. “What do we like to do?” I asked. "I think we're more game night people," she said. Thus the idea for Ladies’ Game Night was born.

To advertise the first Ladies’ Game Night we printed flyers and posted them on all the mailboxes.We also posted this event in our neighborhood’s Nextdoor app. I walked my street and the one next to it, handing out flyers to anyone who answered their door, and taped them onto the doors of those who didn’t. And of course, we prayed. We prayed together, prayed when we walked in the neighborhood, and prayed with other friends.

Our first game night was a lot of fun and after my two-sentence announcement that we hoped to start a Bible study, four of the eight women said they would love to participate. In addition, all the women expressed interest in another game night. Since then we’ve had a game night every month and they’ve been a wonderful way for the women in our community to connect. At almost every game night a new woman decides to join our Bible study.

“Oh man, another one of these things,” she thinks to herself, as she pulls the red envelope out of her mailbox. “How many ways can I say no?” She takes the stack of mail inside and plops it all down on the kitchen table. The little red envelope, with her name written on the front in her neighbor’s neat cursive handwriting, is the only remotely interesting piece of mail she’s received today in a big stack of boring bills and advertisements. She sits down and sighs. “What’s she invited me to this time?” Inside the envelope, a cheerful pink and white card invites her to a Valentine’s Day tea given by the neighborhood Bible study. She smiles. She’s been receiving invitations like this for two solid years, and she’s running out of excuses. Her neighbor is a great gal – their sons are the same age and love playing together. But this Bible study stuff is not for her. Of course, this is just a tea party. It would be fun to meet some of the ladies in the neighborhood. How dangerous could it be?
 
Little did I know it at the time, but that Valentine’s Day tea was extremely dangerous for me. It turned my whole life upside down! And not just mine, but the lives of my husband, my children, and even my 66-year-old father.

 The tea was a starting point – the tiny spark that lit a raging fire within me.

 When I finally said yes, I was pleasantly surprised that the gals at the neighborhood Bible study were regular women, just like me. No one wore long dresses or shouted Scripture at me. During the tea, I heard a five-minute teaching on God’s grace. It was exactly the simple message my tired, hungry heart longed to hear – that there was a God in Heaven who loved me, not for how well I could behave or how many good works I could accomplish, but just for ME.

Hey, mamas. Lots of thoughts are racing through my mind as I sit at the YMCA typing, praying, and asking God to give me words to encourage you around partnering with God to love your neighbors.  

As another Christmas approached I found myself weary of the commercialized season. What I really longed for was thoughtful moments being mesmerized by my Savior's birth. The story that had transformed my life somehow seemed diminished in the to-do's of December. I searched for an Advent study that would take me through the Scriptures in order to feel the story firsthand, but I couldn't find one. So, I wrote one. I invited several others on this personal journey, and their encouragement to publish and post this study was unanimous. 

Step out of time and into these Scriptures. Find yourself pondering afresh this moment when our stratosphere was interrupted with the divine. The silent and holy night is near. Make ready your heart to worship.
The following is the introduction to the ADVENT study. The ADVENT study guide and compact guide are available here.

Our Newest 2GO Series Bible Study - Bread!

Exhausted after more than a day’s worth of international travel to Croatia for a mission trip, we hauled our family’s luggage up three flights of stairs. I lugged myself into our quaint hotel room and crawled onto the bed. Just before I fell asleep, I glanced over to the two sets of open shutters that brought in the moonlight. Too tired to close them, I drifted off to sleep.

PLANT - WORK - PRAY
A three-fold template for how to love our neighbors as ourselves, from Jeremiah 29:5,7: