When You've Had Enough of the Dark Side ~ She Reads Truth Scripture Study

Well, here we are livin' up Wednesday, and have I blogged yet this week? Nope.  I hate to blame le bebe Joseph for my absence here, but he's totally dominating the hours of my life from 8 p.m.-1a.m. (the time when I usually blog). A fussy teething baby simply must be held, and his arms of preference just happen to be mine!

Anyway, I am giving the boys an "extended recess" this morning so that I can take a moment to tell you guys about something wonderful that I've found.  It's fun to share great findings here on the blog, and since I've pretty much maxed out my cocktail recipes and running shoe recommendations, I figure you can handle something more uh, shall we say, noteworthy?

{Love this print! Find it here.}

I woke up this morning with the old Amy Grant tune in my head, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path, which I thought was funny since I've recently experienced a deep desire to get back into reading the scriptures on a daily basis.

Lord knows I need a light right now, because as I shift around in the sometimes difficult, dark days of motherhood, I keep tripping over things like self pity, frustration, exhaustion and ingratitude.  The big crippler in that list, the wicked little stabbing Lego in the arch, is ingratitude. And, you guys know that without gratitude one can only see the imperfections of life, and that's not exactly a sunny vantage point from which to view your vocation.

A deficiency of gratitude causes a slow kind of blindness that, over time, can really handicap the heart. Instead of living freely in God's love believing in His truth and trusting in His grace the heart is bound by anxiety, fear and pride. Pride and fear don't really motivate me to seek out God's truth, they just drive me to higher levels of whining and swearing (yes, I confess.)

Read it like this: I get sick of myself.  Does that ever happen to you? Or just me?

Do you know what I mean? It's when, at the end of the day, you realize you've frowned more than you've smiled, criticised more than you've praised, complained (even if only in your head) more than you've expressed gratitude, mulled over the negatives of life instead of taking pause to ponder all the good stuff, and you just feel like - well, you feel like crap.

I can say all of this, because I've been in both the places of darkness and light.  Light feels good, light feels right (despite circumstance - despite circumstance) and darkness feels narrow, suffocating, exhausting and poopy (pardon my lack of adequate adjectives - the boys are brainwashing me.).

Last week, as I was wondering around on the dark side, feeling a little bit kicked around by a teething baby, missing my husband, who had been working very loooooong hours, fibromyalgia flares and a few other things, and I just knew deep down that something had to give.

I think sometimes I try to take care of everyone and everything on my own and forget that there's a good and gracious God who wants to help me. The perfect, real, tangible reminders of this very truth are in in the Word, in the light.

While I can't help but long to attend a group bible study, there isn't one being offered in any of the parishes near by.  And, I'm the kind of person who needs a guided study.  My Daddy knows this about me, so He worked a little Facebook intervention on me. Call it Providence or coincidence, but one afternoon, while folding laundry and guzzling down another cup of joe, I took a pause from the day to scroll through my news feed.  The first thing that popped up was an invitation from my awesome friend, Stacey, to join her in  - get this - a bible study.

Yayes!! I rejoiced amongst the non-listeners of the house.  Sign. me. up.  Without even blinking, I found the She Reads Truth resource online and ordered the current study on 1st and 2nd Peter. The day it came in the mail, I jumped right in, and must say that (so far) I am loving it.

The study is simple: Read the scriptures. Write out your thoughts, compose a prayer, put the verses into action (it's all mapped out in the study guide), and read upon the online reflection if you like.

The study is really perfect for those of you (us) who, for whatever reason, cannot attend a study outside of home.  You don't have to worry about starting late or falling behind, because you can begin anytime and go at your own pace.

If you order the study packs, they send you these lovely watercolor prints, which is a major bonus, because, for me, pretty things are a motivational force.

So, what do you think? Have you heard of She Reads Truth? Do you need this little light, too??  

Let me know your thoughts....I'll be checking back after recess, um, I mean school.