for such a time as this...

trying to get a good picture as usual after the boys were tired and ...
so were we!

eating there lunch on the sit and spin.

For the last six months, I think, I have been doing a bible study series with one of my best friends, Taron. We have just finished the third of our studies. We have done three of the Beth Moore indepth Bible studies and really enjoyed them. This last one we finished today was on Esther. It was really neat to study a story that I thought I knew so well and learn so much about God and the Bible and the story of Esther all over again. I wanted to chronicle the things I have learned as well as the blessing of time spent over God's word with a friend so I am doing that here, skip it, if you want.

Esther is appointed to a role "for such a time as this..." and ends up doing exactly what God intended her to to, but in the most unlikely of ways. One thing that God has continued to speak over me through the study is that God is doing the same thing in so many believers lives including mine. Just because I think that He should heal my sister and restore our family doesn't mean that's how it's gonna be. It doesn't mean He doesn't care or that He isn't in control. In fact it just continues to prove that I, indeed, am NOT in control. And apparently I need to be reminded of that, like daily. I have been having a really hard time with the situation with my sister internally lately and am struggling with flashbacks from the really bad times of our relationship. I don't know why I am learning this lesson and having all these bad memories resurface at the same time, but I know it is part of God's plan and He will teach me something through it. Reading Esther's story has helped me come to know God's character more and to know that He will work things for His and my good, but that doesn't mean the way I neccesarily think it should happen.

Also I had wanted to start a bible study for forever and had actually tried a couple times but something always fell through. With my work schedule and wanting to be with Micah it seemed like it just wasn't going to happen. Then Taron and I became friends and it just naturally happened (or I forced her to). We hold each other accountable to do our study and then meet once every week or two to discuss the stuff we want to share. We do this all while the boys play. Most would find this crazy but I think for both of us it is just what works for us. We eat lunch together, let the boys swim, slipn'slide or play and talk about our lives and how God is teaching us through what we are studying. I am so thankful for this time with her and for the boys to have each other, and to see us studying and doing something important to us. When I remet Taron a while ago I definitely wouldn't have picked us to become fast friends and start studying the Bible together. When I saw her, I assumed she was a single mom(because her husband didn't come to gymnastics) and that she was wild...(because she had tattoos:).) But it just goes to show that things aren't always what they seem, and what God has planned is always best. I've told Taron that it is neat that we have become friends "for such a time as this..." to encourage one another and to have someone to be real with...that God sees fit not only to save us and change us but to bless us with families, friends and situations that help us know Him even more. Amen.