Helpmeet--Ch. 6 & 7; Jen

I'm a part of another online bible study blog (if any of you are interested in it, let me know and I can send you an invite. It's a private blog that a small group of us use as an outlet for our personal study time in God's Word) and just started going to another bible study at church and I'm finding it hard to get all my homework done! =0) So, I'm behind on this one but have been doing the reading and greatly enjoying the book! I'm also eager to hear more about the discussions that take place at Jan's house. I know it's probably repetitive for some of you to post about it but it sure would benefit those of us who aren't able to attend.

In chapter 6 The Crazy Lady was really amazing to read about. It IS amazing what God can allow if we walk in disobedience. You can tell that Debi brings a lot of experience to this book. Anyway, it reminded me of an incident that I observed once in church of a woman who was out of control. Her husband just sat idly by and I couldn't help but think of what a disgrace she was to her husband and the Lord. She was violent so I don't think putting my arm around her would have worked....A few of us did consider calling the police but she ended up storming out. She displayed her true character that day. Yikes. Scary what our disobedience allows us to be capable of. Reminds me of the verse about the woman who tears down her own house with her hands. The Crazy Lady did just that through her disobedience to God's Word and her lack of submission to her husband. Scary. What I think stood out to me the most about this story is that The Crazy Lady didn't start out totally crazy...it was just settle little things over time that built up and as more and more time (like Debi says 'more and more practice') it snowballed and became this big ugly thing. Sometimes I look at women like that and I wonder "wow, how did this woman become this person?" I'm guessing the answer is over time with lots and lots of practice! Last, the two verses she quotes at the end were really enlightening. Deut. 28:28 and Ecc. 10:13.

In chapter 7 I LOVED both letters and Debi's response to the first. "Alone" is incredibly powerful like Jessica said. I'm discipling (more like counseling) two women right now with marriages that are in the middle of crashing and burning and I so wanted to share "Alone" with them. I had the opportunity to share it with one of them and her response was something like "alone sounds really good right now." Like Debi I feel compelled to pour myself into younger women who do not have this much bitterness built up. Trying to help these 20 year old marriages that have 20 years of bitterness or even 10 year marriages with 10 years of practicing bitterness feels like I'm sometimes just talking to a wall when I meet with them. I'm SO encouraged by Debi to spend my time, energy, and emotions discipling younger women who have not yet made up their minds to be bitter. I've recently been making more of an effort to spend time with the newly married gals at our church and it is SO refreshing! Just what I needed!

And the first letter in chapter 7 is incredible to me too because it shows how we allow one little thing we disagree with or disapprove of be the seed for our bitterness. Again, a woman may look back and go "how did we get HERE?" Only to answer herself, oh ya, it started over TV commercials! I had to ask myself what TV commercial issues in my life are causing me to nag my precious leader and are making me bitter towards him.

The most amazing line for me in chapter 7 was "He practices his faults, and you practice your bitterness. You are both practicing divorce." (top of pg 73) OUCH! I'd love to say that to a few women and myself every day! Yikes. There it is in a nutshell. What am I practicing today...well, I'm totally more aware of making an effort to practice showing love, holding my tongue like Jessica mentioned, looking for ways to bless and serve my husband, putting aside selfish desires and bitterness. This is a painful book!