Just a reminder: I’m starting the Life Management study group today. You can join any time and you don’t have to have a book, but it helps. Sign up for a free account on the simply His forum and let me know you want access to the Life Management forum.

You’ll also be glad to know, I’ve had no more run-ins with vitamins this week! Although I am sick…Hmmm…Maybe I should be taking the vitamins even though they may choke me.

Upward – We had our first game Saturday. The girls did great! We were so proud of them Doodle actually stole the ball, dribbled all the way down the court, shot the ball and made the basket! This is monumental because she was so not doing any of that last year. Must be the excellent coaching [Duck's coaching and making me his assistant -- which means no pictures or video unless grandparents come!]

Study Group Forum – The forum software has been updated and moved. I took a break during Christmas and New Year’s, but I’m getting back to it this week. Please consider signing up for an account (no charge). You don’t have to have a book, but it’ll help. Every week I’ll post some questions and open it up for discussion. Right now we’re in Week 2 of Kay Arthur’s Having a Real Relationship with God. You can join in at any time though so don’t feel like if you’ve missed the start date, you can’t share — you can! and should! Next week I’ll be starting Elizabeth George’s Life Management for Busy Women. I know time management — home management — life management is on a lot of minds during the first of the year. Join us in seeing how God would like to see us manage our lives

10 Weeks — 10 Women — 10 Commandments - I had the priviledge of being 1 of 10 women who wrote about each of the 10 commandments in a book called Mirror, Mirror. None of us read what the others wrote until after it was compiled. It was great to see how God used all 10 of us to look at the Commandments in different ways. I almost didn’t join in because of insecurity and thinking the Ten Commandments don’t have much for us in today’s world, but I’m glad I got over myself. The Ten Commandments still have a lot of meaning for us today. You can purchase the ebook for only $10 — in a few months I think we’ll be releasing a paperback version of the book as well! Exciting stuff! I’m actually published now

Happy Birthday Heather! It’s my buddy Heather’s birthday today. Stop by her blog and give her a Happy Birthday wish!

I think that covers it. Have a very blessed day!

What is the cost of joining a study group?

Joining the forum is free. Joining a study group or class is free. The only cost to you will be the purchase of the book we are studying — and that’s only if you want to participate in that study. In the forum, I have links to the books on Amazon. You do NOT have to buy the books there, but it’s the easiest way for me to link to information about the book. If you can find the book elsewhere cheaper, then yay! Go for it! I also recommend looking at sites like PaperBack Swap where you post books you are finished with for others and you can request books. If someone requests a book you have, then it only costs you to ship the book to them (usually a cople of dollars).

What is required to join a study group?

I am not going to be checking up on you So if you don’t have the book, I will not really know. Although I highly recommend the following for participation: an open heart and mind, a Bible, and the book we’re studying. You will get so much more out of the study group if you do have the book we are discussing and I’ve already gone over my feelings about the Bible — it is the most important book you’ll ever need.

I live in the Eastern/Central/Pacific/Other Country timezones. Will this be a problem?

Absolutely not! This is one of the reasons I created the forum. It was difficult enough to find a time for 5 of us who all happened to be on the East Coast to get together for a phone call. I want this to be open to everyone who wants to participate. You will not need to be signed into the forum at a specific time or anything like that.

What if I just joined in Week #3 of the study?

That’s fine. As I go through the study, I’ll be posting one assignment a week. Most likely the assignment will follow the chapters in the book so we’ll be doing one chapter a week. You can respond to that post any time you want! Ask questions or add your feedback. I’ll see where you’re at in that study, and still be able to help you or someone else who may be a week or so ahead can help as well. Discussion on these studies can go for a long, long time after I’ve actually started the group.

I have a question that I don’t feel comfortable posting in a forum. What can I do?

Hopefully you will feel comfortable enough to send it to me. As I tell all my friends, I may  not know the answer to your question — and chances are I will not know the answer — but I can ask my Genius Better Half. He’s really smart and helps me give Godly answers If you have something come up that you don’t feel comfortable posting in the forums, send me an email. Anything you send to me is kept totally confidential — with the exception of, I might have to share it with my Genius Better Half for guidance. Don’t worry though. He doesn’t talk to anyone else either so your questions will be kept private between us.

I don’t know anything about the Bible or I think I know a little — what can I expect to get out of these study groups?

The only things you need for the study groups are an open heart and mind (meaning you want to learn), a Bible (so you can read for yourself the words God put in there), and time. You don’t already have to be a Bible scholar — I wouldn’t be doing this if that were the case, as I am far from a Bible scholar! I would say you get out of it what you put into it, but if you put in the time, God will show you all kinds of things you can’t even imagine right now. You’ll get more out of it than you expect if you’ll just put some time into it.

I’m afraid I’ll get all the answers wrong. Will there be a test?

Well, no. I’m not going to test you on your answers. It’s not that kind of study group. Don’t worry about whether your answers to the questions are wrong or right. Most of the time the questions are asking your opinions — and those are just what they are. Some questions are just really hard to get wrong. Like it’ll give you a Bible verse that starts out “Jesus said …” Then the question will be “Who said …” Of course the answer is right there, Jesus. If you still have some fear, just come in and read on the forum for a bit. Get to know the people here better and I’m sure you’ll see that we are all messed up people just searching for the truth.

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If you have any questions at all, please email me at lisab [at] simplyhis [dot] com. I’ll do my best to answer them and what are you waiting for? Go sign up at the forums!

Having a Real Relationship with God: First assignment will be posted Monday, November 26th so after the turkey settles — join in on the discussions!

Go to the forums page and click on Register. Setup an account and introduce yourself in the Introductions Forum. The other forums you will not be able to see yet.

As I start a study, I’ll announce it here and on the forums. You let me know by 1) emailing me at lisab at simplyhis dot org, 2) posting in the Introductions forum that you’d like access to the study, or 3) you can also send me a private message through the forums. Once I get your message, I will add you to the group that will have access to that forum. I’ll start the topic of the week off letting you know what part of the study we’ll be discussing. You can jump in at any time. If you didn’t start the same time I did, don’t sweat it. You can still follow along with the postings and add your questions and comments as well. Even after I finish going through a study, I’d still like to hear what you get out of it as well.

The most important book you will need for any of these studies is a Bible. One of your very own that you can read, mark in, and take with you where ever you go. I recommend the New King James Version (NKJV) or the New International Version (NIV). Both are written well with words that are a little easier to understand in today’s world (like you instead of thou). If you don’t have access to your very own Bible, please let me know. Shoot me an email or something! Just get in contact with me! I will send you one — no charge. I really don’t want money to be a hold up for you. And along those lines, if you don’t have the money to spend on these other studies we are going to be doing, don’t sweat it — still sign up for an account on the forums and we can study scripture ourselves without having to purchase anything else.

So, what are you waiting for? Go sign up already!