One of the challenges I faced when moving to the field was the lack of accountability and companionship around the Word. In the states, I was involved in a small group Bible study. I had a Bible memory accountability partner. I had “iron sharpening iron” relationships. When I moved to the field, those all went away. On top of that, vocabulary cards started to replace Bible memory cards. Instead of spare minutes spent in communion with the Lord, those spare minutes were spent studying for language school.
I was also concerned about my children. They couldn’t understand what was being taught in church in another language. There was no children’s Sunday School or Bible clubs. I soon realized that we needed to find other ways to fill the void.
On Thursday evenings, my husband was teaching a Bible study, so the kids and I made this sermon night. We would listen to a sermon via sermon audio. This fed us spiritually and it was a great opportunity for them to sharpen their note-taking skills.
We memorized Bible passages together. It was a wonderful source of accountability for me as I led the kids in this endeavor. We would recite them together regularly.
Now that I am in the empty nest stage, I have joined an online Bible memory group. I don’t always do the passage they are doing, but it spurs me on to keep working on my projects. They started a new passage this week. It is a passage I have already memorized, so I am using this time to review it. If you are looking for something like this, you can join here.
I also participate in online Bible studies. There are several resources for this. A recent one that I discovered is Disciplines of a Godly Woman. It’s being led my Sarah at Joy-filled Days. The introductory post is here. The beginning post is here. Sarah talks about the study on her instagram account. This one really piqued my interest. It’s easy to think we have arrived and don’t need help in the area of discipline, but I find that every time my life changes, I can get lazy very easily with lots of excuses. I could really use the encouragement during this furlough to be more disciplined in some areas of my life.
The purpose of this post is to share ideas of ways that we can continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord without the community that those in the states may have. We can get so busy serving that sometimes we forget to just “be” with the Lord. If you have other ideas or suggestions, please share them in the comments below. Let’s encourage one another in this important area of our lives.
*I posted this photo on Instagram several weeks ago. Furlough is such a challenging time to find quiet space. I grab it where and when I can!
2 comments:
Encouraging words. I trust the Lord will bless you in many ways as you serve Him.
Hi Kim, I just happened upon your blog and loved this post. I can totally relate to you in many ways. I'm also an empty-nest mom and missionary wife. We were the first missionaries here and there wasn't a positive influence around and it was very easy to slip back. Now, 20 years later, the Lord has taught me so much with the most important thing being, "for without me ye can do nothing." Thank you for the sweet reminder.
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