Every Minute Spent with Him…
Well hello there, Momma!
It’s June. It’s 70 degrees and the breeze is just right. Right in this moment, all three of my girls are doing different things they love with people they love, and I’m thankful for everything in this moment right here, right now. In this moment, I’m not worried about all of the things I could find to be worried about, but I’m sitting here with a grateful heart for all of the answered prayers I’ve seen unfold in real time, in this very moment. I love sitting in these moments where my heart and mind are overflowing with thankfulness for Him and all He’s done, that worry can’t even enter my thinking even if it tried. Typically, the thought of “even if He were to never do another single thing for me again, He’s already done more than enough for me and my girls” comes to me it humbles me in these moments, yet at the same time carries me through the tougher moments at the same time.
We just finished the Priscilla Shirer’s Bible Study focused on Elijah for teen girls, and it was one to remember. I’m thankful for having another opportunity to sit with a group of amazing girls and Momma’s and His Word. If you’re looking for a study that’s Biblically based, brings a story of the Bible to life, connects girls to the Word more deeply, and points her to Jesus, check this out.
After another study, and as I reflect with the Lord, I wonder.
I wonder if the girls truly a have a deeper understanding of the Word.
I wonder if the girls are starting to have a a picture in their mind of folks in Scripture and things are starting to ‘click’ for them.
I wonder how God will bless time time together in the future in ways I can’t even fathom yet.
I wonder if this time is planting seeds for my daughters to continued to be in awe of how magnificent our God is in every way.
I wonder if Jesus would want to join us here with the food, fellowship and teaching that happens when we’re together.
And then, He shows me.
While at church this morning our Pastor was reading from one of the Gospels while referencing aspects of Elijah’s story, specifically the widow at Zarephath. I looked towards where the youth were sitting and immediately saw my girls look at each other with the “We know exactly what he’s referring to and we JUST learned about Elijah and the widow” faces of excitement! The message sank in just a bit differently because they had more information to pull from. They had some context and background. They knew that when Elijah was sent to this widow, it was to the city where the queen (who was trying to kill him) was from. They knew that there was a famine, and Elijah went to ask the widow for food. They knew she didn’t have much to give, but she gave. They knew her son died, and through Elijah’s prayer, was brought back to life. So, as the Pastor was diving into her faith as an example to look to, my girls had a deeper understanding of why. And on this Sunday morning, she was referred to as someone who was an example of a woman with a faith that Jesus calls for.
Would the girls still learn something from this message without the background? Yes.
Would the girls still be able to walk away with experiencing the Holy Spirit? Yes.
There’s just something beautiful about knowing more and more of His Story, of our Story. I don’t know it all, in fact I’m not anywhere close. But, what a Holy Privilege to be able to sit in His Word at any time and lean more into Him. What a blessing to have writings inspired by the Holy Spirit, that are living words, to have in our hands. What an honor to be able to even share the stories and learn something new each time we come back to those stories. How much more meaningful it is to know the people in Scripture that came before us and have a deeper understanding of The Story, so we can then apply lessons to our own lives and households. In fact, it’s important to know The Story, because we are part of This Story, too. He’s given us Words to read, so I think it’s pretty important we spend time soaking in these words from Him with our girls. Sometimes the Book feels so big, but leaving the Word and time together in the Word with others gives me such a grateful heart that we have been chosen to be part of His Holy Story and continue to be part of The Story in such a time as this.
How cool for the girls to be able to connect words from the New Testament to language from the Old Testament this morning. Our Pastor showed us the most beautiful illustration of the over 63,000 references between the Old and New Testament a while ago, and I continue to keep a picture of this in my office as a small reminder of how BIG our God is and how much more of Him there is to know and love. And through His Grace, our girls were able to lean more deeply into one of these lines, these connector points through the story of a widow in 1 Kings in the Old Testament while the Pastor was reading from one of the Gospels in the New Testament.
If these past several weeks leads to but one step closer to Him, shares more of His love for his people that my girls can see, or bridges them closer to their Heavenly Father more intimately, every single minute of this time together is worth it.
This is a reminder that the time we devote to knowing more about who He is alongside our girls, is always time well spent. He will always work through that time together and bless this time more than we can even imagine. It’s a reminder that Church on Sunday mornings can’t be the only time we spend in the Word. And why would we want this time only on Sunday’s anyway? There’s way too much goodness between these pages and you and your daughter will leave changed by devoting this time to Him, together.
If you’re looking for a study to dive into and a way to begin building understanding of His Word, I’d highly recommend Elijah! You can check it out by clicking below:
Let’s turn our Eyes to Jesus because it’s all for His Glory.
In love,
Kassie Leigh