Connecting to Your Sisters in Christ

Alex baby at Christmas

I remember the first day we brought our first baby boy home –it was over ten years ago.

To enter our house there were 4 steps to go up and as I stepped up onto the first step I fell completely flat on my face – my leg gave out. Luckily, my husband was carrying the baby. But I said to him – “something is wrong with my leg, it is numb and I can’t bear my weight on it”. It had been numb in the hospital for 2 days (I thought the epidural was still wearing off) but I didn’t realize how weak it was.

In days to come, I would learn through a visit with the neurologist that I had injured my leg during my delivery and that the nerves in my leg had lost connection with my brain. The synapses in the nerve that told my brain to tell my muscles to work had lost connection and now my body wasn’t functioning quite right.  If you’ve had health problems, you know how frustrating it is when a part of your body isn’t doing what it should -when a part of your body shuts down or clogs up or deteriorates.

In Romans 12:5 it says,

In Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

In Christ we are one body.

You belong to me and I belong to you – each member belongs to all the others…

You belong – God’s word says it.

We are connected to one another because “we who are many are one body“.

Do you feel connected to the body of Christ –  the church?

Or do you feel like my leg?  When you are around Christians — there’s a disconnect.

Fall is here and it’s a great time to get involved in Women’s Bible Studies and fall groups that take place within your church body.  I want to encourage you to look for ways to connect and be brave – get involved.

If there is nothing like this happening in your church – I want to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and lead!  Start a group for moms, singles, new wives, divorced women, homeschool moms, preschool moms, empty nesters or widows!  Take the initiative.

Not sure what to do with this group you would form?  Here’s one idea.  You could become an accountability group.  A group of women who email each other every week day to keep each other accountable in your quiet times.  Or you could meet weekly to discuss an on-line Bible study you are all doing together.

Every month I write twice over at GoodMorningGirls.org.  There we gather women together into groups called Good Morning Girls groups.  Some of these groups never meet in real life. They simply email or create a facebook group and every morning check in on each other and encourage each other. Other groups meet weekly in homes or in churches.

This fall we are offering a FREE 8 Week Bible Study through Luke 17-24.  We provide FREE daily Bible reading plans, free study guides, videos and devotionals.  Our materials are translated into over 10 different languages and we have children’s resources for moms who want to use the study with their children.

Enrollment has already begun this past Monday and in two short days already over 5,000 women have enrolled!!!  So I encourage you to come check all the excitement out!

 fall 2013

Rick Warren’s says in The Purpose Driven Life-

“What are you doing personally to make your church family more warm and loving? There are many people in your community who are looking for love and a place to belong. The truth is, everyone needs and wants to be loved, and when people find a church where members genuinely love and care for each other you would have to lock the doors to keep them away.”

Let’s use this new season of fall to greet our sister’s in Christ with a warm smile or hug.  Let’s reach out to visitors to make them feel more comfortable and like they belong.  Let’s pray for our sister’s in Christ and send them letters of encouragement. Let’s forgive those who have offended us.  Let’s extend grace, mercy and kindness in all circumstances.  And finally, let’s develop deep friendships with accountability and a place for women to belong.

Walk with the King,

**Chime In: Do you have a group of women you do life with?  What type of group is it?   –A Bible study group, Mops group, Good Morning Girls group, or something else?  Tell us about your group and what you all do together and how you have seen God work through your connection with your sisters in Christ.

22 Comments

  1. Courtney,
    Did your leg heal? When I was 5 months pregnant with my 6th baby, I got a virus that attacked my spinal cord. It left me permanently paralyzed. My baby boy was born perfect and although a wheelchair became part of my life, I am so thankful that my boy was fine.

    I love to connect with women and especially those who deal with physical limitations. God has opened so many doors for me. I have started a wheelchair support group, and through my blog, we have made many virtual friendships and connections.

    I have sought to reach out to others and in return, I have been the blessed one. I enjoy your blog!

    1. Alicia –
      I am so sorry for what happened to you 🙁 I cannot even imagine how difficult that must have been to face after your birth. My leg did heal. It was only a few months that I could not use my stairs without hanging on to the railing or if I sat on the floor, I could not get from the floor to my feet without pulling myself up (or get up from the toilet but that’s too much info I’m sure lol!). I guess I just over extended my leg pushing…and with the epidural did not know I was injuring myself.

      Your heart is so beautiful. I love the way you have used your limitation to be a ministry to others! Your strength and faith is amazing!!!
      Lots of Love,
      Courtney

      1. Thank you Courtney. God makes all things beautiful doesn’t He? Selah has a song that is kind of “my song” at this time. It is called “Unredeemed” and the message is so beautiful.

        The chorus says:
        Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
        It may be unfulfilled, it may be unrestored
        But when anything that’s shattered
        Is laid before the Lord
        Just watch and see, it will not be unredeemed.

        Amen. Thank you for writing and I look forward to reading what you share. You have been a blessing in my life.

        Alicia

    2. Wow, what is your blog? As a result of my pregnancies and herniated discs, I have permanent nerve damage to my left leg and am currently praying and begging God to heal my leg. If not I am facing major surgery. I know God can heal me. I would enjoy your blog and it’s amazing the connection I feel to other moms with a similar situation….

  2. Opps…I just wrote the above comment and just realized I accidentally wrote the wrong blog name…. Forgot one word and it link to someone else. I don’t see a way to delete it. So sorry, it’s been a long day 😉
    Our Church is starting a bible study group at our Church called WOW Women On Wednesday. We are so excited 🙂

  3. I have several groups with lots of overlap, our community group at church I meet with the wives biweekly, MOPS, I serve on the leadership team of another young mom ministry called the NEST( nurturing encouraging strenthening and train parents to raise passionate followers of Christ) and Wed mornin bible study. I need my sisters in Christ!

  4. Of course I have my GMG group…. and our awesome leadership team!!! Recently, however, we have joined a new Sunday school group, and so now I am beginning to feel like I have some women locally. It is a slow process…. but slowly, I am gaining the connections I had missed so much last year. In the mean time, I am SOOOO thankful for my GMG group… and my special GMG ladies I minister with!

  5. Ohhh Courtney! You poor thing- Your very first baby and to have this happen. I had some issues with my sciatic nerve after Grant-owch! It’s all worth it in the end though 🙂 love you, Nelle

  6. Hi Courtney,

    I’m pretty new to the site and to blogging in general, but I appreciate what you are doing here. I am definitely going to look into the Bible study group. I’ve done Beth Moore studies for years, but there really isn’t one close enough or that fits into my schedule. I think this might be just what I’m looking for. I love the daily readings plans…I need that every day accountability.

    Thanks for what you are doing here! 🙂 Happy to connect on your site!

  7. Hi Courtney! It’s amazing how God works in the lives of others. I am, for the first time, leading a ladies bible study on Monday nights come the fall. I wanted to do one and there isn’t one in the evenings offered at my church, there are only ones offered through the day but for working women it makes it hard. God laid it on my heart to go for it! To do it anyway and invite others to join me in the journey. I talked to one of our Pastors and he is so excited that I want to do this. I’m praying for lives to be changed and for many women to journey and grow together in Christ in the fall! Thank you for giving me the confirmation to do this through this post! You are such a blessing in my life and I’ve never even met you before.
    Blessings! Sharon

  8. Hi Courtney, I just want to say that I really like your blog. Such words of wisdom! My relationships with other women are important to me too, and I loved the Good Morning Girls studies, I did two this year although I didn’t sign up formally. Still use the S.O.A.P. method often, even when I’m not doing a GMG study.

  9. I think that only eternity will reveal, Courtney, the blessing that your encouragement to women to study God’s Word has been.
    May many souls be won for Christ, and many more who are already His grow in knowledge and wisdom.
    Blessings, Anne

  10. Thank you for this. I am a single mom who is somewhat connected to other sisters in Christ, but not as much as I should be. I did lead a single moms bible study several years ago, but it was not a priority for the other women in the group. I need to look into doing that again. Maybe the time and place were not right at that time. I need to meet some other women who are “on fire for God”. Thanks for the inspiration!

  11. Oh my! And to think, you went on to give birth again two yrs later! My sister developed Bells Palsy with her first pregnancy. Only 19 at the time too. Her remaining pregnancies were just fine.

    I don’t have any group of friends to do life with. Wish I did. The last woman who I befriended ended up being the one who seduced my husband :/so there’s that. I need to find a church, and go to services.

  12. I’m really glad I read this. I am terrified of Christians despite having been one for many years, the crippling sense of not being as good, kind, approachable, loving as some of the women I see in my church always leads me to take a back seat, to not reach out for fear of rejection and not being deemed “Christian” enough to join the club. Lately God has been working the feeling in my heart that I don’t have to change to be with these women, I don’t have to become like them to become one of them, that given the chance they’d probably welcome me, I just have to let them.
    I think I’m going to just go ahead and try some of the activities I’ve been thinking about but have been too afraid to start (making meals at our church for anyone to eat at if they wish to and setting up a food bank for people with low incomes) if God has put them on my heart to do then I’m guessing there are people out there who will be happy to receive from them.
    Thank I you for the encouragement and the push to try even when a little afraid. With love xx

  13. Hi and thank you for your post on this! Yes, I’ve felt very disconnected to the Church as well as disconnected to people in general. My issues stem from social anxiety which stems from my upbringing and the abuse and rejection I suffered. As a child, I disconnected as a way to protect my sensitive soul. But God has been so kind and is using all of that which was against me to end up for the good of my soul. I’ve struggled feeling like I belong anywhere at all, but slowly God is helping me. Honestly, the biggest help is connecting with other ladies online who are struggling in similar ways. I couldn’t find an online community that was vulnerable and encouraging ladies to share with each other, connect, encourage, so then God put it on my heart that I should start a facebook group. I hope it’s okay to share here, if not just delete. I just think every lady in Christ should have somewhere she can belong and know she is not alone; satan used that against me for years, spinning me around in lies, causing me to even want to commit suicide, but thank God that He prevented that. I felt like the only one with struggles. http://www.facebook.com/groups/livinglovedinchrist

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