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Archive for GOD Strong – Page 3

GSBC: Week Three

Posted by Sara Horn on Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 in GSBC | Comments (6)

Thank you so much to those who have been participating in the discussion these past few weeks. We are almost done with this month’s book club – just a few more weeks. But we will keep these posts up and linked under the GOD Strong tab, so please feel free to add your thoughts as they come to you.

How is your reading going? This week, we’re going to be reading two of the most important chapters of the book – about super military wives and the fact that God is in control. Isn’t it funny that as little control as we often have (or don’t have) in this military life, we sure do try to convince ourselves that we do?  But really, only God is in control.

So your assignment is to read Chapters Five and Six and share here in this forum what you think about what you’ve read. I’m leaving it wide open this week – what are your thoughts on being a super military wife? What is it about God’s grace that you appreciate, or think about? What is it about knowing God is in control? Is it hard or difficult? Easy?

Read and then share your thoughts on these two important subjects.

Blessings,

Sara

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GSBC: Week Two

Posted by Sara Horn on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 in GSBC | Comments (13)

Wow, everyone was really quiet last week! Book clubs are a whole lot more fun when people talk, so please take a moment to comment, even if you are behind in your reading. If I make the questions too hard, just say so, or share what you want too! :) We had some great participation for the introductions – remember, there are no wrong answers!  What did you think of the first two chapters of GOD Strong? How hard is it to be strong? How easy is it to lean on God? Or is it?

I’m writing this in the midst of packing. We are heading out tomorrow to pay a little visit to South Carolina where I have a series of meetings on Friday that may begin a brand new adventure for our family. While I am excited, I am also nervous. After singing and praying with my son tonight, I was laying down with him as he fell asleep  like I always do, and I felt a wave of overwhelming sadness of saying goodbye to a 7-year long chapter of our lives and opening the door to a new one. And boy did the fear come rushing in! Are we making the right decision? Is it the right thing to do? Will it be good for our family? Will we make new friends? Will we find a new church? Questions, questions flooded my mind and my heart was pounding hard! And yet, I know, that God has paved the way for all of it and that we need to trust Him to make a way as we go through it.

This week as we read Chapters 3 and 4, we’re going to be talking about two serious issues that we often face – fear and loneliness. In fact, in our poll that’s currently up, the #1 answer right now to what’s the toughest thing about deployment is “feeling like I’m all alone.” And friends, I have struggled with BOTH! But what I have learned, as God has graciously and patiently taught me, is that these emotions -fear and loneliness – are not from Him. But He does offer the solutions.

So this week, your assignment is to read Chapters 3 and 4, if you have not already done so and then be sure to answer the questions below.

1. What are some of the fears military wives face? Deployment, fear of something happening to our husbands, fear of failure… I would say that these are probably some common ones. Can you think of any others? What do you think about being able to trade our fears for faith that God is greater than those fears? What are some fears you’d like to trade today? Is there any part of the chapter that hit home the hardest for you?

2. The more I talk to women, the more I hear of our struggles with loneliness. Even in women who believe they have good friends, tinges and waves and seasons of loneliness hit them like rocks chipping away a beautiful piece of artwork. What causes loneliness? What is it that convinces us we are all by ourselves?

Looking forward to hearing your responses. Have a fantastic rest of the week!

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GSBC: Week One

Posted by Sara Horn on Thursday, April 1st, 2010 in GSBC | Comments (5)

Hello ladies! I have so been looking forward to kicking off this time of reviewing God Strong with you and I’m excited because I think that this issue of leaning on our own strength or leaning on God’s is a huge one for military wives. Granted, it’s probably something that all of us deal with, military or not, but for those of us living the military life, it is so easy to see all of the challenges we face and think that we’re the only ones who can really deal with them. Even those of us who would consider ourselves to have strong relationships with God can tend to wander ahead of Him, especially in times of crisis. I don’t know about you, but usually when I do this, I find very quickly my way is definitely not the best way. When I wait on God, though, and lean on Him for strength, and wait on Him, things seem to come together much easier. May not have been in my timing, but in God’s timing, it was the best He had in mind for me.

I think we struggle with leaning on God because most of us are doers by nature and so it doesn’t feel very natural for us to first sit down before dealing with a problem. Or waiting before rushing ahead. Or asking God to take care of something and believing that He will.

I wrote GOD Strong as a reminder to myself and as a reminder to all military wives where our true focus needs to be. Not every once in a while, or when we feel like it, but each and every day. I love what one of our sweet wives had to say in the Wives of Faith group I lead at my church – she said, “each morning when I wake up I have to remind myself that I’m GOD Strong and to lean on Him for this day, not lean on myself.”  That’s exactly it!

So your assignment this week is to read the first two chapters of GOD Strong and I want you to pay special attention to the two misperceptions I talk about in Chapter One and then make sure you don’t miss the Big Lie in Chapter Two.

Once you’ve read those, come back here and answer these questions. Please, when you answer in the comments, be sure you post your first name, military branch, and what age group you’re in (20′s, 30′s, 40′s, etc.).  And don’t be afraid to post more than once! My goal for this club is to have some wonderful discussion and learn from one another.

OK, here are your questions –  

1.  What does being GOD Strong look like to you?  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the easiest, how easy is it for you to rely on God? What is one area of your life that you struggle with in leaning on God’s strength over your own? 

2. The enemy gives us some pretty big whoppers to chew on, all with the goal of distracting us from focusing on God and His presence in our lives. What are some of the Big Lies you have faced or are facing? On pg. 45 and 46, we talk about Gideon and God’s question to him: “Am I not sending you?” If you sit down and are really honest with yourself, what is God sending you to do in your own life and with your family and the people around you? What’s holding you back from going?

I can’t wait to read the discussion this week as we start our quest to be GOD Strong!

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Be Kind to Yourself

Posted by Sara Horn on Monday, March 29th, 2010 in Hope | Comments (0)

This is for the super military wife who always thinks of others before herself.

Be kind to yourself today.

When you’re in the grocery store buying your family’s favorite cereal, stop by the flowers and buy yourself a bouquet. Take it home and put it in a pretty vase and set it on your kitchen table. Just because.

When you’re looking at the To Do list that doesn’t seem to be getting shorter, make a new list of everything you have already done. Remind yourself of just how much you’ve already accomplished.

When you’ve gotten the kids to bed (finally) and you’ve started the last load of laundry for the day, sit down in your favorite chair for 10 minutes and treat yourself to the quiet. And breathe.

Be kind to yourself today.

When you find yourself wishing for the 20th time in the last twenty minutes that he would call just so you can hear his voice, eat a piece of chocolate. Or two. And go for a walk in the sunshine.

When you’re struggling to figure out what to do for dinner (again) and wondering why we have to eat anyway, order a pizza and call it gourmet Italian fine dining. Then sit down and watch your favorite chick flick. And laugh.

And when you just don’t know the answers to anything anymore, read what Jesus said in John 16:33. And go for a walk in the rain. With an umbrella. And smile. And maybe stomp in a puddle. If you feel like it.

Be kind to yourself today.

Sara Horn is the founder of Wives of Faith and author of GOD Strong: A Military Wife’s Spiritual Survival Guide.

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GSBC – Introductions

Posted by Sara Horn on Thursday, March 25th, 2010 in GSBC | Comments (40)

Good morning and happy Thursday! Can you believe March is almost over? For those of you going through deployments, that’s one more month you can almost check off in your countdown for seeing your honey home!

Today is the day I said we’d start introductions for our God Strong Book Club (GSBC). This book club will not be the full Bible study – think of it more or less as a Cliff Notes version of the study. The study has a lot of additional content in it; our purposes for this book club is simply to discuss GOD Strong and what God is teaching each of us personally about what it means to lean on His strength and not our own. If you would like to do some additional Bible reading and journal writing, feel free to check out the individual guide you can use.

Each Thursday through the end of April, I will offer a new post discussing two chapters of the book. I’ll ask a couple of discussion questions for you to comment and offer your thoughts on, and then I’ll also give you your assignment for the following week. Sound good?

If you get behind in reading or are late in getting the book, don’t fret! Just catch up as you can. You can still participate in commenting and answering the questions. And maybe along the way, I’ll throw in some door prizes. What book club wouldn’t be complete without a couple of door prizes, right? :)

To make it easy for you to find each Thursday post for the book club, I will set up a GOD Strong Book Club page located under the GOD Strong tab with a link to each blog post.

Your assignment for next Thursday, April 1, is to be sure you have a copy of GOD Strong (you can order it from Amazon, BN, CBD, or any of your local Christian bookstores).

So let’s pull up our virtual recliners and sofas, ladies, and get to know each other a bit better! Please post in the comments the following: Your first name, your age, what branch of military your husband is in, if you have kids, military installation/state, and what you hope to learn as you read the book and we go through this book club together. And for fun, since we’re on the topic of strength next week, share what your favorite (or maybe not so favorite) workout/exercise is! Can’t wait to read these!

I believe God’s plan for us is not for us to flail about on our own, trying to figure everything out by ourselves. He wants us to lean on Him for strength and peace and He also wants us to connect with others and have community – praying and supporting one another in this incredible journey He’s placed us in. I can’t wait to talk with you more about what it means to be GOD Strong!

Now don’t be shy – let’s introduce ourselves!

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