Hebrews Recap: Week 1

I am out of town this week, due to the marathon as well as a work trip. Therefore, I missed our Bible Study group. I asked my sweet friend Margaret to fill in for me with our Hebrews recap for this week. I'll come back to you at the end of her chat.

Margaret writes:

Our small group discussion this week started out with a homework review and share time. Everyone was especially chatty tonight and had something to share – a good indication that our group is comfortable with each other! We talked a little bit about our own experiences with persecution for our Christian faith, or lack thereof, and realized how UNpersecuted we really are in America.

Our discussion from the homework turned to angels. We listed some of their responsibilities as outlined throughout scripture: they’re messengers for God, give guidance and direction, and they carry out the law of God (basically, when judgment needed to be served, it was often the angels who did it!).

We learned this week that New Testament writers often quoted references from the Old Testament. Psalm 110:1 was a favorite and most commonly cited: “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’” I think this was such a favorite quote partly because it gave the listener hope and proof that God is just!

After discussing our lesson for this coming week, Shannon closed us in prayer. While she was praying, I felt the Spirit bring to mind a recent blessing and I knew I needed to share about it. I’m guilty of forgetting to “brag” on God for His goodness when it comes to prayer request times. I told my friends of how we were blessed financially, and unexpectedly, this week. It came right after a time of financial hardship for us, but also, after we gave sacrificially to a friend for a mission trip to Nepal. Our attitude toward money has changed so drastically in the past several years once we realized that it’s all God’s money in the first place! We didn’t give to our friend expecting to be blessed. But we immediately gave God the credit and the praise when we were! I’m glad I stopped to publicly brag on God. It opened the door for several of the other ladies in the room to share too! We heard other stories of God providing financially this week, and of a marriage being healed and restored when hope was lost! What an encouraging way to end our evening together and start a new week, anticipating God’s work in our lives!

Y'all, don't you wish you were a part of this precious group of women? I missed them so much tonight! 

The actual teaching session in Hebrews tonight taught us how crucial it is to not drift backwards! Lisa explains this concept by talking about a riptide and trying to get to shore, against the riptide and all odds. 1 Peter tells us that our enemy is like a lion, attempting to literally kill us. He is not passive--and therefore, we will be dragged down by the riptide of the lion if we don't fight against him. She also brings us to Judges 3 and shares that we are called to active duty! We are called to fight against the enemy. 

Then, the pastor/author goes into a description of Christ and angels. He reminds us that Jesus, for a season, allowed Himself to become lower than the angels in order to redeem all of mankind. This was a voluntary humiliation. Wow! In verse 10, the pastor tells us that Christ voluntarily prepared Himself for the cross by suffering in order to alleviate our suffering eternally. How encouraging is this teaching part!

The end of chapter 2 goes on to tell us that Christ came to earth for US, not for the angels...or to save them or their worth...but to redeem and to aid us! 

Each portion of this book so far has been so encouraging to me (and the rest of our group) to dig into what God is doing in our lives. He cares so much and wants to give to us so much...if only we're watching.

Thanks Margaret for sharing today on the blog!

I'll be back tomorrow with a full marathon weekend recap!

#SavilleLifeInPictures2014 Week 7

This week was basically all about two things: snow and marathon! Two fantastic things if I must say so myself!

Day 40: started this fantastic Bible Study with some sweet friends from church. 

Day 41: got bread and milk in preparation for snow-pocalypse 2014. Turned out that I actually needed it and the ther groceries I bought!

Day 42: used this refurbished bathtub for the first time. Back in our house & a bath never felt so good!

Day 43: major snow day that included lots of playing with family and friends!

Day 44: the snow was so beautiful in our house! I didn't want to mess it up!

Day 45: happy Valentines Day to my goofy husband! 

And sneak peak-runners expo on this day:

Day 46: we all finished! Don't worry, I will blog about marathon weekend later this week. :)

Fitness Friday. Edition: Pace

It's here! Marathon weekend!

I really didn't have a plan for tomorrow. Honestly, my gut said I was going to go out, run until I had nothing left and then slow way down until the end. Alas, that isn't the best plan. 

My friend Tyler told me on Sunday that I need to start a little slower than I had thought, run that for 5/6 miles, and then speed up. I felt like that was counterintuitive, so I researched it. He's right. 

The pace concept that I really liked is one I've read several places. It goes by color. Yellow-Orange-Red. Basically, you run at a yellow for 5-7 miles. That's a run where you could easily speak a couple of sentences to those around you. The , at the halfway point (ish), you gear up to an orange. Orange would be heavier breathing, but still a comfortable running pace (race pace). And finally, with less than 3 miles to go, you go into red mode. Run hard. Try to pass people and get the thig over with! Apparently, if you've been training (which, I have...though with not as much dedication as others), this strategy gives you optimal results. 

So, we are headed to Myrtle and getting ready to run! If you really get the urge, you can download the MB Marathon app from the apple or google play store, type in my first and last name and track me live. We will definitely be using that app to track my brother in the full marathon!

Wish us luck!!!

Identity Crisis

Where is your worth?

I've been pondering this question over the past few months personally. You see, I was the person who put my worth in what I do. I'm Megan, GM of Chick-fil-A. I'm Megan, valedictorian. I'm Megan, preacher's kid. Or sometimes in who I knew. I'm Megan, moose's girlfriend/fiancé/wife. I'm Megan, their sister. I even tried putting my worth into status-I'm Megan, the one with the ____. But I'm realizing, all of those things change and are temporal, and really don't define my identity...or my worth. 

A friend of a friend posted on Facebook a concept that her sweet teenage daughter may be in the midst of believing. "If I don't get a new dress for each of the dances next year, I'll clearly be looked down upon." It sparked a huge debate on where to find cute dresses cheaply. Here's the thing. This friend was looking for affirmation that her daughter's worth is not in a rockin' new dress. Her identity shouldn't be made up of clothes and popularity and stuff. She shouldn't be looked at as the girl who does or doesn't have a new dress each week, rather the girl who loves Jesus. The dress topic was the avenue. I followed; I think her point was proven by how few others did. (And this isn't a solitary incident. I have 14 and 12 year old sisters, I am 26, I live with a 28 year old husband, etc. It's everywhere. How often do we say-if I don't succeed, buy this, win this, then my identity is lost. I become worthless.)

One of my favorite concepts in scripture is 1 Corinthians 11:1, when Paul says, "follow me, even as I follow Christ." Can we look at someone and say, if you want to get to know Christ, then do as I do? Imitate me and you will get closer to Christ. Or, is it-follow me and you will learn how to be an awesome teacher. Follow me and I can show you the best exercises to be thin. Follow me and I can show you how to succeed in your own right. If someone started following you today, where would you lead them? What is it worth for someone to follow you? 

I am Megan, follower of Christ. Adopted daughter of the king. Redeemed by grace. 

Who are you?

Morning routine

I promised a couple weeks back that I was working on a morning routine that works for me. I have found that following this routine had helped me "get in the groove," but that there are some things I'm sure I'm missing.  Here goes rough draft 1:

Wake up

Make bed

Restroom/shower

Dress

Fold laundry in dryer & move laundry to dryer

Put away dishes

Open blinds (thanks Shannon and Mom)

Morning Bible Study

Make Up and Dry Hair

The whole thing takes me about an hour. If I'm honest, there are about 15 minutes between wake up and restroom where I read blogs and check Instagram, but I'm not out of bed yet. :)

Also-I've been closing my blinds, starting a load of laundry, and starting the dishwasher at night to prep for the next morning. I'm able to keep the house tidy in this way. 

I think I should probably add one cleaning task to each morning on a rotating basis i.e. Clean bathrooms, sweep and mop, etc etc. But-I don't like the whole routine taking much longer than it already does. I'm debating that part. 

Also, I know I should eat breakfast and it is the most important meal and etc etc. If I do eat, I eat while I'm doing my Bible time. 

Here's what I've learned:

-the whole routine thing works no matter when you get up as long as you allot for the appropriate amount of time before your day begins. For example, if I have plans at 8, I get up at 6:45. If I have plans at 9, I get up at 7:45. Etc. 

-do It every day. Otherwise, you get backed up and beat yourself up. If you skip a step, pick it back up sometime before bed rather than doing double the next day. The only thing worse than folding laundry is folding double the laundry!

-that's it so far. Though, a two-bullet list seems silly. 

Do you have a morning routine? What is it?

Hebrews Recap: Intro Week

I am training for this half marathon. And y’all, this past week was so hard! I got new shoes that somehow caused me to literally kick myself in the shin constantly when I was running. Then, we ran 9 miles for the first time ever. I ended that day with bruises on my hip and the strict inability to even lift my legs to climb stairs! My dad asked me to climb up and help him hang molding and that was just out of the question! But, it’s a journey. A journey of bumps, bruises, soreness, and trials…but leading toward a wonderful and proud moment at the end. And that, friends, is precisely what the book of Hebrews is! A look at a journey—a longer one, filled with bumps and bruises and battles along the way—but, a journey toward our King Jesus! The teacher in the book gathers his flock and says keep on walking because Jesus is so worth it!

We started our first Hebrews Bible Study and I’m super excited about where it is going to lead. My prayer is that we will find the same encouragement that I’ve found in my half marathon training—keep on going because the end is SO WORTH IT! Every Monday morning, I’m going to try and recap our Hebrews discussion and teaching time. I’m not going to go into extravagant detail, but I want it for my records if nothing else!

Tonight, we did an intro and history lesson about Hebrews. We learned that Hebrews is all about sprinting toward Jesus! We can really boil down the 13 chapters into two key concepts: the superiority and the accessibility of Jesus. These two things are so juxtaposed! A sweet friend shared the timely idea, though, of the Russian Ice Skater who was just a normal girl…but Putin came to watch her skate. How superior is he to her? She has no access to him, no ability to speak—let alone hug him or talk to him. However; what if she wins gold? What if she perfect scores? Or even a farther stretch, what if Putin decides to adopt this sweet girl? Then, she has the ultimate access. Y’all—that and so much greater is how God is to us! Our superior king came to see us, fell in love, chose us, and adopted us—giving us the ultimate access to his Throne (through his son Jesus!).

We  learned some history:

Hebrews was written between 60 and 70 AD—which is three to four decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus. And we don’t know who wrote Hebrews. We know that the author uses sermonic exhortations and conversational Greek. Basically, what this writing tells us is that this author was a pastor of these people who spoke their language. It was probably preached, transcribed, and then passed around. How cool! Have you ever heard a sermon and passed it along to a friend? I know I have!

We do know about the people group it is written to. Hebrews was written to a small group of Jewish Christians, who were living in either Rome or Jerusalem. They clearly did not fit in their culture, which was during the time that Nero was the emperor of Rome. Nero ruled Rome from 54-68 AD and he clearly hated Christians. He hated that they would not bow to him. Nero confused the sacraments. He thought they were literally drinking Christ’s blood and eating his body, so he thought they were cannibals. The straw that broke the camels back—there was a great fire that almost destroyed Rome. Many people think that Nero was the crazy arsonist. His political power was waning and his goal was to come in and “save the day!” The problem was that Nero was blamed…and needed a scapegoat!  So, he blamed the Christians.

He had soldiers arrest and impale Christians, set them on fire, and entertain himself in this way. These believers were in a society where Christians were clearly hated and persecuted. Its understanding, humanly speaking, that many would question whether they wanted to go the whole way with Jesus. Maybe we should just pretend we aren’t Christians, and go back to the official Jewish culture.

This is where the writing of Hebrews comes in. Their pastor comes along and says, hey guys—let’s talk. He tells us that God used to speak to his people in many ways.  Four of the many ways are as follows:

1.     Prophets (can you remember any of these? How did God do this?)

2.     Signs and Dreams (what are some examples?)

3.     Theophany (this is a fancy word that means a physical manifestation of God. For bonus points, can anyone remember one of these? –Moses, wilderness)

4.     Urim and Thummin (this is not quite as common as the other three! But, what the heck this means…they are like holy dice. Don’t think Vegas, but they were crucial stones from the high priest of Israel. It was also called casting lots. They defined the will of God in this way)

But now, the pastor of Hebrews says, but now, in these Last Days he has spoken to us by his son. When is this? It’s now! We are living in that time—so this letter is completely to us, as well! We know that Christ has already come once; He was born, lived and taught on the earth, died, and rose again. We are witnesses to this; but Christ has not come back a second time. So, the same season that the Hebrew people were living in is the season we are living in at this moment. We are in the “Already but Not Yet!” We have already been redeemed, but not yet eternalized. We are in the last days, but we are not there yet.

The writer/speaker says, now that we have Christ…why in the world would we go back to trying to understand our dreams and Holy Dice when we have Christ! When we have the exact words of Christ, why would these people go back to being “Jews”? There’s a long long way to go! We are going and we hurt and we are exhausted and we want to stop…so their pastor gathers them and says you have to keep going because you have Jesus. Jesus is everything you will ever need. Keep walking! Jesus loves you.

Even after just this simple introduction, I’m very excited to see what is in store for the week. We will be doing some homework over the week, but one question that was asked was this:

What battle/hill are you climbing right now? What do you hope to get from this study? I encouraged the group to actually write something down for this question so that at the end of the time, we can look back and see how God has moved. I’m excited for this tangible picture of God’s work in our lives.

If you haven’t, I would encourage you to buy the workbook Hebrews, by Lisa Harper and study along with us as we do this study. If not, don’t worry—I will only be recapping on Monday mornings and doing “normal” blog things on the other days!

#SavilleLifeInPictures2014 Week 6

Day 33: Super Bowl party with our respective small groups, then gathering together with friends!

Day 34: holding myself accountable to dressing in real clothes every day!

Day 35: new running shoes for the half marathon! So so so so so love them!

Day 36: rocked 9 miles in our last long run before the half!

Day 37: posing with the MVP! This girl scored 12/17 points for her team. So proud of her. 

Day 38: my mom bought me my own chalkboard. Love doing some chalk art :)

Day 39: having to make grown up decisions sometimes stinks! Put away red heels to buy a step stool. Probably should've consulted social media first, because you sweet friends would've convinced me that both were a great value!