Can I share a story with you that hurts my heart?
Beth is a new believer, excited to know more about Jesus. A military gal, she’s seen her share of challenges and she’s bravely reaching out to God.
People tell her she should study the Bible, so she works up her courage to attend a Bible study. New to Bible study, but bubbling over with questions, she has no idea that she walked into a very in-depth, structured Bible study program.
She’s lost.
And confused.
So she asks, “What does this mean?”
“What does that say?” Questions that seem to get in the way of folks who are experienced and there to study hard, deep, and serious.
They tell her to be quiet, shushing her questions as out of place. With good intention, they stomp hard on her tender questions, her excited, seeking heart. Leaving, she goes home feeling unwelcome in the new world of Christianity.
Do you see why this story breaks my heart?
A new Christian needs to learn the basic things of faith: how to pray, how to read the Bible, how to listen to God, how to grow in a relationship with God. These things are best learned side-by-side.
If you’ve been a follower of Christ for a while, it’s easy to take these basic, but important, foundations for granted. We can bandy-about our Christian lingo, forgetting these strange phrases sound like a foreign language to those who haven’t spent a slot a lot of time in the four walls of the church.
At Monday Minute with God, we want to encourage every woman
to draw close to God and grow in faith through our military community at Planting Roots.
When I was a young Christian…
When I was first learning how to grow in faith, my story is different from Beth’s. I was befriended by a couple who loved to nurture and disciple young military folks. Coming alongside, Dick and Marge taught me life-changing, faith-growing basics of faith. My questions were welcomed with loving, helpful answers.
They taught me what they knew.
- How to read Scripture as a conversation with God.
- Sharing God’s Word, my friends helped me understand the Holy Spirit is my teacher and guide, inside and outside the pages of my Bible.
- They stressed the importance of applying what I learned.
We never outgrow the basics of faith.
Too often we focus on the what’s…the information, the theology, the facts of faith, rather than on the how’s and why’s.
Two things will never change:
we will never outgrow the basic foundations and practices of faith.
And we will never outgrow the responsibility of helping others grow by sharing what we’ve learned.
The basic disciplines of faith are just as important for the mature believer as for the new believer.
Sharing what we learn, how God has spoken to our hearts is a powerful way to encourage others. Learning from one another, with one another is important.
Side-by-side and heart-to-heart, we can be open and brave to tell the story of what God is teaching us, how He is moving in our lives.
So here on Monday Minute with God we’re doing a new thing.
We will share our how’s–how we learn.
We’ll hear from various members of our Planting Roots staff and our military friends sharing one thing that helps them grow in faith and embrace God’s truth. I hope you’ll find lots of new ways to connect with God as women share. It is our desire that you’ll be encouraged and motivated to explore a variety of ways to treasure God’s word in a way that changes you.
We will tell our stories– what we’re learning.
Sharing the lessons God is teaching us is a powerful form of story. Stories that matter and impact our lives. We pray that God will use our stories to share His word in a personal and powerful way. Stories and lessons that are real. Engage with us. Use the comments to join the conversation.
Whether you are brand new to faith or have walked with God for thirty years, may the Holy Spirit join us in this sacred space, whispering in our ears, opening our eyes, and transforming our hearts. This is how we grow and how we help others grow. We learn and love and live in ways that are real and true.
- You may have never set foot in a church or a chapel.
- You may not be sure what you believe or if this faith thing is really true.
- You may teach Bible studies and lead ministries.
- You may be a young mom struggling to find a quiet moment to think, let alone learn God’s Word regularly.
- You may be deployed, far from home and feeling alone in the middle of your fellow soldiers.
- You may be a mom whose recently kissed your baby goodbye as they headed off to bootcamp.
Active duty, spouse, mom, daughter, or friend, we are all women in the military community and when we come together and share how we learn and what God is teaching, we can impact this globe with the love of Christ.
Because it matters.
Because YOU matter.
It’s that powerful.
It’s that simple.
Are you in?
As part of Monday Minute, we’re inviting other military women to share their words of encouragement in the Monday Minute Link Up–another great way learn from one another.
Ginger Harrington, publishing coordinator for Planting Roots, is casting a vision for women in the military community to encourage one another to grow closer to God by sharing their stories. A popular speaker, she has also written military-themed posts for Guideposts Military Blog and (in)courage. Ginger and her retired Marine husband have enjoyed twenty-four years of military life and are parents to three young adults. Read more from Ginger at GingerHarrington.com.
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