The Saturday Six

One.

If the idea of a tiny house is just too tiny for you, maybe you would prefer this double wide version? TWO tiny houses to make up one home - with a sunroom in between!

Two.

Here is our one-second-per-day video for April! :)

Three.

Some of you might be familiar with the life story of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, and the other missionaries who were killed in Ecuador back in the 1950s. (The book and movie End of the Spear tells this story.) You might also know that the natives who killed the missionaries went on to become Christians (because the families of the slain missionaries continued to live and minister among them) and they influenced generations to come - locally and around the world - because of that transformation. I read this week that one of the men who helped kill the missionaries has died of old age. His obituary, written by the son of one of the men he killed, is powerful. You can read it here.

Four.

This post shares 15 words to use in everyday vocabulary to sound like a lady. I use three. Guess I'm not so much of  a lady. (Now if some of Ryan's ambidextrous words had made it in there, I'd be a lady all over the place!)

Five.

Ryan and I tried a new workout online last night...through Revelation Wellness. A couple of my friends have mentioned this group lately, so I decided to check them out. (I'd heard of them before, but it's been several years.) We worked up a genuine sweat in that workout!!! My heart needed the faith boost as much as my body needed the workout!


Six.

Source

This past week, our small group wrapped up its spring study. We started out live and in person and ended up meeting via Zoom over the last few weeks, but we did finish! I wanted to tell you about the book we chose in case you're looking for a study for yourself. (And that's a great way to spend some of your extra time, by the way!)

We went with another Moody Publishers study, since we had such a great experience with Erica Wiggenhorn's three studies (two on the book of Acts and one on the book of Luke). The one we did this time was written by Trillia Newbell, and it's titled If God is For Us. .It's a study on Romans 8. Yes, you read that right. Just that one chapter of Romans!

I do believe it was intended to be a study for women, but it worked just fine for us in our mixed group, and the guys seemed to jump in and embrace it just as much as the women.

Here are some of the things I particularly liked about the book:

* It's not super long, which worked well for our group. Sometimes studies can be long and cumbersome, and while I personally don't mind that, because I enjoy study, it can be hard to get a whole group on board with it. This entire study was just 150 pages long.

* It's a six week study, which also worked out well for our group. We don't meet every week, so sometimes when we get into eight week studies, it makes it hard to get the entire study done (while leaving wiggle room for schedule changes as necessary).

* The first chapter of the book covers the first seven chapters of Romans. To fully understand the 8th chapter, you have to spend a little time in the first part of the book. Because that one chapter was such a marathon through the first few sections of Romans, we actually divided into two and studied it over the course of two meetings.

* After that, the reading from Scripture slowed way down and we were able to really dig in to the verses and talk at length about them. I think some of the best discussion we ever had came out of this book, actually.

* The questions are more about reflection than repetition. Sometimes, in Bible studies, the questions are like a hunt for the right fill-in-the-blank, or you're just restating what the author JUST said. The questions in this book were more about personal reflection and application, which also worked really well for our group setting.

* Even though I've just touted its merit for a group, this book would work equally well for personal study. I learned many valuable lessons in my own preparation study, even before I got to the point where I was meeting with the group.

Romans 8 is a rich chapter, and I would highly encourage you to spend some time learning what it has to offer! And if you need a tool to help guide you, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book!