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"What is Love?" Bible Study
Week 8
"Why Do We Show Love?"

Verse of the Week:
1 Corinthians 13:7
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
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This week, we are going to talk more about the actions of love-- how you can show love in every day life. Sometimes people don't always tell you they love you, but you know they do by their actions. That is our topic today.
Before we get into the post, I'd love for you to go back and re-read what you wrote in your notebook for your daily verses leading up to this week.
Do any stand out to you?
James 5:19-20 really stood out to me. "My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings that person back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins."
To help bring a sinner back to the 'good side' saves that person from 'death'. I had never thought of it that way before.
How can we do that if we don't love them? If we just give up on them? Truthfully-- we can't.
Can you imagine the people who would (and have) gone to Hell because people have given up on them? That's not a great thought. That's why Paul was so big on us loving each other. People take care of those they love. If you try to love everyone, you will try to help them-- no matter what (now the ways of helping will be totally different, but the idea is the same).
So far, we have learned about what love IS-- patient, kind, keeps no record of being wronged..
And...
what love is NOT-- jealous, boastful, rude, demands its own way.
Today, we will learn more as we complete the "Love is.." portion of this chapter.
1 Cor. 13:7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Wow... that is a lot! A lot to take in-- and a lot to do!

But like we have talked about before, the point of this study is NOT to be perfect in this. It isn't going to make our heart magically grow 3 sizes and all of our actions show love toward all mankind. No. The point is to learn what love is so that we will be able to strive to show it well, and to know WHY we are showing love to others. (to encourage, to inspire, and to help to lead them to God)
Notebook Question: Have you ever had someone in your life who you always saw the best in-- but everyone else thought you were silly-- even gullible-- for thinking that? What did you say to the 'naysayers'? How did it turn out? (Even if the 'world' was right and that person did end up treating you wrong, you did the right thing by showing them love. You can only do your part!)
Paul said, "Love is always hopeful." Always hoping that today will be the day that that person gets their head out of the sand and changes. And it may never happen, we all know that. But we still have that hope.
We have some people in our lives that will call us bat crazy for thinking like that!
Paul didn't think you were crazy. He thought you were doing the right thing.
He had the right idea.
So, how in the world can we do (or attempt to do) all of these things?
Truth be told, you can't do any of these things of the "world". There is no self-help book, no Dr. Phil show, no human device that can help you learn how to do it. It is through the Holy Spirit that we even have the chance-- the shot-- the attempt-- at true love (ok, that sounded a bit redundent, but you get the idea).
I want you to think of certain situations going on in your life right now where you might need help showing love.
Keep thinking of that circumstance as we go through each point in this verse and list ways we can show love based on it. If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them from you. You can leave them in comments if you'd like :)
1. Love Never Gives Up. *We've talked a little about this. If we love someone, we aren't going to give up on them-- HOWEVER, sometimes we don't have to keep giving them everything. Sometimes our prayers go along way past material things.
Ideas on how to do this: *Continual prayers *Communication *Finding Available Resources to help that person
2. Love Never Loses Faith *It is so hard not to lose faith in someone, especially the 50th time they have done something to us. And the world may think we are crazy (and we might be), but Paul said that this is a part of showing love. Never losing faith-- and I'm going to add-- Never losing faith that GOD can/will change their life.
Ideas on how to do this: *Pray *Believe in Matthew 19:26 (With God all things all things are possible.) *Sending encouraging messages
3. Love is Always Hopeful *Love always looks at the bright side... the glass is half full persona.
Ideas on how to do this: *Look forward-- not backward *Never stops having faith *Be "Gullible" but not stupid
4. Love Endures through Every Circumstance *Everyone has bad days. Sometimes I feel like I'm having a bad week. We all have people in our lives that we just know that they have a gray cloud continually over their head (and it was probably put there themselves.) It is so easy not to show love to those kinds of people because (in our head) we know that it probably won't do any good. But our heart keeps enduring that hope that today will be the big turn around day. It may sound counterproductive, but it is what we are supposed to do.
Ideas for how to do this: *Not being overwhelmed (a bit hard for me personally)-- even when the task seems large. *Know that "This too shall pass." *Focus on positive rather than negative
Love can live on even through anger, bitterness, and sorrow. But it is like a seed that needs to be watered. If it is taken care of, it has strong roots that can endure strong wind storms. If its not, it will be washed away in a summer rainstorm.
Through love, we can forgive, forget, and move on (not that it is easy). We can hope for the future, trust in the now, and rejoice in the truth-- that no matter what, God is God--- and God is good!
Ok, during weeks 2-4 we studied why love was necessary-- Why we needed to love others.
Then the past 4 weeks, we have discussed the actions of love. The verbs of love, if you will.
For the remaining weeks, we will discuss the Supremacy of love. Why having and nurturing love in your heart for others is, in a word, awesome!
Next week, we will be covering 1 Corinthians 13:8-10. Those verses fit so well together that it would be counterproductive to learn them apart.

Verses to Get us Ready for Next Week
Tuesday~ John 13:34
Wednesday~ Ephesians 3:16-19
Thursday~ 1 Corinthians 13:8
Friday~ 1 Corinthians 13:9
Saturday~ 1 Corinthians 13:10

Much love and have a great week!!
Kelly

"What is Love?
A Bible Study
Week 12
"The End"
Verse for the week:
1 Corinthians 13:13 Three things will last forever: faith, hope, and love-- and the greatest of these is love.
*********************** Well, friends, we made it!
Not only is this the last week of the 12 week 'Love' Bible Study, but it is also my 200th post on this blog! Kinda poetic somehow that it occured at the same time. :)
For the past 12 weeks, we have had one mission in this Bible Study, to determine "What is Love?"
We have looked at it from lots of angles. I'm sure there are hundreds more we could consider, but I won't. These past 12 weeks have been what I felt God wanted me to share with you :) The good, the bad, and the ugly.
We have one more verse to look at before we close the book (so to speak) on this study.
1 Corinthians 13:13-- "Three things will last forever: faith, hope, and love-- and the greatest of these is love.
Your love will never die!
Want to make a difference in the world? Statues of famous people, monuments, they all crumble. People forget what they did. They have no idea who they ever were. But love, showing love, that lasts an eternity. One act of kindness from you can change a life... that can change another life, and so on.
It will live on generation after generation through the people you love now.
The people you help...
The people you encourage...
The people you love...
That will never go away.
Do you realize you are changing history? Right now, at this very minute, you are affecting the outcome of someone else's life. Some changes are big. Some are small. Some are good. Some are bad. But everything you do affects someone in some way.
Examples: *Buying a Gideon Bible could be the very one placed that helps someone on the brink of suicide decide they have something to live for.
*Giving food to the needy/food drive can cause someone to think, "Maybe there IS still goodness in the world."
*Chosing to talk to a friend about God can result in them being saved (even if it's not in your lifetime.)
You choices change lives.
That goes for the negative along with the postive, unfortunately.
Examples of that would be: *Gossiping can cause a sinner to think, "I'm no worse than she is. Why do I need God?"
*Hate for another person can keep us from telling them about Jesus which could seriously affect their future.
*A poor decision (drinking and driving) can affect so many lives.
We think we are all tiny, insignificant people in this vast sea of ever changing humanity. Once we are gone, we figure we will be forgottena bout.
But our legacy of love never dies.
If we only helped one person and that person helped someone else--- after a while everyone would be helped causing love to grow.
And your charity, faithfullness, and love for God planted the seed.
One hundred years from now, your name might not be remembered, but the effects of your love will stil be going strong-- like a never-ending, far reaching wave.
Notebook Question: What are some ways you are spreading love? What ways can you think of that you could do more?
12 weeks ago, we started out to answer the simple question "What is love?"
Well, here is the answer: Love is simply one thing. Love is the outbpouring of your heart for the wellbeing of another person.
Notebook Question: How do you define love?
People won't always treat us right and we will feel down. There is always some injustice in the world (or in our community).
We can't change the wrongs in the world-- but we can-- through love-- create positives to counteract them.
Faith/hope/love will endure forever.
You, with God's help, have the power to change lives.
How can we show love? Simple (1 Cor. 13:1-13) *Be patient *Be kind *Don't be jealous *Don't boast *Don't be rude *Don't be demanding *Don't be iriatable *Don't keep a record of being wronged *Don't rejoice in injustice. *Never give up *Never lose faith *Always be hopeful *Endure through everything.
A tall order to be sure.
Will we be perfect? Nope.
But thankfully we serve One who is-- One who lives in our heart and helps us love others like he did.
I'd love to close this Bible Study with one of the greatest acts of love ever committed.
John 3:16-- "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish-- but have everlasting life."
God Bless You, and thank you So much for taking the time to do this bible study. If it has helped you in any way or if you have any questions, I'd love to hear from you.
Kelly

"What is Love?"
Bible Study
Week 9
Love Lasts Forever

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1 Corinthians 5:8-10 Prophecy and speaking in unkown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
***********************
We have made it to the part of the chapter that connects the 2 more well known sections. This is the middle section that isn't really talked about much, but is still very important to how we see ourselves and our 'story'.
One of the first things that stands out to me is the fact that love lasts forever... that connects back to the LOVE NEVER FAILS verse we talked about earlier.
Love Lasts Forever... How awesome is that!!
I mean, really
Love never fails. Love lasts forever-- no matter what--
NOW----
Human love can (and does) fail. Human love can let you down-- but Jesus' love-- THAT is the love that never fails.
And we strive to be like Jesus, so connecting the dots we know that we are supposed to try to love where we don't let the other person down.
That. is. hard! I feel like I let people down all of the time.
We know that we will never reach the type of love that Jesus has to for us-- but we also know that we need to try. We aren't perfect and never will. We are supposed to try which means our love, not the love of others.
OUR love.
Guess what?
We can't control what others do-- and how THEY love.
We can't make someone love us. We can't make someone continue to love us, but we can work on our own heart and our love for others.
Notebook Question: In what ways can you make sure your love never fails?
The rest of the verse deals mainly with spiritual gifts.
Spiritual gifts are a broad topic in and of themselves. One could spend a week or more just talking about them (but don't worry-- I won't--- yet ;) )
There are 7 'big' gifts-- but there are also other gifts that aren't included here. These are just some examples of spiritual gifts: Prophecy, Ministry, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leading, and Compassion.
Notebook Question: What spiritual gift(s) do you have? Which ones do you wish you had? (if you had a choice)
Here on earth, spiritual gifts are used for the church. They are used to build up, strenghten and serve fellow Christians.
All of the spiritual gifts are parts of a whole body of Christ. No one person has all of them because we have to learn how to use the gifts, lean on, and serve others.
But when Jesus comes back, all of the spiritual gifts will be done away with because they won't be needed any more. The church will be complete.
I have never really thought about it before, but my study Bible made a great point, "Based on that perspective, let us treat each other with the same love and unity that we will one day share."
One day, we will all have to live with each other anyway so we might as well start getting the hang of it now.
In the end, all we are left with is our souls and the love in our hearts.
Notebook Question: What do you think of when you hear "Love lasts forever"?
Next week, we will learn about the next verse: When I was a child, I spake as a child. I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.
Notebook Question: Write down that verse in your own words.
Verses for Next Week
Tuesday~ Psalm 131:2
Wednesday~ Ephesians 5:31
Thursday~ 2 Corinthians 4:18
Friday~ 2 Corinthians 5:16-17
Saturday~ 1 Corinthians 13:11
Much Love, Kelly

Week 5: Love is... (A Many Splendor Thing)
Verse for the week: 1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous Or boastful Or proud.
Ah... one of the most familiar verses in the Bible. This verse is very short, but this post is probably one of the longest in the series. There is SOOO much to this verse. There is SO much to learn. We should probably get right into it :)
My Study Bible says, "Love is more than a feeling-- it is an attitude that reveals itself through actions."
How's that for "What is love?" lol
We can tell people we love them from now until doomsday-- but if we don't feel it in our hearts, then our actions won't reflect it. We learned in Sunday School today that our actions speak louder than our words. The same is definitely true when it comes to love. A lot of times we don't even have to say we love something/someone because our actions will prove it.
In our verse this week, we learn that love is 2 things (and is not 3 more things).
Love is... Kind Patient
Love is NOT... Jealous Boastful or Proud
In the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, Paul used 7 words to describe what Love IS. He uses 8 words to describe what love is NOT.
I guess we needed to know how not act more than how too act lol.
We learned on our Tuesday homework (if you did it) from 1 Peter 1:22 to love each other with our whole heart. To "sincerely love" means to love unconditionally. Only Jesus has ever been perfect at this. The rest of us have to work at it. We will never be perfect at it, but the more we study and the more we want to be "Christ-like" the better we will be at it.
We are going to go over each of these 5 actions individually.

*Love is Patient.
Patience is one of those things (like money) that we never seem to have enough of--- and (like money) it seems to run out at the worst moments.
What exactly is patience? Patience is waiting a long time-- giving room for an action. It means not being short-tempered or giving up if we don't get our answers in "our" time.
I don't know about you, but my patience seems to be about drained at around 3:30 every day. It doesn't matter if it is a school day or an at home day-- after 3:30 is when I can feel my energy draining and my short temper rising. The time between 3 pm and 7 pm seems to be the longest of the day for me. Its busy, but its not. Between the cooking, cleaning, playing, reading, bathing the kids, bedtime routines, by 7 pm if I have had enough patience left not to yell at my kids, then it is a good day... rare, but good day.
Does that mean that I don't love my kids or my husband if I'm not patient with them all of the time?
We all know the answer to that is No. No it doesn't. The fact that we even TRY shows that we love them.
But we are human--- and we are flawed (and tired in my case lol).
Notebook Question: Think of 2 days. One when you were in a great mood all day. You had great patience with everyone and you were your 'best self'. Then think of another day when you weren't. When you woke up with little patience, were snippy, and had the patience of a gnat. How were the 2 days different? How did your kids/husband/co-workers react? Were their attitudes different?
When we try to have patience, we aren't in bad moods, our kids seem to do better (maybe because we can handle them better or the day seems smoother).
On the days when we have little to no patience, well-- our day doesn't go so great.
Kinda annoying, ain't it? lol The day we need everyone to be their best they aren't--- and it is partially due to OUR mood. Hows' that for counterproductive...
We are as patient (as we can be) with our husbands, kids, neighbors, etc because we love them. We will in no way be perfect at it-- but it is the trying that counts.

*Love is Kind.
Kindness means being nice and gracious to others.
Simple acts of kindness shown to neighbors can make a true difference in their lives as well as theirs.
I love the movie Evan Almighty. I actually like it better than the first movie, Bruce Almighty. In the former, Evan Baxter (upon his first night of being a US Congressman) prayed to change the world. So God (having a sense of humor) decided to have him channel Noah and build an ARK. Well, he goes through the movie-- a flood comes-- and Evan is obedient to God. At the end, God tells Evan: "Do you know how to save the world? Through an Act of Random Kindness (ARK)."
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... (lightbulb)
Being kind to people is one of the best ways you can show you love them...
And sometimes we are better at this with strangers or acquaintances than we are with family.
Notebook question: What are some ways we can show kindness to others? List them.
We all know how nice it is when others show kindness to us. Wouldn't it be nice to pass that good feeling on?

*Love is not Jealous.
In my NLT Bible it uses the word Jealous. The NKJV uses the word "Envy". Not sure which word sounds worse...

Envy is a very ugly emotion.
Paul tells us here that true love doesn't envy: isn't jealous of another person's success.
Notebook question (s): What are you jealous of? What qualities does a person you find yourself jealous of possess that you wish you had? How can you gain those qualities (in a good way)?
God gave us all we have for a reason. If he had of wanted me to have 200 blog followers, I would have. If he had of wanted me to be 6 foot tall and 120 pounds, I would be. We need to be thankful for what God has given us and not want/covet what others have. That's why I like 'Thankful Tuesdays' here on this blog so I can take the time to count my blessings (because even though I do envy at times-- I am So grateful for all I have).
We need to say "Thank you Lord" at every opportunity. We need to count our blessings especially when we feel jealousy creeping in.
Think about it this way-- God thinks so much of us that He evaluates our specific needs and everything He gives us is based on meeting those needs.
Thinking of it like that, it feels pretty special. Why be jealous if we have exactly what God wants us to have?
Jealousy of others doesn't lead to us showing them love either. You aren't inclined to be nice to someone who you envy. So we need to work extra hard to get those feelings out of our mind and give them to God.

*Love is not boastful.
What does it mean to boast? According to Shepherd's Notes "The word Paul used for "boastful" meant being a braggart--- or a "windbag"
lol.
How's that for an image?!
Next time you feel like boasting-- imagine yourself turning into a big ole windbag :)
If you truly love someone, you don't run up to them bragging about your new car, electronic gadget, job, etc. Now that doesn't mean that you can't tell others your good news. You don't have to hide the goodness in your life-- but you don't need to go overboard.
When you excessively brag, you plant seeds that can possibly make the other person feel bad-- and we don't want that. We need to encourage not discourage.
Notebook question: How is being boastful different than simply sharing information with a friend?

*Love is Not Proud
Our last action of this verse. Love is not proud.
Love doesn't let normal pride in accomplishments turn into being overly prideful (a sin God doesn't particularly like).
You should be happy with your accomplishments, but not to the extent that you 1) boast about it excessively. 2) forget that God is the reason you did it.
We need to try to let the internal pride we feel override the external praise our human mind desires.
Notebook Question: What does it mean (to you) that 'love isn't proud'?
**************************
We have come to the end of this week's post. We have learned 2 things that love is-- and 3 things love is not.
Notebook Question: Think back over the lesson today, what did you learn (if anything) to help you "love your neighbor" better?
Remember, we aren't looking for perfection--- we are looking for progress :)
Next week, we will be studying 1 Corinthians 13:5. Love is not rude. It does not demand its own way. It's not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
OH! It's gonna be interesting! lol I'm looking forward to it and I hope you are too :)
Our Daily Verses to get us ready...
Tuesday: Philippians 2:4-5
Wednesday: 1 Corinthians 10:24
Thursday: Galatians 6:2-3
Friday: Hebrews 10:17-18
Saturday: 1 Corinthians 13:5

Much love, and thanks for participating in this Bible Study :)
~Kelly~ 




What is Love? 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
A Bible Study /Series
Introduction: Week 1
Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to others so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

Welcome to the "What is Love?" Bible Study! I’m so excited that you chose (yes you CHOSE) to join in this venture with me.

I'm going to be honest with you, I had most of this written. Well, all of it is written, but some of it is typed. A few weeks ago, God said, "Rewrite it." (Yeah, THAT was awesome ;) ) Ok, I had worked on this for months... and God wanted it re-written.
Oh. MY!
I wanted to know why, of course, and I believe it is because I was trying to make it too 'formal'. I had written it like I 'thought' a 'bible study' should be written... not like how *I* write, and not how God wanted it (Sorry... )
SO, bear with me. We are going to go with the bones of the old-- but add new on top of it. We are going to learn together-- informally. If you have a question, post it (either here on on my facebook page). If you have a comment, write it. If you want to discuss something, let us have it :) I know this is 'online' and we can't see each other, but we can learn so much by interaction. Lets really take time to discuss this. To learn about it, and at the end of the 12 weeks, we *SHOULD* be able to answer the question, "What is Love?"
So, you may be asking yourself, "What have I clicked on?"
Well... for the next 12 weeks, I'm going to post about 1 Corinthians 13. We are going to take the entire book and dissect it verse by verse (combining a few of them) and REALLY see what love is, how we are supposed to love, and what else God has in store for us while studying it.
If you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into, you’re not alone. When I started this, it was only intended (by me) to be at most a 3 part series on marriage. However, the more I learned… the more I studied….the more God put on my heart…the more I realized how MUCH there is to learn from this ONE chapter in the Bible. And its not all for married people! I realize that these verses are quoted at many weddings, but the kind of love it talks about spans the gamut of relationships.
Husband/Wife
Parent/Child
You/Neighbors
You/Enemies
Oh yes! Even our enemies! (Ouch)

We are to love them all, and this Bible Study in intended to give us the tools to do that.

When I thought of love, to be very honest with you, the first thing that popped into my mind is the movie Moulin Rouge. Now, I know it might not be the best thing to start the first day of my first Bible Study with the movie Moulin Rouge. But, hey, it serves the purpose.
Moulin Rouge is classified as a “Love Stor y”, however it really starts out as a ‘Lust Story’. The rich guy lusts for the high priced –prostitute—and so does the penniless sitar player. He does eventually fall in love with her—but ‘lust’ ends up causing her death (sorry for the spoiler if you haven’t seen it yet….)

The point of this is not to recommend Moulin Rouge, but instead to start off this series by understanding the differences between love and lust.

Remember, we are trying to answer the question, "What is love?" not "What is Lust?"

· Lust is of the flesh.
· Love is of the heart .
· Lust can get us in trouble.
· Love can get us out of it.
· Lust is ONLY physical.
· Love is physical, emotional and spiritual.
Love, actual love for others, is what Paul spent an entire chapter discussing—in detail.
Paul (the writer of Corinthians) was not a married man—and he seemed to like it that way (1 Corinthians 7:8—So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—its better to stay unmarried, just as I am.) However, he understood love. True love. Christian Love.

THAT is the kind of love we will be studying about.
Now, I’d like to take this opportunity to emphasis something. We aren’t perfect. We will never be able to achieve ‘Perfect True Love’. With God’s help, we can try. But we are human. We will fail. And God knows that. He understands that.

So, you might be asking yourself ‘Why are we studying this if we won’t be able to totally achieve it?”

That’s a good and valid question. We are supposed to try to live and love like Christ did. We know we won’t be able to do it completely because we aren’t Him. However, we are to strive to more like Jesus ( 1 John 4:17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.).

Paul wanted us to strive to truly love everyone. He knew we’d have problems with it that’s why he gave us instructions on how to do it.

It won’t be easy… and we won’t be perfect… but hopefully through these next weeks together, we will gain the tools so we can love more patiently and with more kindness, etc.

So… what are our goals for this Bible Study/Series?
· To learn tools to use in our lives to show love
· To find out who we are supposed to love
· To gain knowledge of “What IS love?”
· To gain knowledge of the Bible through verse finds and daily “homework”

So! Are you still with me!? I hope so! I’m so excited and ready to get these discussions underway! I want this to be an interactive study, so please join in. All you need is: a pencil or pen, notebook, and Bible. You can use any version of the Bible. My personal Bible is a New Living Translation version.

For the next 12 weeks, I am committed to bringing you the Series the Lord put on my heart to present.. I’m praying for each participant—that this touches you in some way. Please, make the commitment with me to participate, learn, and study with me to see what God has in store for us.

Ready?
I know I am!!!!
"So, Kelly, now that I'm all reved up, what happens next? Why do I have a notebook (that you have talked about for 2 months... )?"
I'm so glad you asked ;)

Each week I’ll post the lesson with 6 verses at the end. The verses are for the next week’s post so you will be ready and up to date. I recommend using the SOAP method each day with the verses.

SOAP stands for Scripture, Observe, Apply, Pray. It is a great way to study each individual verse and see how something that was written thousands of years ago…. Applies to you today.

Example: 1 Tim 1:5~
*S*cripture 1 Timothy 1:5 The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscious, and genuine faith.
*O*bservation: Everyone that believes in God need to be taught (instructed) on how to be filled with and use love that comes from a pure heart, clear conscious, and genuine faith.
*A*pply: I need to make sure that I learn how to love genuinely. I need to strive to have a pure heart and a clear conscious, and if I don’t, I need to pray about it.
*P*ray: God, please forgive me of my sins. I know that do don’t always have the purest heart or the clearest of conscience…. And sometimes genuine faith is overwhelming. However, I want to do that! I want to strive to be filled with love. I want to be instructed and in turn instruct others on how to do it.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen

*THAT* is the SOAP method and that’s the tool that I recommend you use for your daily verses in your notebook. If you don’t want to do it that way, that’s fine, but I do know that the SOAP method does help you understand the Bible Verses better.
Another great idea (or something I like to do) is to write the verses in my own words. That way it is in language I can understand and I know that I've gotten the meaning out of it. Which every way (or even something different) that you want to do, will be awesome. One of our goals is to learn-- and everyone learns differently. (That's the teacher coming out in me lol)
Sometimes throughout the Monday post, you will see these Q. That symbol means that it is a question that I’d like for you to answer in your notebook.
Ok, I’ve talked enough. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or ask on the facebook page. I’m asking that if you are participating in this, that you do leave a comment below and you do follow the facebook page NOT because I want more hits, but because I TRULY WANT you to LEARN from this and comments will make us accountable and the daily discussions on facebook will keep this study on our minds daily. Plus I genuinely want to know what is on your mind as we go through these next 12 weeks together. It's gonna be lonely if you don't...

Here we go...

Friends, here are our first verses to start this Bible Study. Our first 'official' week of finding out "What is Love?"

Verses for Week 2:
Tuesday: 1 Timothy 1:5

Wednesday: Romans 13:9

Thursday: Galatians 5:14

Friday: Leviticus 19:18

Saturday: 1 Corinthians 13:1 (the first verse of our Series)
Sunday: REVIEW all verses for TOMORROW's post.
Thank you so much for showing interest in this study and I pray that it touches you-- that you learn something-- and that you have a great time. :)
Much love, Kelly
Linked with: Women Living Well Wednesday and Encouraging Words Wednesday and Best of 2011 Blog Hop

Week 3: Are you a Scrooge McDuck?
Verse we are studying:
1 Corinthians 13:2 If I had the gift of prophecy and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing.

I hope this week finds you excited about learning more about 'What is Love?" I know I am :) I wanted to start off by saying that I hope this Bible Study/Series is helping you in your life. I hope you are doing your verses either with the SOAP method or writing them in your own words, and I pray that you are getting something new out of them. I know that 12 weeks is a big commitment-- but you can do it :) We will do it together. It will be an adventure (Huzzah! :) )
Ok, lets get excited and dive right in.
Last week, we learned that if we don't love others... and don't have passion in what we are talking about-- we end up sounding like clashing cymbals to everyone around us-- or Charlie Brown's teacher. Basically we would be just blowing non-sense hot air. And lets face it, people will see right thought it.
So the reverse of that is to be passionate about talking about God. Let everyone know that talking about Him isn't a chore-- it's an honor.
This week goes along with that theme.
Notebook Question: If you haven't written this week's verse in your own words, go ahead and do that now. I think it is easier to understand things if you re-word them in your 'language'.
Here is what it means to me: "If I were the smartest person in the world, knew God's plans, had more faith that anyone, and could predict the future, but I didn't love anyone else-- it wouldn't mean a hill of beans."
Basically, even if you had 'it all', and didn't love people... it wouldn't matter.
It would be nothing.
Lets look a bit to see what that phrase means : "It would be nothing."
I think that it means 2 things: 1. I could be the richest, most gifted, highest quality speaker in the world. Could spout facts without hindrance and knew everything about everything-- but if I didn't have love in my heart, then I'm the lowest of the low. All of my rewards would be here on Earth and nothing would be saved for me in Heaven. Riches, power, and "smarts" only gives you things on Earth, but love gives you everything in Heaven-- forever.
God doesn't care if you are smart, not smart, or lacking basic common sense-- all He cares about is that you love Him, follow Him, and love others. He will USE your talents to do His will, but not everyone has the same ones. Not everyone will be the 'brains of the bunch'-- but God will use what you DO have.
2. If you had a room full of money in your home (think Scrooge McDuck)-- if the bills in the room were no less than hundreds and they were filling the room to the ceiling. Every day you went into the room to admire the stacks of money, and every night you locked the door so no one could steal it--- BUT you had no friends, no love, no life beyond work and bringing money home to your secret room, it wouldn't mean anything.
Face it, money is just paper (as much as it pains me to say lol). It's just paper.. the same as notebook paper. If you have a room of it, then you have a room full of paper. God blesses us with money to bless others-- not so we can hoard it. And like they say, "you can't take it with you."
Now, we need to go back to the beginning of the verse:
*If I had the gift of prophecy... but didn't love others, I would be nothing.
What exactly is the 'gift of prophecy'? Prophesying is more than predicting the future (which is part of it really, but not all of it). It doesn't mean that you look through a magic eight ball and see the future-- it means that the person who has that gift uses it to tell other believers a message from God.
Notebook Question: Why would it be 'nothing' if you didn't have love with the gift of prophecy?
*And if I had understanding of all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge... but didn't love others, it would be nothing.
Basically, "Knowledge maybe power" but love gives everything. This means that wisdom is great, but if we only think of ourselves, it kinda gets wasted.
*If I had such faith that I could move mountains... but didn't love others, I would be nothing.
We read in Thursday's verse where Jesus said if we had just a tiny bit of faith-- we could move mountains. If that's what a tiny bit of faith can do, can you imagine what a lot of it?? There would be displaced mountain ranges all over the world!
But still--- if you could do all of that-- but didn't do it out of love, who would it help? Would it just be a way to show your power?
There are 3 questions I want us to think about, and write down.
1. What good are gifts, if you don't love others OR do them for others?
2. Think about this-- if you don't love others (if you were mean to other-- a know it all, a person without compassion in the heart), would you even have anyone around to use your gifts on? Would they do anyone any good?
3. If you didn't love others, would you even want to use your spiritual gifts? Would there be a point?
God gave/gives everyone gifts to use for a reason, and He gives love in our hearts for a reason. That reason is so love and wisdom and faith can go hand in hand to help the world. People can tell when you are sincere about something and when you are just doing it because you have too. Love can't be faked-- it has to come straight from your heart.
Lets nurture our hearts. Lets not let our hearts harden. Lets use the wisdom, faith, and compassion of our heart to use our gifts to help others. We all have something-- some kind of gift from God. Lets use them to help people--- not just to show our 'power.'
Next week, we will be learning about 1 Corinthians 13:13. Below are the verses for your homework this week... (BTW, if you are blogging this you can link your blog in the comments of this post that way people can read and get ideas from you :) )
Verses for next week's lesson:
Tuesday~ Matthrew 6:12
Wednesday~ Matthew 23:5
Thursday~ Matthew 23:6
Friday~ Colossians 1:9-10
Saturday~ 1 Corinthians 13:3 
Remember, there are daily discussions on these verses over at my facebook page (I'd love for you to join in :) ). If you have any comments, please post them below. I'd love to get your feedback. What are you getting out of these verses?
Much love, Kelly

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NKJV)
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there be tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
****************************************
Ok, I know what you are thinking... That wasn't an announcement.. THAT was 1 Corinthians 13.
And you are right...
HERE is the announcement.
Starting September 5th, Oh that Mom Again is presenting a free, 12 week Bible Study on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.
We are going to dissect it...
Look at it from lots of angles...
And learn all about "What is Love?"
The study is called Love Is...
And I am very excited to bring it to you :)
**Have you ever wondered about Love? Who you were supposed to love? How you are supposed to love? Can you really ever reach 'perfect true' love? What other verses in the Bible deal with Love?
If you have... this the Bible Study for you! :)
This Bible Study isn't just for married people. It's not just for people in relationships. It's for us all and how we are supposed to love everyone... even our enemies (dun, dun, dun)
There are 3 reasons why I am telling you about this so early...
1. I'm asking for prayers for it. Please pray for me while I do the finishing touches on it... that I follow what the Lord wants me to do. And please pray for yourself... pray and ask God if you should participate in this study (I sincerely hope the answer is yes :) )
2. There are going to be some things posted here and on my facebook page (you can 'like' the box to the right to be connected) that is going to lead us up to the Study... to get us energized... To help us be ready...
3. I'm looking for ideas on how best to make this Study interactive. I'm going to use the OTMA facebook page along with this blog. I'm also going to use a linky tool in case anyone wants to participate in the 'Blogging the Bible' questions at the end of every week. Does anyone else have any other suggestions?
For this Bible Study, all you will need are 3 things: a pencil/pen, notebook, and a Bible (doesn't matter which version). that's it :)
So, that's it. I hope you decide that this is something you would like to participate in with me. It won't take up much time in your day, and it can really help you grow (It has really helped me).
It's not mandatory, but if you'd like, please leave a comment below if you are interested in participating in this Bible Study on Love OR if you have any questions.
The countdown is on... Are you ready for September 5th?

Much Love, Kelly

(linked with... Women Living Well Wednesday, Women in the Word Wednesday, Encouraging Words Wednesday

"What is Love?" Bible Study
Week 10
The Mind of a Child
Verse for the week:
1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things.
***********
I'm going to apologize in advance for how short this week's post is. It's not as long as the others, but I think it holds some really good information. Maybe God knew you didn't have a lot of time to read this week :)
If you are around kids any lengthof time, you know that they have their own way of thinking.
My oldest daughter is six and she has lots (and LOTS) of questions about God. Some are harder than others, and I answer them the best I can.
Children have a very special way of behaving-- acting-- thinking-- and understanding.
They also have a special kind of mischief and immaturity (they ARE kids after all... )
Which is ok to have--- when you are a child. But as we get older, we need to mature and become more responsible.
The trick is to become more responsible while never loosing our child-like faith in God.
When we are kids-- we understand very little about life. We believe in things like magic. The unseen is either scary or magical. When we are teens, we think we know more than we do.
As adults, we *know* we know it all... and that is our downfall. We are adults... we got our diploma... we got our ID... we turned 21... whichever. We are adults... and we.know.all.
Oh... how we are so wrong.
What does this have to do with with love?
Lots actually.
Think about new love-- a new relationship-- a new baby-- newly saved, etc.
When love is new, it is like a child. Wide-eyed. Exciting. Immature.
Notebook Question: In what other ways is new love like a child?
Then the love grows. It becomes more mature, grows into adulthood.
Unfortunately, sometimes that can be a bad thing. We lose the child-like spark we had when love was new. There is something called the "Seven Year Itch" where (as the saying goes) marriages hit a snag. You've lived with your spouse so long you could finish their sentences (and not in a good way). You've seen them at their best (probably your wedding day) and at their worst (labor, anyone??). The love isn't new and exciting any more. It's drab and old and losing it's spark. It's mature.
Sometimes I think love- or more honest love-- is possessed by kids.
Kids can be good at lying, or at least telling half truths. But they rarely, if ever, miss an opportunity to give a hug or a kiss.
They don't edit their love.
In some respects, we need to be more like a child when it comes to our love.
When a child sees a sad person, most of the time, they comfort them. They are happy when you are happy and sad when you are sad.
Of course, that doesn't apply to all children. But it does for the majority. Kids as a whole are more empathic than adults.
When was the last time you stopped to help a crying person, or comfort an upset stranger--- or even smiled at someone you don't know? (My 15 month old has never met a stranger... )
I'm not saying you have to be unsafe, but you/we can show a child-like faith and love to others if we are open and see the opportunities.
Notebook Question: What opportunities have you seen where you could have/did show child-like love?
One day our minds will mature (yes I said, "One Day". I still have some child-like qualities... and not all of them good) and our love, our thoughts, and our reasoning will grow with us.
But lets not forget to embrace our child-like love for others... no matter how old we get. Lets never meet a stranger or hold back our smiles.
Verses for Week 11
Tuesday~ Ecc. 11:5
Wednesday~Psalm 139:13-16
Thursday~ 1 John 3:5
Friday~ 2 Corinthians 5:7
Saturday~ 1 Corinthians 13:12
Much love... and have a great week (please excuse the t ypos... )
Kelly

(... and not in a good way)
Verse for the week:
1 Corinthians 13:3 If I gave everything to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.
*********************** Martyr means a person who "suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious" (according to Wikipedia.com)
That's not exactly the type of "martyr" I'm talking about today. I'm talking about when we either do something we don't want to do (and huff and puff about it) OR when we list EVERYTHING we have done and get mad when someone doesn't acknowledge it.
Our 'Martyr' today isn't a good kind--- but it is a kind I think we have all been at one time or another.
You've heard the expression "Don't be a Martyr"... yeah... don't think they were talking about how great you are...
So... why are we talking about this anyway?
Well, let me give you an example. I originally wrote this a few months ago. On the day I wrote it, I wasn't in the best mood ever. I was a "situational" martyr-- for lack of a better term.
My husband and I (and our girls) had had a long day-- and a long night with family and friends. I was worn out. Exhausted even. My oldest daughter was tired too and when we both get tired, watch out! I think we were bickering a bit (don't bicker with your kids, btw lol).
Did I mention I was tired and in a bad mood???? Well, my husband (my dear sweet husband) had the "nerve" to ask me to put the baby to bed because he had something to do!!!!
Seriously!
Ladies, you know where I am coming from?!
Before I could stop them, these words came out of my mouth. "WHAT!? Do you have ANY idea what I have done and what I HAVE to do?! I have to get the girls ready, shower, get ready for bed--- etc... etc... "
Yes, I Kelly, your facilitator on this journey of 'what is love' was being a martyr-- a martyr for myself.
Truth is, I could have very easily taken the baby and completed the two minute bedtime routine myself (she was very tired and was knocked out quickly anyway).
But the martyr came out in me. The "DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT I'VE DONE TODAY!" Diva reared her ugly head.
*I* wasn't acting out of love--
Instead I yelled. I was mad. And then later, I felt bad.
And the *worst* part (oh yes, the WORST part) was that I had to eat crow and tell him that I was sorry because once I calmed down I saw what I'd done-- and I really was sorry. I could have handled that much better than I did. Live and learn, right?
Notebook question: Now, it's your turn. Think back really hard (I know it will be hard... ;)) and think of a time when you were a "situational martyr". When you did something, but loudly proclaimed to anyone who would listen (and even to some who weren't) that you WOULD do something, but DIDN'T want too because of all the other things you HAD to do...
It is probably one of the easiest things in the world to be-- a martyr... Now a REAL martyr... a REAL FOR CHRIST Martyr would be hard to be (in my opinion), but one like we are talking about... a "worldly" martyr would be easy, and it is easy.
It is SO easy to boast, brag, complain about everything you have done-- how tired you are-- "Don't you know!?!" etc. Oh, I know...
In a way, when you tell others everything you have done, you are boasting. Boasting that you do all of this stuff-- all by yourself with not help. Please know that I know all about this lol. I really, really do lol (And my husband would vouch for me lol)
When we tell someone all of the things we do, we do it for 2 reasons. 1) For them to be impressed and say, "Wow, that's great!"
2) To vent that we have to do all that and we need sympathy
Look back to your notebook question. Which of the 2 purposes were you looking for?
There are some who do good works only when someone else is looking. There are some who will give $10000 to charity, but only if others know about it. They brag about their financial contribution to their friends. Others only give blood for the satisfaction of someone saying, "Wow, you are awesome!!!"
According to Paul, if our attitudes are like that, then our 'good works' are for nothing-- meaning they are for no Heavenly gain. Our rewards will only be what we gain here on Earth.
Think back on some of the "good works" you do. Why are you doing them? Are they out of the goodness of your heart or obligation? Are they because you want to bless others or to get recognition? Are they out of martyrdom or love?
If you answered love, then YAY! You are doing well. You are right on track. You aren't perfect, but its ok. You are working out of love. And yeah, it's ok to complain at times. We aren't robots. We all do it. But God knows our hearts, and he knows if we are coming from a place of love or 'have too'. If it is out of love, then we will gain more in Heaven than we have on Earth.
If you answered "No", that you aren't sweeping the floor 3 times a day out of the goodness of your heart, then your reward will be the clean floor here on Earth and nothing gained (from that) in Heaven. Which is fine. A clean floor is great-- but what if you could get something more? Something greater?
The GREAT thing about this is that is NEVER too late to change--- and if you falter along the way, that's ok. It's ok to make mistakes. God love us anyway. If you decide you are going to do your daily "chores" anyway--- why NOT pray to do it through love... that way you will get more rewards for it in Heaven?
Plus, anything is better and easier if you want and love to do it.
No one wants or likes to take out the trash (well some might... I won't judge you if you do lol.) To me, it's not a fun or pleasant past time. But lets think on that for a bit:
Notebook Question: Name 3 negatives for taking out the trash.
Now...
Name 3 positives for taking it out.
The basic point of this question is to let us see that even if we have things we don't like to do, we don't have to resort to being a 'martyr' to do it. We can find the positives in it and do them out of love.
Do good, whether anyone see is or not. Give without anyone knowing it to charity. Do the things you 'have' to do joyfully.
Gotta clean the toilet? Be thankful you have one.
Kids break your favorite glass bowl? Be grateful you have kids who can do that. Children are the blessing--- the glass bowl is the thing.
Paul said that 'true love'-- the kind of love we are studying about-- is not boasted about. It is not 'self-martyred' It is not flaunted like a new outfit.
We aren't perfect. We all have bad days. We have tempers. We are human. But the trick is that we need to make that 'bad day' NOT turn into a 'bad week' then a 'bad month' then a 'bad year' and finally a sad life.
We need to do our best to make a conscious decision to understand love and actually try to love others-- not just say we do. Our actions speak so much more loudly than our words.
Notebook Questions: 1) How do you, personally, show people that you love them?
2) Think about your least favorite chore ever. How can you turn that into something you like to do?
3) Name three tools you can use to stop yourself next time you fell like being a situational martyr.
This week concludes the first 3 verses of 1 Corinthians 13. They are usually called The Necessities of Love Our next three verses will deal about the characteristic actions of love.
Next week, we will study verse 4. "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud." I think next week's study is very interesting and I hope you take the time to stop by and read along.
Here are our daily verses to get us ready for next week's post:
Tuesday: 1 Peter 4:8
Wednesday: 1 Peter 1:22
Thursday: Proverbs 10:12
Friday: Romans 12:10
Saturday: 1 Corinthians 13:4
If you have any comments about this week's study, please leave them below. I'd love to hear from you. If you'd like to participate in daily discussions, please 'like' my facebook page. I would LOVE (pun intended) to have some discussions on there about these verses. Also, my friend, Kathi-ann, has been blogging the verses every day (well, mostly every day) :) You can find her site at http://dothisinremembranceofme.wordpress.com/
If anyone else is blogging through this study, please let me know and I'll add your site.
Onward and upward :)
Much love, and thanks for taking the time to do this study with me. I really appreciate it.
Kelly

 

Week 2: Charlie Brown’s Teacher
Well!!?! How was it? How did your first week’s homework go? Was the SOAP method useful to you? Did you learn anything exciting from the verses you were supposed to study?
I pray you did because those verses are key in studying this week’s verse: The first ‘official’ one in this study. 1 Corinthians 13:1.
Because I grew up in a church were we read it from the King James’ Version, I’m going to put that one on here as well… BUT *I* personally understand the New Living Translation version better so that’s the one I use when I read. So I’m also going to add that as well. 1 Corinthians 13:1 (KJV)
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity. I am become as sounding brass or a tickling cymbal.

1 Corinthians 13:1 (NLT)
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Notebook Question : (The easiest one you will have to answer this entire Bible Study) What is charity? ____________________

When I was little, we used to do responsive readings to this book at church as part of our worship service. I could tell you the verses forwards and backwards, but I couldn’t really tell you what they meant. Through my young eyes, I thought ‘charity’ meant the Goodwill or giving money to “Just Say No” (Nancy Reagan was big on that, you know.).
As I got older, of course, I realized that charity and love meant the same thing. Most people don’t give to get a reward….. Most give with love in their heart (I say ‘most’ because ‘some’ people give with “tax deduction” in their heart.)

In the course of our study, I’ll use the word ‘Love’ mostly, but ‘charity’ might slip in there sometimes.

Let’s get on into this further…

Notebook Question: Please write this week’s verse in your own words in the notebook.
So, in my version of the verse (now be warned, Paul speaks Southern English in my head… and, side note, King David sounds like Will Scarlet from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves when I read it… weird!... Anyway) Paul says basically, “If I was smart and could understand every language on earth and heaven, but didn’t love other people, what good would it be? Only annoying noise with no purpose… Like Charlie Brown’s teacher.”

You all know the teacher from the Charlie Brown cartoon, right? She was the faceless voice that went “Wha Wha Wha WhaWha Wha.” That’s what we sound like when we have all this knowledge, but no love to go with it. Our words have no meaning.

Have you ever sat next to a clanging cymbal? I have to say, it can get on your nerves. The constant high pitched ringing, nerve grating rhythm (I can’t stand constant rhythm like finger or toe tapping… yesh) wouldn’t be a pleasant noise. NOR would you be able to get anything out if. Worthless.
That’s what knowledge without love is.
Worthless.
I mean, just imagine. You have knowledge of ‘something’… doesn’t matter what. You prepare. You know your subject. You are ready, but you don’t want to be there. You’d rather be anywhere else. You don’t love these people and don’t care about what you are telling them.

You go in front of everyone….. You have your big important things to say written down… but your mind is anywhere else. You open your mouth to speak and

*Insert Cymbals Crashing… Loudly….. continually*

All your beautiful words, all your eloquent soliloquies, reduced to the sound of non-understandable gibberish, Aka Charlie Brown’s Teacher.

Tell me what anyone would get out of that? Right, nothing!

Have you ever heard a speaker (or teacher.. or preacher… anyone) who you knew didn’t have love in his/her heart? Of course, actual words came out of his/her mouth, but the effect was the same as the example above. The message didn’t reach you. All you heard was “Wha Wha wha wha.” All of the pretty words might have been there, but you didn’t receive them because all YOU heard was loud, crashing, non-important cymbals crashing.

Did a lot of good, didn’t it?

Why do we need to learn what love is? Why do we need to learn who and how to love? Because we don’t want our words to be meaningless. We don’t want our messages to people to be perceived as unimportant and annoying as clanging cymbals. We want to love others so that our words shine with that love, that respect, and that desire to help others.

Notebook Question: **Do you think that people can tell if you are doing something out of responsibility or out of love? How? What ways can we show love by our actions?
Verses for the Week:
Here are the verses to complete the SOAP method on (refer to the Bible study Introduction if you are unsure what SOAP is) for the week to get us ready for next week! J
Tuesday: 1 Corinthians 12:9
Wednesday: Galatians 3:5
Thursday: Matthew 17:20
Friday: Philippians 2:2
Saturday: 1 Corinthians 13:2
Sunday: Review verses for tomorrow
Much Love, Kelly

"What is Love?" Bible Study
Week 7:
"When Your Enemy Falls"
Verse this week: 1 Corinthians 13:6 It (love) does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
*************************************** Ok, so--- who are your enemies?

Wow, we just got into that didn't we?
Notebook Question (one of the few in today's post): Take a few minutes to think about your enemies-- or people you just don't like very much or as much as other people. You don't have to 'hate' them for them to be your enemy. You just have to not like them very much. Write down who that is (and if you don't want evidence written down-- use some sort of word so you can remember that person).
You might be saying, "But Kelly! I don't have any enemies. I don't dislike anyone! I have no Darth Vaders in my life." Then I'd say, you should be put up for sainthood ;)
BUT, if you really honestly and truly can't think of anyone you dislike, picture someone from an opposing political party-- or an actor who's beliefs don't co-inside with your own-- or the last person who kinda raised their nose to you at the store--- if you try hard enough, you can think of someone you don't like very much (right now, it might be me for making you do all of this ;) )
Now that I have you good and mad at someone (sorry about that), lets get on with this week's lesson.
Think about the person you have set aside as "your enemy"-- how would you feel if something bad happened to him/her?
(Kinda hurts your heart, doesn't it? It does mine.)
Lets pretend that the 'bad thing' wasn't death or an injury, but maybe a lost job or a repossessed car. Would your first thought be, "Oh that's awful!" or "They so deserved that!!"
Really consider your answer because it is only between you and God (and God already knows anyway). I'm not going to ask you to share or name names-- But you need to be honest with yourself. We can't grow if we aren't honest.
Now that I've gotten your emotions all over the place, lets see what the Bible says about this...
1 Corinthians 13:6-- says "love" doesn't rejoice in injustice.
That means if you "love" you aren't glad when your enemy hurts--- even if "they deserve it".
Look back at your homework for this week. Thursday's verse was from James 4:12-- God alone, who gave the law is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?
Ah, that James. Always straight to the point (love that book!)
God is the judge of everyone-- we're not. It's not up to us to decide "what they deserve".
We don't know the person's heart, their past, their future, or their circumstances-- and even if we DID, it's not our job to judge. It is our job to love everyone (like Paul said) and let God do the judging.
Only God knows what is going on in our enemy's life-- in his/her heart-- and God will judge them-- but here is the kicker-- God will judge *us* too.
Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to "Love Thy Neighbor." And that encompassed all other commandments. If we love others, we won't covet what they have-- won't lie to them-- won't kill them-- etc.
This begs the question, who are our neighbors? I think we have covered this before, but really, who are our neighbors?
Your neighbor is anyone and everyone. Period. Your neighbor is the person next door--- down the street--- across town-- across the country--- on the other side of the world...
And yes... our neighbor is someone we don't like that well.
Notebook question: What would have happened if Jesus didn't love everyone? What if he said, "You know, you really get under my skin! I don't like you and I refuse to forgive you of your sins."
Personally, that would be horrible.
But don't we do the same thing? If we have someone that has really done us wrong (like really done something bad), do we with hold our forgiveness?
Sometimes 'hate' is a minor annoyance (like a co-worker who gets everything or so it seems). Sometimes its someone who has hurt our family (like someone who has murdered someone we love-- got kinda dark all of a sudden--)
I'm going to be VERY honest with you and say that it would be VERY hard to forgive someone for hurting any of my girls. It would NOT be easy. At. All.
But for the sake of our own souls, we have too forgive. From the big to the small... as hard as it is.
We can't be happy when they fail and when they "get what they deserve".
So--- what are we supposed to do?
Well, the ending of 1 Corinthians 13:6 says: "But rejoices whenever the truth wins out."
That means that the more you dislike someone, pray from them that much more. If you can't stand someone, pray for them-- and for yourself to stop feeling that way toward them.
Pray for their situation-- pray for them to come to God-- pray for your heart to soften toward them.
And rejoice when the truth (the truth that leads to their salvation) wins out.
Is that easy?
No way!
It's not easy to wish our enemy's well, but for our ownselves, we need too.
We don't have to like everyone we meet. No one ever said you had to like them--- just love them. However, it is much easier to love someone when you like them.
To sum up this week's verse: To love means to pray for our enemies-- not to rejoice in injustices-- be excited when the truth wins out... the truth about Jesus and his saving grace.
Hate in our heart can be a dangerous poison to our soul. Love does everything in its power to help encourage and share God's word. Love does NOT hurt, discourage, and share anger and a lust for revenge.
Notebook question: (Ok this isn't really a question--) Write down a prayer for your enemy or the person you dislike. A sincere, heartfelt prayer for them and for our own negative feels toward them.
Lets strive to relate to our enemies through love, not hate. Through understanding, not sarcasm or anger.
We would feel a whole lot better if we gave all of it to God. Weights on shoulders are never a good thing.
(I feel as thought I've either left you in a good place-- or a bad place. I hope it is a good one. Wouldn't it be awesome to not have that burden of disliking someone on your shoulders? I know it would for me :) )

Verses to get us ready for next week's post:
Tuesday-- Proverbs 10:12
Wednesday-- 1 Peter 4:8
Thursday-- James 5:19,20
Friday-- 1 Thessalonians 1:3
Saturday-- 1 Corinthians 13:7 (our verse for next Sunday) Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Much Love,
Kelly

Last night, the husband and I were talking. about my writing. He said, "I'm glad you found a hobby." He meant it because I've been on to him for years for fishing so much... now I write more than he fishes and don't care if he fishes a lot lol.

But the word 'hobby' bugged me. He didn't mean it bad (and hobbies aren't bad), but to me, writing is more than a hobby, just like I'm sure (if he really thought about it) fishing is more than a hobby to him.

Then I asked him, "Do you think it's just a hobby?"

And he got that deer in the headlights look that men tend to get and said, "Um... no. It's more like a hobby and a second job."

Job? Hm... that didn't sound right either.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my job as a teacher! It makes me do a silly happy dance when they learn to do something (especially if it's go to the potty ;) ), but writing seems... different. To me, it doesn't seem like a job.

Then I read a blog post last night about writing being a passion (I'd link it if I remembered where it was). And it clicked!

Writing is a Passion! To me, anything you LOVE to do, is your passion. I love teaching, It's a passion of mine. The same goes for writing. Since it's a passion, it doesn't seem like work (teaching doesn't either most days... unless the state comes for it's annual visits and I'm a nervous nelly ;)).
For Teaching: I love getting kids to learn. I love watching their faces when they've mastered something. I love watching them play and interacting with other kids.
For Writing: I love creating new worlds. I love learning about new characters and what their stories are. I love to get so lost in the story that it feels like coming out of the water after a dive.
Both are passions. What is your passion? Everybody has something they love to do so much it doesn't feel like a job.
It might be blogging...
Or a internet company you have on etsy...
Or reading...
Or church ministry...
Or whatever it is that YOU do that you'd do even if you didn't get paid...
I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment :) Much Love, ~Kelly P.S. Crossing the Deep has a release date! It is scheduled to be released by Astraea Press on October 9th, 2012 :)

"What is Love?" Bible Study

Week 11

A Know-It-All

Verse for the week:
1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see things imperfectly as a child. Puzzling reflections in the mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me completely.
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There are different times in our lives when we "know it all."
*In grade school when we decide we really don't need homework any more because we have learned everything we need.
*All (or at least most) teenagers think they have all the answers.
*Then comes the 20s when we shake at our heads at our teenage selves because 'now' we do know it all... and we also scoff at parents (before we have kids) because we know all about how to parent.
*Then we have our own kids and realize that we knew nothing... but now we do... (but not really)
It's a vicous, vicous cycle...
It's funny to go back and think of all the times we "knew it all"-- and horrifying to think that we really don't know as much as we think.
The same is true with our spiritual lives. There are different times when we think we have God (or at least our faith) all figured out.
But boy, do we ever find out quickly that we don't know or understand as much as we think we did.
We know in part. God knows completely.
We won't know everything until we get to Heaven.
Notebook Question: Name a time when you thought you knew everything about something, but learned you were so, so, so wrong. How did you handle it?
So... you are wondering what any of this has to do with love (seeing as that is what this study is over).
Wel... just like life-- and God-- we think we understand love completely-- but just like life (and God) we only understand part of it. A tiny morsel.
I will admit that I love my hsuband more now than I did when we got married. I 'thought' I loved him completely then, but its a different love now-- a more mature love. Love changes over time, as we understand more and live more.
Someday we will understand all of the mysteries of the earth. "The glass darkly" will become bright and clear. When we get to Heaven, we will understand.
The puzzle will be put together finally.
There are some questions I'd love to have the answer too... some funny, some serious.
God already understands us completely. Back to my husband, I love him, but he does some things that I don't understand... as I know I do some things he doesn't understand. But God know why we do what we do. He knows why our spouses do what that do. We can't hide anything from him.
One day, we will understand everything and everyone too. We will accept each other as spiritually unique, and we will rejoice in it.
Let's practice that now. Let's treat others with the same love and devotion that we will in Heaven one day.
Our Verses for Next Week (our last ones!)
Tuesday~ Galatians 5:5-6
Wednesday~ 2 Thessalonians 1:11
Thursday~ 1 Thessalonians 1:3
Friday~ 1 John 4:16
Saturday~ 1 Corinthians 13:13
Sunday~ Review
Next week will be the last post of this series. I'm kinda sad to see it over, but am excited about what is to come. :)
Much Love, Kelly

I'm going to admit that I love Kid shows.

Love.

I was actually getting sad the other day thinking about when my kids won't like to watch them any more.

What will I do?

Sneak and watch them on youtube when they go to bed?

Umm... (Lets not discuss what is blasting in my headphones right now, shall we... )

I thought I'd list my Top 5 FAVORITE kid shows. There is no real point to it really. Well, there is... I want to share the awesomeness of these shows if you haven't seen them before (and truth be told, if you have small kids, you probably have).

I had 4 things I ranked these shows on (YES, I went that far with it lol).

1). Watchability-- for parents
**in this world where we don't have a lot of time to spend with our kids because of other responsibilities, it's a good thing when a tv show is actually interesting for both the kid and the child. That way you can watch together, talk about it, and learn lessons together.

2). Educational
**Sponge Bob will not be on my top 5 list (Spoiler alert!). Not that he's evil or anything.. just that he's not all that educational. I like my kids to learn from their shows... and not just about Krusty Krabs.

3.) Entertaining
**This goes back to the watchability. There are some shows that are educational, but boring as mud (well, mud would probably be more fun).

4). No Whining Kids/Animated characters
** My kids imitate what they see on tv. They do little plays for me etc. And sometimes they deal with conflicts like the characters on the shows do... which is good... except... for the fact that they have to do the 'bad' thing before the conflict occurs. Which means, I have to hear the 'whining'. And whining, even if it's fake whining, can grate your nerves. Plus, I don't think it teaches a very good lesson on getting what you want.

SO, those are MY criteria for judging my top 5. It's, of course, my own opinion. Don't shoot the messanger...

My Top 5 Favorite Kid Shows (on right now)... preschool Moms, be ready to nod... or go "Really?"

1. WordGirl (PBS)
WordGirl chronicals the life of Becky Boxford. She's a 5th grader by day, superhero by night. Becky is actually from the planet Lexicon and arrived on Earth at age 2 when her spaceship crash landed (oh yes, you heard that right).

I love WordGirl because it gives wonderful vocabulary lessons, has interesting stories... and a monkey named Captain Huggy Face... How can that be wrong?

Here is a snippet...

Love...

2. The Fresh Beat Band (Nick Jr.)
Now... this used to be my favorite show (yes, I admit it... I also admit to listening to their song "Here We Go"... right at this very moment. And my kids are asleep. Yes... I know). They only slipped to second because... well... my kids aren't much on Nick Jr. right now. They are all about PBS and I haven't got to see much of them lately. That, and they pulled a Darrin with Marina. Grrrr... I have more thoughts on The Fresh Beat Band, but to leave myself any ounce of credibility intact, I shall restrain myself.

Instead, here is a snippet...

3. The Electric Company (PBS)
The original show started about 30 years ago. I remember it from when I was little. I love watching this new Re-boot with my girls. They love the dancing, singing, and *gasp* learning. They make reading fun and that is challenging. The stories are interesting. The lessons are really well laid out. It's just a great show.

Here is a clip...


4. Super Why (PBS) (Can you tell we watch a lot of PBS? lol)
In Storybook Village, Wyatt and his 3 friends solve problems using the "Power to Read". You have 'Alpha Pig' with Alphabet Power. Princess Presto with Spelling Power. Wonder Red with Word Power. And SuperWhy with the Power to Read... AND, of course, SuperYou. It covers all of the basis, is fun, doesn't get *too* old, and has great messages.

5. WordWorld (PBS) WordWorld is a place... where words come alive. Each animal, house, tree, log, bowl, etc, is made up of letters which spell that word. When they want to make something new, they just find the letters and put them together. It shows words in concrete forms. A C... A... T... can spell cat. But seeing it together, letters and animal, makes it more real. I really like WordWorld.
And... here ya go...

AND there ya go. My top 5 favorite kid shows. Sorry, this seemed to be a promotion for PBS lol, but we have started watching a lot of it.
OH, honorable Mention... The baby loves Sid the Science Kid :)
What 'kid shows' do you love? (YES, I said YOU) What shows do your kids like? What do you look for in a quality kids show? Share your comments. :) I'd love to hear them.
Much Love, Kelly

If you write straight romances or novels with a romantic subplot, you’ll want to check out Writing Love: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors by Alexandra Sokoloff. I’ve read a few books on writing romance, but this is the best one I’ve seen.

Unlike other books that deal with the topic of romance, Alexandra focuses on what she’s known best for: story structure. If you haven’t read her first book (Screenwriting Tricks for Authors), you might want to do that first. But for $2.99, it’s worth it. Alexandra assumes you’ve already read the book before reading Writing Love. If you’re familiar with story structure, it’s not as big a deal if you want to skip on.

One of my favorite parts of Writing Love, which is worth the money alone, is the chapter on ‘love story’ elements. In it, Alejandra talks about scene and story setups that you will find in romance. These include: call to adventure (when the protagonist first notices her future love interest), the reluctant heroine, mistaken identity, handcuff the couple together (not necessarily literally).

Another thing I loved is that she took ten well-known romance movies (e.g. Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sense and Sensibility, While You Were Sleeping) and analyzed them according to their romantic storylines. This includes how the various ‘love story’ elements were used to drive the story. She also discussed how the rules of fairy-tale structure can be applied to your book.

Overall, I highly recommend Writing Love for all writers who include romance in their stories.
Do you write stories that have romance as their main story line, or are they usually subplots?

"What is Love?" Bible Study Week 6: The Memory of a Gnat
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Verse for the week: 1 Corinthians 13:5 (Love is not..) rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

*******************************
A few months ago on one of my blogs, we were talking about holding our tongues-- watching what we say. One lady commented that it would be awesome if we had one of those time delay devices like they use for 'live' tv programs (you know, since the Super Bowl 'malfunction' of '04).
We could say something, hear how rude or ugly it really sounded, and hit edit before the other person heard it.
THAT, my friends, would be awesome!!
No harm, no foul.
And no one would have to eat the proverbial crow when they say something stupid.
Unfortunately, we don't have that kind of personal technology. We only have our own flawed selves to edit our words--- and that can cause problems at times (Uh-oh!)
So, what does all of this have to do with anything??? Read on...
This week, we are focusing on 1 Corinthians 13-5. But before we get to that, there are 2 verses from our homework that we really need to learn about so we can discuss 13:5 more productively (that's why we do daily verses, you know ;) )
The first verse is 1 Corinthians 10:24 -- Don't be concerned for your own good, but for the good of others.
What did you get out of that verse?
That verse (in the context of the other verses) is talking about people who don't believe exactly as you do-- and that you shouldn't argue over 'trivial' things. We shouldn't demand or order others to believe exactly like we do. As long as they believe in Jesus and that he is the Savior-- then they are your brothers and sisters--- even if they don't play the kind of music you like at their church.
It doesn't really matter if they believe you have to be baptised--- or color your hair blue-- there is no need to demand they believe like you (like I said, as long as they believe and have accepted Jesus as their Savior). The Bible is your personal relationship with God-- we all read it and get things out of it differently. Churches are all the time dividing because of differing beliefs instead of coming together to win others to Jesus. The Devil is a 'Divide and Conquor' type of dude.
The second verse I want us to look at is Hebrews 10:17-18-- Then He says, "I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds. And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices."
Once we truly and sincerely ask God for forgiveness, He forgives AND forgets the sin, like it never happened-- And He never brings it up again.
Um-- yeah, we aren't like that sometimes.
We *should* be, but we aren't.
Even when you don't mean to ever mention it again, sometimes anger (or foolishness) gets the best of you and the words either slip out OR they pop back up in your mind and you get upset all over again (and in marriages a lot the person doesn't even know why you are mad-- again).
Ok, that brings us to this week's verse (you can review it at the top of this page if you want).
This is going to be another week of "Slap ye ole Kelly upside the head." lol
Last week, we learned 2 things love IS (patient and kind) and 3 things love is NOT (boastful, jealous, and proud).
Today, we are going to add to our list...
*Love is not Rude*
If you go back and look at the scenario at the beginning of this post, you see it deals with being rude-- speaking before you think can result in being/acting very rude.
Notebook Question: Ok, be honest, who are you the most rude to in your life? Why do you think that is the case?
Are you more rude to a stranger or to your own family?
Do you go out of your way to be 'kind' to influential people and get more irritated with people who can help you get ahead?
Look back at your notebook question answer: Who do you get rude to the most?
In my case, it is probably my husband (poor man). I get irritated because he doesn't live up to my idea of 'perfection' (ie he can't read my mind and know exactly what I want-- when I want it--) Lets face it-- that is why we get annoyed with people-- because in some way they haven't lived up to what we expect them to be/do. And that isn't their fault. It's ours because we have unrealistic expectations.
Paul's "True Love" says that even if we are annoyed beyond belief (did he REALLY just dirty another dish RIGHT after I started the dishwasher?!?) we shouldn't be snippy or rude when we confront them.
That. Is. Hard!
Now, that doesn't mean that we can't confront them-- just that we need to be calm when we do.
If someone is annoying us, we have the option of saying something to them. In fact, that is a much better option than letting it fester inside until it turns into anger (a very dangerous emotion).
What is the old saying? You can get more bears with honey. When you are rude or demanding, that automatically puts the other person on the defensive and your words are met on deaf ears-- THEN you have a fight on your hands.
My husband, bless him, has a tendency to walk away when we have arguments. It drives me crazy! *I* have things I need to say--- loudly and with vigor--

It is better to walk away when you are mad like that...
Cool off.
And then talk later when you have cooled off.
We women know that there are certain times when we are more irritable than others (I know I am). it's so easy to use that as an excuse to say "You know what, MAN!? I have PMS. I'm bloated. I feel like heck... I'm going to be as angry as I want to be and you'd better just look out!"
(Can you tell that I *might* have said that once... or twice... in my life ;) )
But that isn't showing love. I guess you kinda are since you are giving fair warning-- but not really. Sometimes we get in those moods when we just want to be mad-- so we are mad--- and then we have to apologizes for it later (Something that is necessary, but not necessarily any fun.). Personally, I don't think crow tastes very good...
Notebook question: In what ways does the one person you are rude with the most push your buttons? How can you deal with it through love (so next time you can have a game plan)
*Love Doesn't Demand its Own Way/Keeps No Record of Being Wronged*
Oh--- how many times have we gotten tired or irritated with someone because we DEMANDED they do something-- but they didn't do it our way?
They are pretty much darned if they do-- darned if they don't. A no win situation for them as it were.
"True love" doesn't demand. It accepts that there are different ways to add 3+2-- or hang a picture-- or fold clothes...
When we finally accept that, we have one less thing to aggravate us (HUZZAH!)
It is not easy, and we aren't going to be perfect at it. But the point of it is that we try.
*and Lastly, it Doesn't Keep Records of Wrongs*
As we learned in Hebrews 10:17-18. God is perfect at this. We-- not so much.
The Devil is awesome at planting or picking at our memories-- bringing the ones we'd rather not remember back to our mind-- making all of those emotions come flooding back.
We need to tell the Devil to leave us alone-- and we need to strive to be more like God.
During 'disagreements' it isn't productive to say things like "You always--" or "you never--". NO ONE 'Always' or 'Never' anything. Those types of generalizations hurt and keep arguments going and even stoke the fire.
In conclusion, if you wouldn't be rude to a stranger, don't be rude to the people closest to you in your life. If someone is truly sorry for something, stop bringing it back up. It is only living in the past and I dare say we have things in the past we aren't proud of either. The world is full of negative people. Lets try to be throw some kindness in there. :) Lets show others by our actions (and our words) that we love them.
Notebook Question: Look back over today's lesson, which area do you feel you are the best at? Which one do you need work on, and how can you do that?
Verses for next week:
Tuesday~ 2 Thessalonians 2:12
Wednesday~ Romans 2:8
Thursday~ James 4:12
Friday~ Romans 14:10
Saturday~ 1 Corinthians 13:6-- It does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Have a great week :) Kelly  

Tracy from My Daily walk in His Grace has graciously awarded me with the...

Award.
I'd like to take a minute to thank her SO much for not only giving me this, but for taking time to read my posts... on both sites! Ya'll Tracy is an awesome lady :)
There are some conditions I have to meet to fully be awarded this award, however...
"According to the directions, I am to share 7 things about myself. Then I pass the award on to blogger friends who in turn, will link back to me and follow the instructions again." (from Tracy's site)...
Ok... so 7 things about me:
1. I'm 30 years old, married, with 3 little ladies.
2. I'm a teacher.
3. I LOVE to write.
4. Judges is one of my favorite Books of the Bible (but my sister knew that... I tell her alot)
5. My 'big dream' that I always talk about over at http://www.encourage365.com/ is to write an actual book... More specifically, I'd really like to write Bible Studies. That's why we are doing one in Sept. on here. The Bible is full of interesting stories that I'd love to investigate and share with others :)
6. My top 5 movies are probably not from this decade (or even last decade).
7. Technology and I don't get along. My technological understanding stopped at the CD. One of my supervisors told me that they were thinking of going from laptops to iPads, and I might have blacked out for a second...
Now, on the second part. I have the honor of listing other bloggers who inspire me. Well, if I listed all of the blogs I follow and what they mean to me, we'd be here all day. Check out the 'Blogs I love' and the buttons to the right for a listing of which blogs I really love.

I decided to name 5 here. If you aren't listed, it's not because I don't love you:

1. Jennifer from Imitation by design

2. Kathi-Ann from studentmamacook

3. Laura from BeholdingGlory

4. Brenda from Triple Braided

5. Cyndi from cyndispivey.com

and one more...

Lisa from A Moment with God

And...

Cara from carebear and Co.

And...

Jenifer from ~Sweet Blessings~

(**Don't think any of you have to link back if you don't want. Just know that I love, admire, and respect all of you... INCLUDING ones that I didn't mention. I have learned so much from reading each of you :) )

Again, Tracy, thank you so much for thinking of me and my little piece of the internet. :)

Much love, Kelly

Zanna Mackenzie is on my blog today, talking about her new book, THE LOVE PROGRAMME! I'm so excited to have her (I just love her book cover! Seriously, it's gorgeous!)

Here's Zanna...

Many thanks for hosting me on your blog today!
My novel, published by Astraea Press, is called The Love Programme, here’s more details:

Thanks to an embarrassing incident involving a wedding and her ex-boyfriend Marcus, Lucy has to leave her home town in a hurry and needs a place to escape to for a while.
Best friend Fiona is convinced now would be a good time for Lucy to get herself a new life with some potential for romance thrown in. Fate seems to agree when Lucy is given the once-in-a-lifetime chance to star in a TV show and be a contestant on The Love Programme - two weeks of luxury living on a grand Highland estate coupled with, she hopes, fun and romance in wildest Scotland.
When Lucy meets Paul - the young, handsome owner of the Highland estate - she thinks she may have found the love of her life but who is the mysterious Hannah and what part does she play in his life? When she discovers that Marcus is planning to follow her to Scotland to win her back Lucy has some serious soul searching to do. Does she have a future with Paul, with Marcus or is she yet to find the man of her dreams?

There’s a sneak peak at chapter one below and the book can be downloaded now on Amazon
Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=zanna+mackenzie

Amazon USA:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=zanna+mackenzie

Chapter One
“I’m so glad he’s marrying someone else,” whispered Lucy, watching the groom shuffle nerv-ously from one foot to the other at the top of the aisle.
“It could have been you up there,” replied Fiona. “How many times did Marcus ask you to marry him?”
“Three,” Lucy replied, shifting position for the fourth time in as many minutes. Why did church pews have to be so uncomfortable? “The first time when we were five, then again at twenty and finally,” she paused, reliving the moment in her head, “eight months ago.”
“Well,” Fiona said, as the organ struck up, filling the cold but pretty church with overly loud mu-sic, “it looks as though you’re safe from any more proposals, because I think the bride has just arrived.”
Amelie Marchant made her way slowly down the aisle, blonde hair in an elegant chignon, de-signer dress looking a million dollars. Beneath her thin veil it was clear she was smiling, no doubt savouring each precious second of being the focus of everyone’s attention, yet keeping her own attention firmly fixed on Marcus, who was awaiting her arrival at the altar.
Fiona nodded in approval. “She looks gorgeous. Her dress is exquisite.” She nudged Lucy. “Doesn’t the little bridesmaid look sweet in deep pink?”
“Yes, she’s Amelie’s niece apparently.” Lucy let a small sigh of contentment slip from her lips as Amelie reached the altar and stood close to Marcus. Finally she, Lucy Stokes, was going to be free of Marcus Brandon. He was marrying someone else, hallelujah! She would, at long last, be able to live her life exactly the way she wanted to. The whole reason she was here today was to witness the ceremony for herself. To know it was for real.
Okay, so she and Marcus had been childhood sweethearts. They’d played at the whole boy-friend-girlfriend thing on and off, sometimes quite successfully, for well over fifteen years. When she’d reached her twenties Lucy had sensed they didn’t have a future together, and she’d been trying to get Marcus to realise the fact ever since.
When she’d broken it off with him for the last time, to say he hadn’t taken kindly to the idea they were no longer an item was a major understatement. Over time she’d grown used to his persistent phone calls, the fact he often just popped round to see her and casually suggested, if they were both at a loose end, they might go for a drink or to the pictures.
Even when she’d plucked up the courage to attempt to date other people, it had been a complete disaster. Friadon was a small town and Marcus seemed to know every detail of where she went, when and with whom. On more than one occasion he’d tried to talk her out of going on a date, and she suspected, but couldn’t prove, he’d persuaded at least one of her dates to stay well away from her, causing her to be stood up, all alone in the heavy rain, outside the local cinema.
Six months after they’d split up, in a completely misguided attempt to woo her back, he’d gotten down on one knee and proposed to her for the third time at the travel agency where she worked. Armed with a huge bouquet of red roses and a bottle of champagne he’d asked her to marry him one last time. It had been in front of several customers too; Lucy had been pink with embarrass-ment. When, riddled with guilt, she’d gently declined his offer yet again, he’d gone off and met Amelie. Eight months later here the two of them were standing at the altar about to become man and wife.
Realising the ceremony was already well under way and she’d missed the first bit through not paying attention, Lucy tried to focus on what was being said, forcing the memories of Marcus from her mind. Yes, they’d enjoyed some fun times over the years, and she had to admit there had been occasions when they’d been completely great together, but it was all in the past now. His future lay with Amelie.
Clearing his throat the vicar glanced nervously towards the congregation and asked, “Does any-one here object to the marriage of Amelie Marchant and Marcus Brandon? If so, speak now or forever hold... ”
“I object.” The words were barely audible but Lucy heard them and fear shivered up her spine.
The vicar, looking as though his worse fears were being realised, glanced around anxiously, un-sure what to do or say next.
“I object!”
This time the voice was louder. The vicar grew red-faced and flustered.
“I’m sorry, sir, did you say you object?”
The bridegroom nodded solemnly. “Yes, I’m afraid I did.”
Those in the first few rows of the church heard the faintest of whimpers escape from beneath the bride’s veil and her knees appeared to buckle just a little.
Fixing a stern gaze upon the unwilling groom the vicar muttered, “Why exactly do you object, Mr. Brandon?”
Marcus addressed the packed congregation, his eyes scanning the rows, seeming to search for someone. Then in a loud, clear voice he announced, “I object because I’m still in love with an-other woman!” Raising his right hand he pointed to an area, three pews back on the right, just in front of a stone pillar. “Lucy, my love, will you ever take me back?”
There was collective gasp from the congregation; the bride fainted on the spot, sinking to the floor to be quickly swallowed up in a cloud of ivory silk and lace. Lucy, covered in embarrass-ment from head to foot, used her generously proportioned purple feather hat to try to hide her face, clasped her matching purple purse to her chest and ran from the church as fast as her kitten heels would carry her.
****
“Poor woman. Imagine being left at the altar.” Fiona licked her lips and placed her fork back on the now empty plate, having demolished a generous portion of blueberry cheesecake. “It’s the kind of thing you never recover from, surely.”
“I know, I know, and I’m mortified everybody thinks I was in some way to blame.” Lucy sighed and searched in her handbag for a tissue. “I tried to call Amelie afterwards to explain there was nothing going on between me and Marcus, but her mum slammed the phone down on me. Eve-ryone hates me and I haven’t even done anything wrong.”
“So, where is Marcus now then?”
“He flew out to Portugal yesterday after the wedding to stay with his sister and her family. He rang me from the airport and asked if I’d fly out to join him, can you believe it?” Lucy shook her head in despair. “What do I have to do for him to get the message?”
“Well, he’s obviously still crazy about you.” Fiona sighed and then pinched the uneaten biscotti from the side of Lucy’s cup and saucer. “In some ways it’s rather romantic.”
“Fi! It’s not and you know it! You’ve known me since school, and you know how he’s been driving me crazy for years! You, of all people, should understand!” Lucy replied, trying to re-trieve the stolen biscotti from Fiona. “I want some freedom from him. I want a life. I want to be able to try to find my Mr. Perfect.”
Fiona shook her head despairingly. “Not Mr. Perfect again. Don’t tell me — the man of your dreams needs to be,” she started to count on her fingers, “One, he needs to be fabulously wealthy. Two, he needs to be drop dead gorgeous. Three, kind and loving, attentive and thought-ful. Four, intelligent and successful. Five…”
Lucy held her hand up in protest. “Well, a girl needs to aim high.”
“I understand about you and Marcus. He’s not the man for you, but I’m afraid you’re not being realistic in the male wish list department. Firstly, you swap and change your mind about things all the while, and secondly, you know Mr. Perfect doesn’t even exist,” Fiona said, with a regretful smile. “I’m sure we all wish he did, but he doesn’t. Never has.”
Looking like a child who’d just been told Santa Claus wasn’t real, Lucy replied, “Okay for you to say. You’ve found your soulmate and are heading for the Friadon wedding of the year in a couple of weeks.”
“Yes, this is true.” Fiona nodded, a blissful smile appearing on her face. “But don’t forget I was realistic. I know Luke’s the one for me. I accept he’s not Mr. Perfect. He doesn’t shower me with roses or gifts, he goes down to the pub with his mates to watch the football far too often, and he’s not made of money. Oh, and he hates shopping!”
Lucy shook her head, pretending to disapprove. “And yet you still love him!”
“Yes, I do.” Fiona snapped the biscotti in half and handed one piece to Lucy. “Didn’t you ever love Marcus?”
“No. Well, maybe I thought I did when I was younger. We were great together for a while.” She sighed, stirring her coffee absentmindedly. “I suppose I’ve never had much chance to date other guys, to experience life. That’s part of the problem. Marcus always wanted us to go absolutely everywhere together when we were dating.”
“I don’t know how you’ve managed. To reach the ripe old age of twenty three, and you can probably count the number of boyfriends you’ve had on three fingers.”
Lucy buried her head in her hands, a curtain of straight blonde hair falling forward to hide her face. “I know. It’s crazy. And now I’m hated by pretty much every female within a ten mile ra-dius because they think I’m a trollop and I’ve been carrying on with Marcus whilst he’s been en-gaged. I’m completely innocent in all of this, yet I’m the one getting bad-mouthed.”
“They’ll get over it.” Pausing for dramatic effect, Fiona added, “It’ll just probably take a long while. In the meantime you’ll have to get used to being thought of as a wanton woman.” Patting her hand reassuringly, she said, “Anyway, I’m still your friend.”
“Great, thanks,” muttered Lucy, head still in her hands. “Sometimes I just feel this overwhelming desire to move away from here, to get myself a new life.”
“Well, do it then. For goodness sake you’ve been whinging on about it enough for the last few years.” Fiona popped the biscotti into her mouth. “Think about it. What’s stopping you from leaving Friadon anyway? Well, apart from my impending wedding of course.”
Warming to her topic she said, “It would do you good to get away from this small town mentali-ty. You should have done it years ago. Go off and explore, find out what you want from your life. You’ve never had a chance to date properly without Marcus peering over your shoulder. It must have been awkward.”
“It was.” Lucy shrugged, staring at a large crumb of biscotti on the table. As she had a good idea how infrequently the table tops were cleaned in this café, she resisted the strong urge to scoop the crumb up and lick it from her finger. “Anyway, at my age, shouldn’t I have my life all mapped out by now? You know, what I want from men, work, the whole caboodle.”
Shaking her head Fiona reached for the last of her coffee. “Nah, it’s just a popular myth. Gener-ally things just happen, and they’re probably not what you were planning but they usually kind of work out for the best in the end.”
Looking at Lucy, she said, “Remember how you used to complain about how boring Marcus was? Saying how you’d never been in a relationship where you’d been totally swept off your feet, how you wanted to find a man you could be completely crazy about for the rest of your life? Always going on about how you wanted to find your Mr. Perfect, the love of your life?”
Lucy pushed a lock of hair behind her right ear, frowning. “And your point is?”
“Go find the man for you, have your adventure, enjoy yourself,” Fiona added encouragingly. “All of the hearts and roses stuff, the handsome looks and pots of money business we all, at some point, crave. Doesn’t matter. They’re not the real recipe for happiness in a relationship.” As Lucy’s face took on a not-this-lecture-again look, Fiona said, “You’ll see, I know you will. You just need to find the right man first.”
****
Business had been slower than usual at the Price Right Travel Agency where Lucy worked. “Isn’t it boring when nobody comes into the agency?” She sighed as she deftly slid a pair of scis-sors through some plastic wrapping on a pile of holiday brochures proclaiming Turkey to be ‘paradise in the sun’.
Her boss Melanie glanced up from her computer with an irritated expression on her pixie-like face. “I imagine we’re being boycotted thanks to your little shenanigans with Marcus.”
Trying to wedge some brochures with a picture of a gorgeous sun-drenched Turkish beach on the front onto the shelving, Lucy said, “For the tenth time, Mel, I didn’t do anything. What do I have to say for people to believe me?”
Mel shook her head. “I’m not here to judge your love life but when it starts to affect my busi-ness…” she paused, choosing her words carefully. “For starters Marcus was one of our best cus-tomers. He even booked his honeymoon here. Goodness knows what will happen there. Nobody has asked about the chance of a refund yet. What with Marcus paying for it and then jetting off to Portugal straight after the non-wedding, he hasn’t had a chance. I expect he’ll be in to try to sort it all out when he gets back.”
“He’ll lose his money. I’m pretty sure walking out on your wedding isn’t covered under his in-surance,” said Lucy with a grimace, feeling guilty about how Marcus and Amelie wouldn’t get to enjoy the five star hotel he’d chosen on a gorgeous stretch of beach on Cyprus. If she remem-bered rightly the place had three restaurants, five swimming pools, a spa and a gym. Everything you could wish for. She’d helped him to choose the place. Now she was the reason he wouldn’t be going there.
“Perhaps it would be best if you took a bit of a sabbatical. Have you thought about it at all?” Mel asked with more than a hint of encouragement in her voice.
“Sabbatical?” Lucy queried, the brochures in her hand slipping to the floor. “Not a polite way of saying I’m fired is it?”
“Of course not. I’ll hold your job open for you. Just consider it an opportunity to take a few weeks off to go and have yourself a bit of fun. Hopefully by the time you return, all the gossips will have moved on to someone else and the next Friadon scandal.”
“You’re serious aren’t you?” Lucy asked, sitting down on several bundles of as-yet unopened brochures.
“Definitely. I have this friend who works for a small TV production company. They’re doing some sort of programme about love and one of the girls has had to pull out at the last moment for family reasons. They need a replacement right away and the filming is supposed to start in two days. Craig, my friend, doesn’t want to have to go through all the audition info again to choose someone else. I bet you’d be ideal.”
Sceptically Lucy asked, “What sort of love programme? It’s not something tacky is it?”
“No, no,” Mel answered, tapping away at her computer keyboard. “I think the idea is for three girls and one boy to spend two weeks together at some glam location. It’s properly organised and supervised. Each of you would get to go on your dream type of dates. It’s all about the psycholo-gy of finding the love of your life.”
Lucy got to her feet, then swayed unsteadily as her sandals slipped across several of the glossy holiday brochures scattered about the floor where she’d dropped them minutes earlier. Stooping to gather up the brochures before a customer (should one of them ever appear) broke their ankle on them and sued the agency, Lucy contemplated Mel’s suggestion. “So it would all be quite tasteful then?”
“I should imagine so. I think they’ll be having a psychologist on hand too, so after each date you can talk about how you think things went. There’s a complete relationship analysis service avail-able so you can learn about yourself, men, and your attitude towards dating. Sounds ideal for you.”
Realising she’d been holding her breath for a few seconds, Lucy let it out in a long sigh. “Okay, I might be interested. Shall I call this Craig or will you?”

Wanna 'TREAT' this Halloween? I'm participating with Lisa Orchard, author of THE SUPER SPIES and the HIGH SCHOOL BOMBER (and lots of other authors) for a Spooky Good Giveaway! One winner will win a Kindle Fire ! We are playing a game called 'bobbing for books'. Here’s how to play and enter the contest via Lisa Orchard’s blog 1. TWEET about the giveaway and then FB share. (Each time you do this, comment on Lisa's blog with the tweet/facebook status URL, HERE) 2. Buy a participating author’s book(s) and post the confirmation code of purchase/book title in a comment on Lisa Orchard’s blog. 3. Enter as many times as you want! There is no limit. 4. Winner will be chosen on OCTOBER 30th. Tweet/share = one entry. Book bought = two entries so enter often... BUT don't forget to leave a comment on Lisa's Blog for each book bought and tweet/fb post to get credit for the giveaway. **All books are clean reads. NO purchase necessary. The amount of chances to win depends on how many entries you have. HERE ARE THE BOOKS... “The Super Spies and the Cat Lady Killer” By: Lisa Orchard

An innocent game of Truth or Dare spins out of control when Sarah Cole discovers the dead body of the Cat Lady and what’s worse? The lead detective believes they’re responsible for the old woman’s death. Sarah realizes it’s up to The Super Spies to snare the Cat Lady Killer…or die trying.. A great Halloween read! BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble

“Crossing the Deep” By: Kelly Martin

Sixteen year old Rachel Harker expects the hiking trip in the mountains to be short and painless. Four days later, injured and scared, she just prays to make it home alive. BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble

“Hauntings of the Heart” By Joselyn Vaughn

When lost love shows up on your doorstep, what do you do? Minnie Schultz slams the door in his face. With the help of some paranormal investigators, an Elvis impersonator and a couple of nosey friends, can Minnie and Gordon find the future they were meant to have? BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble Find more of Joselyn’s books here: http://joselynvaughn.com

“Abiding Echoes” By: Kay Springsteen

Love is family… Love is endless… Love is timeless… Love is abiding… BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble Find more of Kay’s books here: http://kayspringsteen.wordpress.com/

“Vala Appointed” By: J. F. Jenkins

Identical twins Anj and Zes Willam have always been considered odd, even in a world where myth is real. Their magic is powerful and intense, as well as their secrets. None more so than Anj, who has the biggest secret of them all. BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble

“Double Crossing” By: Meg Mims

August, 1869: Lily Granville is stunned by her father’s murder. Only one other person knows about a valuable California gold mine deed — both are now missing. Lily heads west on the newly opened transcontinental railroad, determined to track the killer. She soon realizes she is no longer the hunter but the prey. As things progress from bad to worse, Lily is uncertain who to trust—the China-bound missionary who wants to marry her, or the wandering Texan who offers to protect her … for a price. Will Lily survive the journey and unexpected betrayal? BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble
“Cruel Justice” By: Mel Comley

The headless body of a wealthy widow is discovered decomposing in Chelling Forest. Detective Inspector Lorne Simpkins and her partner, DS Pete Childs are assigned to the case. A few days later another victim, this time a young girl, is discovered. Who could the killer be and what’s the connection between the two victims? BUY LINKS: Amazon/ US Amazon/UK Find more of Mel’s books here: http://melcomley.blogspot.fr/

“Moonlight on the Palms” By: Lisa Greer

When professor Astrid Kent’s estranged mother dies, she returns to her childhood home of La Casa De La Luz to set things right. But secrets, murder, and her mother’s ex-husband—Astrid’s former fiance before she fled Texas in shame—threaten to entangle her at every turn, even as another man vies for her heart. BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble: Find more of Lisa’s books here: http://www.lisalgreer.com/

“Prepare to Receive More” By: Benecia Ponder

A Step-by-Step Guide to Forming Your Prosperity Partnership with God. BUY LINKS: Amazon:

“The Trouble with Charlie” By: Catherine Bennett

Love. Desire. A psycho bent on revenge. But can Charlie Reynolds recognize the most dangerous of the three? BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble

“At What Cost” By: J. Andersen

When sixteen year old Maggie Reynolds discovers she’s pregnant at the beginning of Junior year, she’s scared to death to tell her parents for fear of what they’ll do. Luckily, her boyfriend suggests another alternative: abortion, but will it really solve all her problems like she hopes it will? BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble

“The Legacy” By: Patricia Kiyono

A family finds and embraces its samurai heritage. The Legacy introduces the Tanaka family, whose story begins in The Samurai’s Garden, available beginning November 6 from your favorite ebook distributor! BUY LINKS: AMAZON

“The Last Time Keepers” By: Sharon Ledwith

When Amanda Sault and her four classmates are caught in a major food fight at school, they are given the choice of suspension or yard duty. It was a no-brainer. A two-week crash course in landscaping leads the kids to discover a weathered stone arch buried in an overgrown backyard. Instead of a forgotten lawn ornament, it turns out to be an ancient time portal from the lost continent of Atlantis. BUY LINKS: Musa Publishing Amazon Barnes and Noble
“There your Heart will be Also” By: Felicia Rogers

The Renaissance Hearts Series – Begin the adventure with Sarra and Cedric. BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble Find more of Felicia’s books here: http://feliciarogersauthor.weebly.com/

“A Collie Rescue” By: Lindsay Downs

Former Army Sergeant Sandi Charleston, diagnosed with PTSD and homeless barely survives day to day. By a miracle of fate she meets Taz, a uniquely special collie, who helps turn her life around. BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble Find more of Lindsay Downs books here: www.murdersandmysteries.wordpress.com

“A New Dream” By: Elaine Cantrell

Former NFL player Matt McCallum and baker Violet Emerson find a common dream for their lives, but a loose end from Matt’s past returns to jeopardize their future. Will love be enough to save their new dream before it turns into a nightmare? BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble

“Psychic” By: John Warnock

What if you awoke one day and discovered you had ESP? Would you feel blessed? Or would you feel cursed? BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble: Find more of John’s books here:http://www.johnwarnock.info/

“Secrets of Catalpa Hall” By: Lori Lapekes

BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble Find more of Lori’s books here: http://lorilapekes.com/

“No Job for a Woman” By: Sherry Gloag

Circumstances demand Julian and Deborah learn to work together and Julian dares to dream that he might gain the love of the only person he’s ever given his heart to. But will Deborah live long enough to discover that by releasing everything she values, she will gain everything her heart desires? BUY LINKS: Amazon Barnes and Noble Find more of Sherry’s books here: http://www.sherrygloag.com/

****Please be aware that the KINDLE FIRE will be gifted from Amazon and sent directly from there. Therefore, if the winner receives a damaged prize, myself and the participating authors are not held liable for any damages. The winner must work with Amazon to get a replacement. WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on OCTOBER 30th.

Lisa at A Moment With God linked to 2 blogs today that really hit home. I want to thank her so much for following God and posting these today (even though she hadn't planned on it).
The Scenic Route
and
UpLIFTING Words
I'm not trying to steal her posts, but I wanted to share what I learned from her/them.
The Scenic Route dealt with throwing away a label that you use on yourself. It's a new year... a new you... time to toss out something you don't like. I prayed about this and my word I want to throw away to never see the night of day in 2012 is...
 FEAR
I have a lot of fear; more than I ever really thought I had. When God let me see this, I was kinda confused. I didn't *think* I feared a lot of things. It hit me that *FEAR* doesn't have to mean horror movie. Fear is anything you worry about/are concerned about/ don't fully trust God with... to me, fear is anything beyond my control...
*Rejection
*Not having approvial from friends/peers
*The health of my kids
*How my kids feel about me
*What will happen 10 years from now
*What others think of me/my family
*Being unimportant
... to name a few (yeah, that's a few lol).
For 2012, I'm tossing fear in the trash and trusting in God. It's not like I 'really' have control anyway. God does!
The second part of this (From UpLIFTING Words) was to pray about and have 'My ONE Word' for the year. A word that you can look back on and focus on through out the year.
Oh, *I* had ideas of what I wanted it to be: persistant, motivated, driven...
God had a different idea (and I've decided it best to go with his... since He's GOD after all!)
My one word to focus on for 2012 is...

LOVE
Love covers a lot, and it is definitely a word I need to focus on more.
*If I show love to others, I'll do my best to help them.
*If I show love to myself, I won't have to worry about what other's think.
*If I show love for God, it could change other lives.
Do you have a word you'd like to toss, and one to hang on to for the year? If not, pray about it. Deciding you aren't going to worry about your 'label' any more is such a freeing feeling!
And praying about, and receiving your "My One Word" is such a blessing.
Good bye 'fear'... you are SOOO last year!
Hello 'LOVE'... I plan to use you often :)

Linked with: Brag on God Friday