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Proverbs31 Ministries runs an online bible study on their blog. I have found these studies to be wonderful, thought-provoking, and interesting. It's a great way to dive into the bible and experience God's word. Right now, we are reading 5 Habits of a Woman Who Doesn't Quit by Nicki Koziarz. After only reading two chapters of this book, I am loving it so much! I'm tempted to go ahead, but I'm trying not to in order to stay on pace with the Online Bible Study. This book follows the Book of Ruth in the Bible. Nicki has taken Ruth's story and has pulled out 5 habits that describe women who don't "quit."
Because we are beginning week two of the study tomorrow, this post will serve as a reflection of the first week of study, and the first two chapters, and will give you a sense of what is discussed in the book. If you are thinking about participating in this 5 week study, I highly recommend you do so! We are only one week in, so there is plenty of time to join. In fact, all the blog posts and information will be kept online so that you can participate in this study any time after it has finished. This is Nicki's first book, and I'm really hoping that she writes more! Here is my recap of Week 1 - these are some the takeaways from the book that I wrote in my notebook and are directly from Nicki Koziarz herself. All credit to the below statements go to Nicki.
Five Habits of a Woman Who Doesn't Quit
Habit One - She Accepts The Assignment of Refinement
- Taking our personal agenda to God and asking Him to bless it is always dangerous and detrimental.
- Intentional steps of obedience mean more to God than we might realize.
- Sometimes discouragement is brought on by our own decisions of disobedience.
- An assignment of refinement is a situation in life where we are given the opportunity to either go through it or grow through it.
- Anytime we see something that has the potential for opposition, it's always an opportunity for God to reveal Himself.
- When we go through a difficult situation, our natural instinct tends to be to flee to the familiar.
- But fleeing to the familiar is risky for a woman who wants to stop quitting. Because victory is often found in the most unfamiliar and uncomfortable places.
- If we quit, we might miss the opportunity to see God work in and through a difficult situation.
- Desperate situations can either lead us to a greater dependence on God, or they can cause us to detour away from God.
- Because God's grace is defined as unmerited favor, He's with us and for us even in hard situations.
- Hard situations are a great place to see things in us that need to be changed.
- As we walk through assignments of refinement, there are times we just need a touch up, a slight twist in attitude or response.
See what I'm saying?? There are so many 'goodies' packed inside this book. You've got to check it out! I guarantee you won't be disappointed!
In case you are wondering, the notebook I'm using is my Erin Condren (if you use this link, you can save $10 off your first purchase, making the notebook a steal!) and I love it! I keep all my P31 Online Bible Study notes in this notebook, and I decorate each study with a different set of washi tape, stickers, and pens to distinguish one study from another. This step is obviously not necessary, but makes the notebook more fun!