Introduction

(all of the above tabs relate specifically to the book of Esther, such as People, Places, and Things. People describes the people found in the book, Places describes the locations in the book, and Things are events and important facts that need to be known before reading.

This blog was created specifically for the ladies in our Wednesday night Bible study group, but would be beneficial to anyone. Getting together as a group for one hour, one night a week doesn't give a whole lot of time for discussing everything and we don't get to say as much as we'd like to say. With our previous study we found that communication was lacking, so at the end one of the ladies came up with the wonderful idea of emailing back and forth. I decided maybe it would be even easier if I did something like a blog where readers could comment and carry on a discussion. (ladies, we can still email too)

I am thrilled to be starting the Esther: "It's Tough Being a Woman" series. I just finished listening to the introduction audio disc, and was blessed by it. It will work out well with us wrapping up Daniel where we did, as this all takes place during the Persian rule right after they conquered Babylon.

We should be able to do one lesson a week - there are 10 weeks of lessons and 10 chapters in the book of Esther. I will try my best to keep this updated so that we can share opinions, questions, thoughts and prayers with one another. You don't need the workbook. I prefer to use it to keep my studying (and my brain) on task. Lifeway has them for $14.95, and both the Greensboro and Winston stores have plenty in stock. I will come up with a much shorter version of each week's worth of homework so that it might be easier to study. I'd rather go over 5 or 10 questions really well instead of going through the whole week's questions and confuse everyone with us going back and forth. I'll get them to you ahead of each class and you can answer the questions during the week and we'll share them at the following meeting. No one should have any excuses for not doing their homework...I'm making it easy :)

I hope this study will be easier to follow and more relevant to your daily struggles and encounters. Through our journey with Esther we will hopefully become more aware of what it takes to be a strong, courageous, Godly woman in our nation's time of ungodliness.

Please try your best to make time - even if it's only 15 or 20 minutes to study some of the information. I know it's hard to create good study habits...my early college transcripts are real good proof of that. However, if you make time for it and add it into your daily routine, it will be as simple as putting on your makeup in the morning or brushing your teeth at night. Taking small steps is better than standing still. You can't press forward if you don't move. Here are a few words of encouragement to get you started:

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.        - Romans 15:4 KJV

"By perseverance the snail reached the ark." - Charles Spurgeon