Delighting in God's Word

At the beginning of each meeting we spend some time singing together. In the past we have always just used a CD. However, this year, Katie has blessed us by accompanying our singing on the piano. It has added so much more to our singing times & I continue to enjoy the sweet voices as they fill our home!

Before the lesson, we played a rather rowdy treasure hunt type game. It involved searching the house for plastic coins, pieces of paper & Allison, all while attempting to do it quickly & fill out a worksheet with your team. Needless to say, there was a lot of pounding & shouts as girls ran up & down the stairs and encouraged their teammates. The game is a bit too complicated to attempt explaining here, so you'll have to ask someone who was there.

By the end of the game, each team had compiled a list of benefits that can be gained from spending time in Scripture.

Rather than eagerly searching for little plastic coins or pieces of paper, God has given us even greater treasures that can be found in His word! During the lesson I encouraged the girls to delight in God's Word by making the decision to spend time with Him daily.

"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." 1Peter 2:2

See you all again in a couple weeks! Until then, enjoy the privilege of delighting in God's Word!

Contentment 1/24/12

To start the evening, girls were divided into smaller groups and prepared skits together based on Matthew 6:19-21. The skits demonstrated the way a discontent girl with an earthly perspective would respond to a situation vs. the way a content girl with an eternal perspective would respond.

As always, the girls were very creative & the skits were quite humorous. After skits, we sang "Who Will Shine God's Light?" from the Bright Lights CD. I am always so blessed by the girls sweet voices filling our basement!

This evening we had a special treat! One of our older girls, Jessica, taught a special lesson on contentment. She talked about pride, and how it is the main cause of discontentment in our lives. She challenged the girls to put God & serving others first. She did an excellent job, especially since it was her very first time to teach a lesson!

After a time in small groups for discussion & prayer, we ended with tea & dessert.

I look forward to seeing you all for our next meeting on February 14th as we begin Set 5 together! If you're doing 4:12, I'll see you before then on January 31st!

Friends 10/25/11

This evening, our lesson was on friends. We started the evening with a fun game to see how well the girls had been making friends in our group.

The girls were split into two teams and each team stood on one side of the quilt.

Each team would choose a teammate to stand in front of the blanket.

On the count of three, the blanket would drop & girls would try to be the first to say the name of the girl on the other side. Whoever said the name first, got to have the other player come to their side of the blanket. Whichever side had the most players at the end of the game won!

Sometimes it was a race to see who could blurt the name out first...

And other times the girls were a bit more puzzled. :)

With 50 girls in our group this year, there are quite a few names to learn!

After this game, everyone went downstairs to celebrate some birthdays & sing! I love hearing the girls' sweet voices fill the room each meeting with lyrics of praise & resolve to serve the Lord!

After singing, I shared the lesson on friends. I encouraged the girls to place the greatest importance on seeking a relationship with Jesus & finding their identity in Him. I also shared with them some practical ways to choose friends wisely & get rid of friends which do not provide true fellowship. I reminded the girls that you will become like who you surround yourself with & it's important to choose companions who are seeking after the same goal you are.

Many times we have difficulty with friendships because we are self-centered and want friends so they can meet our needs. Instead of having the attitude of a "taker" we should have the attitude of a "giver," someone who is always looking for ways to serve, encourage and bless their friends.

We ended the meeting with small group discussion & tea!

I look forward to seeing you all again on November 8th!

Christmas Party

Last Tuesday our group got together for a Christmas tea party that was full of sugar, singing, laughter, and games. Unfortunately, we were having a little too much fun together & forgot to take many pictures. Here are a few we managed to take.

One of the tables...

The other table...

One of our games was a silly "Following Directions" quiz that ended with a discussion of ways we can be  a Bright Light during Christmastime. Here are a few photos of the girls taking the quiz...

Other activities included singing Christmas carols, putting on a Christmas "pageant" complete with wacky costumes and a gift exchange. I believe the fellowship & laughter was enjoyed by all.

Jessica...

Jenna & Gretchen...

I look forward to seeing everyone for our first meeting of 2011 on January 11th! We'll be diving into Set 2 on Having Your Pitcher Full of Living Water. If you have friends who are planning on joining us for the second semester, please have them contact me ASAP so I can get the right amount of materials ordered.

11/9/10 Understanding the Fear of the Lord

Tuesday we had a great Bright Lights meeting! Our topic for the evening was "Understanding the Fear of the Lord." I challenged each of the girls to consider whether they were finding their identity in other people (the fear of man) or if they were seeking validation from the Lord (fear of the Lord). They were all sent on a mission to start befriending someone at church, homeschool group or other activities who seemed to be an outcast.

After the lesson we played an attentiveness game, illustrating the point that we need to be attentive to what the Lord wants us to do, even if it makes us look foolish in the eyes of men.

To play the game, we sent one person out of the room & then the rest of the group decided on a leader. The leader would start a motion & everyone had to copy that motion. At any time the leader could change the motion & everyone had to follow. The person who left the room had to come stand in the middle of the circle & figure out who the leader was.

It ended up being a very fun activity & there were lots of giggles as the girls tricked the person in the middle.

After the game, the girls split up into small groups to exchange prayer requests & talk about the lesson. Then everyone went outside to our back deck that had been lit up with Christmas lights and we sang various hymns & Bright Lights songs together.

Shelby, Arianna & Taylor..

Katelyn, Rachel & Myra...

Silly faces & off guard smiles..

We ended our meeting with tea & special fall themed sugar cookies Brooke & McKenzie brought.

Jessica & Taylor...

Sweet Shelby..

Brooke & Kaleigh..

Sarah, Taylor & Abby..

Thank you all for sharing your joy with us, I'm looking forward to our next meeting in a couple weeks!

10/26/10 Developing a Disciplined Walk With God

This week we had a great meeting as we discussed developing a disciplined walk with God.

As always, we started our meeting with singing...

This week we sang "I Will Live for You" and "Who Will Shine God's Light?"
During the lesson I challenged to girls to make spiritual disciplines a regular part of their day so that they can grow in their relationship with the Lord.

After the lesson, I announced the new small groups the girls will be in for the rest of the school year. The purpose of these groups will be to foster closer relationships & provide a place for discussion of each lesson. Each group is named after a woman of the Bible.

The Mary Group...

The Rebekah Group...

During their small group time, each young lady decorated a small notebook which she will be using to record her Bible reading for the next two weeks.

After small group meetings, we had a Bible sword drill competition between the groups. Each of the verses related to one of the suggested spiritual disciplines from the lesson. In the end, the Esther group won the contest.

Brooke..

Karen..

Today was a special day because it was Amber's birthday. Her mom came in with a cookie cake at the end of our meeting & we all sang to her.

The new 11 year old!!
We ended the meeting with tea, dessert & fellowship.

Abby..

Jessica, Jenny & Katelyn

Jenna & Gretchen..

Brooke, Camryn, Sylvia & McKenzie
I look forward to seeing everyone at our next Bright Lights meeting on November 9th!