Making a Wise Comment

On Monday night we gathered for our last Bright Lights meeting of the semester! Our topic was on "making a wise comment." I encouraged the girls that young ladies who choose to use their words wisely will have an incredible testimony for God's kingdom. We discussed 4 aspects of making a wise comment: being concise, worthwhile, relevant & appropriate.

I encouraged the girls that our goal in speaking to others is not to draw attention to ourselves but rather, to benefit and encourage the listener. It shows great wisdom when we can discern when to speak, what to say and how to say it.

After the lesson, we spent time in groups of 2 or 3 practicing using our words wisely by writing letters of testimony & encouragement to others.

We ended, as always, with small group discussion & then tea!

I look forward to seeing most of you next week for our Christmas party!

Wisdom

Tonight we finally had our first meeting! It was exciting to see the group God has brought together! We started the evening, in the lovely weather outside, with our traditional "first meeting game." The girls rotated partners, answering various get to know you questions in 30 seconds or less. It was a fun way for the girls to briefly get acquainted with a bunch of girls in the group.

Our topic for the evening was an introduction to the set we will be covering this semester on Wisdom. Proverbs 8:11 says, "For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her." Wisdom is a valuable treasure that is worth seeking after! As Scripture states, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Therefore, if we want to gain wisdom we should start with a proper relationship with the Lord.

One aspect of wisdom is learning to see things from God's perspective rather than our own, earthly view. To illustrate this point, the girls were split up into teams & given a pile of puzzle pieces. The teams raced against each other to see who could complete their puzzle the fastest.

The girls all agreed that if I had shown them the picture of what the puzzle was supposed to look like it would have been much easier to put the puzzle together. Similarly, our life is filled with lots of challenges and circumstances that often don't make sense. However, God sees the big picture and knows how all those pieces are one day going to work together for good. (Romans 8:28)

Another aspect of pursuing wisdom is choosing wise companions. The people we spend the majority of our time with will have tremendous influence on our lives.

Finally, we must realize that often God's thinking is opposite the way of the world. It takes wisdom to know what God's way is.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1:5

After the lesson, the girls broke up into their small groups. Throughout the year the girls will do accountability, prayer & discussion in these groups.

Overall it was a great beginning to what is looking like a blessed year of Bright Lights! I look forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting on October 2nd!

Honoring Parents 4/24/12

I apologize, this post is a week late. We had a great time last week wrapping up Set 5 with a lesson on honoring your parents.

Our Gratefulness Banquet is quickly approaching! For the banquet, each small group has memorized a large portion of Scripture to share. During our meeting each group got up & presented the passage they had memorized to the rest of the group. It was so encouraging to hear each group share.

After we heard each recitation, I taught a lesson on honoring parents and gave the girls some practical suggestions for showing honor and respect to their parents. Once the lesson was completed, the girls surprised me with a birthday cake & bag full of birthday cards from each of the girls!

I am so, so blessed by each of you girls! Thank you so much for thinking of me & encouraging me in this way! It truly is an honor to know each of you!

Next, we did a Bible sword drill with various Scriptures related to parents, authority, honor & disrespect. We made it a competition between the small groups and the Miriam group won this time.

I look forward to seeing you all again for our last Bright Lights meeting this semester on May 8th at CBC!

Disputing & Arguing 4/10/12

This evening we discussed yet another way we frequently use our words to hurt others. I challenged the girls to consider their hearts and choose an attitude of humility rather than pride when tempted to argue with others, especially siblings.

"A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense." Proverbs 19:11

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Porverbs 15:1

During the lesson I had a few girls come up and "argue" with me about pretend scenarios. Then, the group would analyze the argument, what could have been done to prevent it or what could have been to stop the argument in the middle.

There were lots of laughs!

Many of the girls pointed out how foolish most of the arguments seemed. I reminded them that many times the things we choose to argue about are often trivial as well.

Here are a couple video clips from part of the arguments. (I apologize, the first one is tilted sideways, but it's still amusing)

We ended with small groups and tea time!

silly, silly girls! :)

See you for our next meeting on April 24th!

Group Pictures 3/27/12

 Today was group picture day for our Bright Lights group! Because our group is so large, it took a while to get everyone in place & get a nice picture but we finally got a winner!

Click the photo to view a larger version

Seeing this picture and all these joyful faces makes me so happy.. it is truly an honor to know each one of these amazing BRIGHT LIGHTS!

Silly Picture

We also took some time to take small group pictures as well. Here are the photos of each small group.

The Rebekah Group

Rebekah Group Silly Picture

The Mary Group

Mary Group Silly Picture

The Esther Group

Esther Group Silly Picture

The Miriam Group

Miriam Group Silly Picture

The Ruth Group

Ruth Group Silly Picture

After we finished all the pictures, we returned inside for a lesson on disrespect, small groups & tea. I look forward to seeing you all again on April 10th!