Light My Path Ministries » Womens Bible Study

We All Know One

Karla Taylor — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 04:16:32 +0000

If you have ever attended a Ladies Bible class you have probably met her – the woman that talks too much – the one that totally dominates the discussion. She can be really frustrating. It’s hard to get a word in edgewise and sometimes if you disagree with her – sparks will fly! How does a group deal with this type of woman? Last week, I started giving 10 tips to help a small group manage a too-talkative woman.

Today is Tip #2: There has to be a designated group discussion leader.

Now, don’t confuse the group leader with a teacher. The group discussion leader is not typically the teacher – she leads the discussion. She monitors who is speaking and who is not. She keeps track of the time. She does not have to have the answers – she is there to keep the discussion on track. (We will talk more about this in a later post…keeping the discussion on track. This is a whole other area that has to be addressed to have a successful Ladies Bible class.) Many people do not feel comfortable being the teacher, but almost everyone with some training and confidence can fill the role of group leader.

In my experience, groups without a designated leader always struggle. Someone has to be in charge of the discussion. Now, you can rotate this duty if you want, but the rotation should not be weekly. I am more for quarterly….at least 12 weeks at a time. A few reasons? It takes a while to establish the leader and for the women in the room to look to the leader for the direction of the discussion. If you are changing leaders every week that is just about the same as having no leader because no one ever gets the chance to establish her leadership and that she expects the women in the discussion to follow her. Also, it takes time to work with the woman who is talking too much and if you are changing weekly or even monthly, no one ever gets enough consecutive time in the leadership role to help rein that person in.

Start looking around your group right now and encourage someone to step up and be the group discussion leader – you will be glad you did.

It’s That Time Again!

Karla Taylor — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:15:41 +0000

All over America, it’s that time again. The weather is getting cooler, we are getting back on a schedule, closets are being cleaned out, new supplies are appearing in backpacks, children are heading off to school and Ladies Bible class is starting up. Yea! I love a good Ladies Bible class. There is just something about getting together with other women of faith and sharing our life struggles and triumphs that exhilarates me! I really like that times that I have been involved with a Ladies Bible class group that is multi-generational…there is so much to learn from people that are a different age and in a different stage of life than you. Going on thirty years as a preacher’s wife – I have been to a lot of Ladies Bible classes. Some of them have been great – I could hardly wait to get there. Some of them have been miserable – I could hardly wait to get OUT of there!! I have learned a few things along the way. One of the hardest things to deal with in a Ladies Bible class setting is the woman who talks too much. She dominates every discussion and always has an opinion…about everything! I have seen many a potentially good Ladies Bible class ruined by this type of woman. Over the next several weeks I would like to share with you 10 strategies for dealing with this situation. 10 strategies that will help this woman feel a part of the group but also let someone else speak. 10 strategies that I think will increase your attendance at Ladies Bible class.

Here we go:
Strategy #1:
Arrange the chairs in the room to correspond to the number of participants.

This is such a simple strategy that many people won’t even try it. There is something that changes in a room when everyone can see the body language of the other people in the discussion. If you are meeting in an auditorium or a room with lots of chairs and people are far apart, you need to modify. Everyone that is part of the discussion needs to be able to see everyone else’s eyes. You see, most people who talk too much realize their fault to some extent. They aren’t always able to control it but they do know they have it. These women especially need the visual clues that other people want to speak. I particularly like some sort of circle. I want to see everyone at once and I want everyone in the discussion to be able to see each other. If you have 15 chairs set up and only 6 people show up for class, before you even start the discussion, remove about half the chairs. If people show up late you can add more chairs. (Adding the chairs back is psychologically exciting…everyone is thinking…. “This is a great class, more and more women want to come, and we are adding chairs every week!) When the women in your group can feel each other and see each other it changes the way they participate in the discussion. Give it a try!

Lessons From the Garden #4

cbarker — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:57:10 +0000

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. -John 15:2

I read somewhere that the best fertilizer is the shadow of the gardener so I took that as a challenge to make this the summer that my garden would survive the heat and drought. I know that hoeing, watering and feeding are essential gardening tasks, but pruning is a task I had never practiced because I never understood the benefits of it. When a plant appears to be vibrantly flourishing how can snipping back that healthy growth strengthen and maximize its ability to endure the stress of a long hot summer and equip it to continue contributing to the beauty of the garden? After deciding to put pruning to the test, I glanced around my garden and found the overachievers who were encroaching on the territory of the less ambitious. Not only did pruning help those plants become more compact, less intrusive and more drought tolerant but it also helped me find weeds hiding underneath that healthy growth, weeds that I wouldn’t be able to see until they endangered the plant sheltering them. It was the discovery of the hiding weeds that made me think more about the importance of pruning. Are there “weeds” hiding under what appears to be healthy growth in my spiritual life? Do I need to inspect the areas of my life that I think are spiritually healthy and will I discover that there are underlying threats camouflaged by superficial healthiness? If I objectively examine the activities that I believe bring glory to God and His kingdom, will I find that I am harboring behaviors that will eventually rob HIM of glory, honor and praise? Could trimming back seemingly healthy growth lead to greater strength, healthiness and beauty not only for my garden, but for my spiritual life too?

Lessons from the Garden #2

cbarker — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 02:10:56 +0000

This morning as I mailed some letters I stopped to look at the flower boxes on the side of my mailbox. Every year I plant moss rose in those boxes because they can withstand the summer’s oppressive heat and drought. From a distance those flower boxes looked pretty good. I was amazed that this late in the season they were still green and flowering…until I looked closer. What I thought looked healthy from afar was not what I found on closer inspection. Three different kinds of weeds had taken up residence among the moss rose; flourishing, green weeds with small blooms made the moss rose appear healthier, lush and more compact than they actually were. So as I started pulling those weeds I began to wonder, ‘is sin in my life deceptive like that’? Do I appear to be spiritually healthy because ‘weeds’ are providing a deceptive façade for me? Are there behaviors and works in my life that look good but do not bring glory to GOD and spread the knowledge of HIM? Is that what was happening to the Church in Sardis (Revelation 3:3:1-7)? Do the ‘weeds’ in my life provide the illusion of being spiritually alive when that’s not the case? What behaviors/actions/words do I need to get rid of that masquerade as spiritual but are not that at all. As I pulled those weeds from my flower boxes I prayed that God would open my eyes to see the weeds in my life that from afar appear to be spiritually sound but are actually hindering my obedience to HIS will.

God please forgive me for nurturing weeds in my life that inhibit me from giving YOU glory and spreading the fragrance of your SON. Open my eyes to discern the weeds from the VINE and help me “cultivate” my life so that YOU always receive glory from my behavior, actions, and words.

Lessons from the Garden #1

cbarker — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:55:28 +0000

Spring has arrived in Texas! After a record breaking winter in the DFW area (12 inches of snow within 24 hours!) the perennials have awakened with vigorous growth. In my garden some of my favorite perennials, Mexican mint marigold and Texas Aster, have generously multiplied, outgrown their beds and are threatening not only their own well-being but are also inhibiting the welfare and growth of their companion plants. I have begun dividing and transplanting these overachievers not only to enhance other areas of my landscape but also to maximize their blooms and keep them from infringing on the survival and maturation of the neighboring plants.
Transplanting temporarily sends them into a melt-down causing wilt and droop but by the beginning of summer they will have established themselves, spreading out, multiplying, and permanently rooting themselves in their new niche. Watching these perennials go through this cycle of growth, crowding out other plants, needing to be divided and transplanted prompts me to meditate on why God has instructed and at times forced his people (since the beginning of creation) to multiply and spread out: leaving a safe environment and taking the aroma of Christ to those who are saved and perishing (II Corinthians 2:14-16).
I ponder the advantages afforded us and others when we get out of our safe zones and submit to God’s instructions to “spread out”. Perhaps this command is not only for the benefit of those who need to hear about the Savior of the world as I have always thought but does “spreading out” challenge us to grow in greater faith and dependence on God? Does “spreading out” encourage and facilitate growth in those who we might have unintentionally intimidated or overwhelmed by our zealousness and spiritual growth? Does “spreading out” impel all of us, strong or weak, passive or aggressive, to grow, flourish and bear fruit as God expects of us?
How can you transplant yourself so that you can grow and at the same time encourage others to grow and flourish in the knowledge of God and our Savior Jesus Christ? How can you enhance God’s kingdom and at the same time empower those around you to mature in their faith?

Cultivate your Life Garden

cbarker — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:01:08 +0000

Spring beckons the farm girl in me to come out so once again the gardener has emerged. Every April and May grasses and weeds attempt to take control of the flower beds provoking my perennials to struggle for recognition amid the horticultural mayhem. Ridding those beds of weeds and grasses is a tedious chore that I wish only had to be done once in my lifetime! But to every gardener’s dismay it is a chore that requires steadfast diligence and a determination that beauty will prevail. Every time I do this necessary gardening task it reminds me to steadfastly “cultivate my life garden”.
One such life garden lesson that I unearthed from this year’s bed-cleaning was that weeds and grasses not only look ugly on the surface of the soil but they embed themselves underneath the dirt, out of sight, lethally entwining themselves around the roots of my beautiful perennials and annuals! Even though my flowering beauties look healthy and thriving, I know that once the heat and drought of summer sets in those plants will quickly be robbed of moisture and nourishment by those pesky weeds and grasses that co-habit the underground berth of my beautiful plants’ root system.
God put Man in His garden (Genesis 2:8, 15-17) to care and work it. And as we read on in Genesis sin tangled itself into the life of man, casting him (us) into the perpetual role of pain-staking laborer. Tending our life garden requires vigilant pruning and weeding in all areas of our lives. Just like my annuals and perennials appear to be healthy and thriving now, so can my life appear to look swell on the surface but deep down sin has taken root and it will be only a matter of time before it’s in plain sight, spoiling my ability to purvey the fragrance of Christ (II Corinthians 2:14-16).
So, diligently cultivate your life garden. It’s impossible to destroy every weed, but we can definitely control their propensity to hide the beauty of Christ in our lives. Dig deep; you never know what you might unearth.

The Best Ladies Bible Class

Karla Taylor — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:59:59 +0000

I am a believer in vibrant Ladies Bible class programs. Programs that involve women in relevant discussions about God’s word, introspection into how to change your life for the better based on God’s word and relationships that grow out of those times. A congregation that has a growing, warm ladies Bible class program will benefit on so many different levels. An interesting event happened in my adult Bible class about a year ago that started me thinking about this. There are about 100 people in the Bible class that I attend at my home congregation. During our discussion a man raised this question to the fellow men: “How many of you are here because your girlfriend…your fiancé…your .wife….initially brought you?

I was bowled over by the show of male hands.

By far, the majority of the men in the class raised their hands. Now, most of them have grown beyond attending for their wife – they are ministry leaders, deacons and elders, but their initial motivation was through their wife or fiancé or girlfriend.

So that started me thinking about some of our most recent contacts that are studying and obeying the gospel…most of them were the women. The initial contact to the family came thru the woman. Hmmmm…

The Lord’s church needs to be a place where women have the opportunity to grow spiritually. It has to be a place where they can drink in the Word of God, it should be a place where they can ask questions about life and receive Godly answers. All of these things happen in a vibrant ladies Bible class program.

Genesis is Real for Women Today

Karla Taylor — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:42:32 +0000

As we write our 14^th study guide, Connie and I are thinking very deeply about the book of Genesis and how it relates to our 21^st century lives. For the next few weeks, we are going to sharing some thoughts from the very first book of the Bible.

In my house sits a very old table and buffet. It belonged to my husband’s grandparents. This table and buffet were one of the first pieces of furniture they bought when they were married. My husband remembers sitting at the table when he was a young boy. As a child, my mother-in-law ate supper at this table and pulled dishes out of the buffet. When I pull a chair up to the table I am sitting down at a tangible piece of our family history. When I pull dishes out of the buffet, I am part of a long line of Taylor women who have been hospitable. This table and buffet help build my identity – who I am and who I want to be. The tie me to the past and give me courage to face the future.

For a Christian, a beloved child of God, Genesis serves the exact same purpose. When I read the creation account and think about what God created for me from the very beginning, I stand in awe. God created this entire world for me! He made plans from the beginning – plans to give me place to live, plans to communicate with me, plans for me to prosper, plans for me to have work to do, plans for me to come home to live with Him eternally. When I carefully read and meditate on the words at the start of Genesis I know so much about who I am and who God wants me to be.