Activate!

As some of you may know I started a new bible study this week called Activate. This class is something that I have been looking forward to over the past couple of weeks and something that I think will greatly benefit me. The class is focused on making your relationship with God more personal, being able to pray more effectively and becoming comfortable with sharing your faith with nonbelievers. After the foundation (introduction) section of the book, the author gives you the honor of doing a self-evaluation. I know that everyone loves to honestly evaluate and critique where they are and to identify their weaknesses, right? I don't really love the word weaknesses. It seems a little negative. Let's use "areas of growth" instead. During my evaluation time, I realized that sharing my faith with others is a big area of growth for me. Thinking back on my almost 9 months in Ohio (geez, has it really been that long), I have only straight forwardly invited 3 people to church. To me, that is kind of sad. I see a lot of people on a daily basis. What is holding me back from sharing my faith with those people. Is part of it rules about appropriate behavior in the workplace? Absolutely, but that is an entirely different post.

Now that my self-evaluation is completed, I move on to the challenge of the first week. This week's challenge is to set aside a specific time (preferably in the mornings) to complete your reading and quiet time with God. Our leader in this class urged us to find an accountability partner. This person is someone you can check in with who will hold you accountable for your challenges. Hello accountability partners! Given that in the past I have tried similar things on my own and due to the lack of will power have not been consistent, I am now making myself accountable to the blogosphere and anyone interested enough to read this blog. I have chosen to do this for a couple of reasons: (1) I will feel pressure to complete all of my quiet times because I plan to update the blog everyday with my outstanding consistency and (2) this is one step I can take to share my faith with others. Granted only my family and some close friends read this blog, but I am making a stand and will try to befriend and invite nonbelievers to the blog.

My prayer for this week is that God will provide the opportunity to share my faith with someone and help me be faithful in my daily devotion time. I would greatly appreciate any prayers that you guys could get up for me.

If anyone is interested in completing the series with me or at another time, thus far I highly recommend the book. The title is Survival Kit: 5 Keys to Effective Spiritual Growth. It can be purchased at Lifeway Christian bookstores or at Amazon for under $10.

As soon as I spell check and click publish, I will be setting my alarm clock for 5:45 so I can do my quiet time in the morning. I will let you know how it goes. Good night!

Brittany