{Lost Women} the group

book group, originally uploaded by sheelajoy.

With the book group beginning next week, I thought we'd have a chance to meet the participants. Feel free to start praying for one another. This isn’t your ordinary, garden-variety book group after all. We’re each of us trying to grow in Christ. I do hope this study helps us to do that!

Please don't think that you can't join in just because your photo isn't up there. You certainly don't even have to feel 'lost' to take part!

What’s the plan?

We are going to go through Lost Women of the Bible by Carolyn Custis James over the course of ten weeks. We’ll read a chapter each week (except for the first week when we’ll also read the Introduction, and the last week when we’ll read the Conclusion).

Each Thursday morning starting from the 25th of March I’ll set up a blog post titled {Lost Women} and the appropriate chapter title. I’ll include some of the questions in the book as ‘jumping-off points’. Don't feel like you have to answer them. Our discussion will be all the richer from participants responding only to that which particularly resonates with them.

As a basic ground rule, for now I ask that you compile your reflections on each chapter to one blog “comment”. Please try to be succinct – we don’t want to read a tome. Having said that, do please feel free to share what’s on your heart! We’re particularly looking for what encouraged or challenged you, what parallels you can see in your life, what questions arose, etc.

Once you’ve posted your reflections on the chapter, please feel free to respond (graciously and sensitively) to one another’s observations in as many separate comments as you’d like. Though we're all posting our initial reactions on the Thursday, bear in mind that by the time the girls in the US post, it'll be Friday here in the UK. Feel free to come back on subsequent days to post follow-up comments - we want to get all of the meat out of this thing!

If you're new to the world of blogging, don’t panic and please don’t let that put you off participating. It isn’t complicated. Here’s a little tutorial to help make things run smoothly…

How do I leave a comment?

Step 1) Scroll down to the bottom of the post you'd like to comment on. It will either say: Posted by Sheela at 0:00 p.m. 0 comments
Or: Post a comment

Step 2) Clicking on the word "comment(s)" will take you to the comments page. Type out your comment in the text box, and then complete the word verification (That’s just to protect from spammers).

Step 3) Choose an identity. If you have an account with Google or Blogger, then click on that option (Blogger.com is part of the "Google" network).
If you have an account with another blog service, click on the "Open ID" option.
If you want to type your name, choose "Name/URL." You can just type your name and leave the URL part blank.
I’d prefer for participants not to choose the "Anonymous" option, simply because I think it doesn’t help the fellowship aspect of this group. Knowing who is saying what helps us to get to know one another. Also, it’s easier to be critical/ disrespectful when anonymous!

Step 4) Click "Publish your comment." Or you can click "Preview" if you'd like to see what your comment will look like when it's published. If you don't like it, then you can click "Edit." If you're ready, click "Publish." It will then say "Your comment has been saved. It may take a moment for your comment to appear on the site at the original post." at the top of the page.

Step 5) If you have a Blogger/Google account and you later decide you want to delete your comment, you will see a trashcan/rubbish bin icon under what you wrote. Click on it to delete your comment. If you don't have a Blogger/Google account, you won't have that option, so contact me and I’ll delete it for you.