So as we enter into this week, and soon after the week of Christmas, I have been trying to have low expectations for the holidays this year just because I'm not sure what will actually happen. Now that I'm several states away from my previous traditions of 24 years I am trying not to expect that new traditions will just perfectly arise and this holiday season will be like the movies, because it might not. We are miles from family and surround by very new friends so it is hard to have a traditional "home for the holidays feel". Another adjustment for me is Micah's work schedule. For the past 21 years of my life I have either been in school or working in a school so when I think of the holidays I think "time off"! Micah works in the medical field and they [thankfully] do not follow the public school system schedule, but this means it has almost felt like the holidays aren't really here or aren't as big of a deal because our normal day-to-day life will just continue straight through till February. I have therefore been preparing myself for an okay holiday. I know it sounds like a pessimistic thing to do; probably because it is. This is sadly my natural tendency when approaching unknowns that seemingly have slim chances for "perfect" outcomes. In my mind, low expectations means low disappointment. Can someone say "Grinch"?
Since this a this week of Thanksgiving I'd like to try and work on my attitude. We are called to be thankful year round, but I am thankful for the little extra reminder this week to stop my pessimistic focus and think about the the extreme abundance of blessings I have in my life on this Earth and in my promised inheritance in Heaven. As a reminder to myself, I am going to highlight a few here this week.
I am thankful for BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). BSF is a non-denomination, international Bible study that studies a book or series of books from the Bible each year. Last year we studied Genesis and this year we are studying Matthew. Each BSF class meets weekly for small group discussion and then a lecture and there is weekly homework (aka: personal Bible study) to help you prepare for the weekly meetings. BSF forces me to regularly be in the Word in a thorough and thought provoking way, it challenges me to apply the Bible to my daily activities, it humbles and convicts me each week as I discuss the lesson with other women and hear the corresponding lecture, and it allows me to weekly fellowship with female believers from many walks of life, denominations, and backgrounds. I am also thankful that BSF had an incredible children's program in which Juliet weekly studies a modified version of what I am studying.
BSF is a privilege that so many believers around the world are not given the opportunity to have. I often take for granted the accountability it gives to my personal Bible study time and the richness of the actual study itself prepared for me at no real cost of my own.
