﻿Write the Word, Cultivate Worship OBS Week 3 Video
MT=Melissa Taylor KS=Kendra Schwarz
LC=Lara Casey MT: Hi, everybody, and welcome to week number
three of our “Write The Word” Online Bible Study. I cannot believe it, three weeks goes by so fast.
But we are already starting to see how writing the Word just over the past two weeks can really make
a difference. It can kind of slow you down, get you centered. This journal, I already knew it was
because I've experienced it before you guys know that by now. But hopefully you're experiencing
the same thing. I'm Melissa Taylor. We've been friends for a while. It's great to be back with
you. And I'm joined here with two more of our friends, Lara Casey and Kendra Schwarz..
KS: That's right. Hey,everyone, we're so excited to join you for our third and final
week of study. Three weeks goes by very fast, like you said, it's wild. But Lara,
I wanted to talk a little bit about something that's in this journal that you put in a lot
of the products that you guys do there, The Cultivate team, and that's on page six, and seven,
if you have a journal and page number eight, and it's all about looking back at what this year
has held, and then looking forward at what's to come. And so I wanted for you to talk a little bit
about why that is important for us to do. LC: Yes, the short answer is that we forget,
we really forget God's miracles in our lives, especially in a year like this,
right? Very easy to do. And we forget all the good he's done and the faith that he's given us to be
able to share the Gospel with other people, too, we just forget. And so we need to intentionally
remember. And that's why we look back and we look forward. And I think about in 1 Samuel, we
learned that God helped his people to win a really great victory, right? My son is five years old,
and he was really into this story. He likes all of the heroes. But in order to commemorate this,
Samuel took a stone. And he set it up between two places. And he named it Ebenezer. We think
of that great song. Here I raise my Ebenezer as part of the lyrics. And that's what that is,
it is supposed to be a way for us to remember God's faithfulness. Ebenezer means stone of help.
So something I did in our home recently is I made what I call an Ebenezer wall. Because you know,
all of the family members in my home. And we can have times of complaining,
not just if you have three children like me, but I think I also can have a grumbling heart. And
I really needed a way to just be able to look up at a wall and see God's faithfulness. So I
have some photographs up there. And they're not really the most beautiful photographs or you know,
photos that you'd see in a magazine or something like that. They're photos that are moments that
helped me remember God intersecting with my life. So each of our children's births,
a family photo, just all of us together in a time where we all felt strong and connected.
I have a photo up there of my youngest daughter's birth mom, and just remembering her selflessness
in our adoption, helps me to remember, oh, yeah, even in a year like this, God is faithful,
right? He's good. I so easily forget. MT: So easily. And that you just led right
into what I wanted to say in response to you. Because when I look at questions like that,
and I've used you're more than just the journal out of all of your products. And when I look at
it, I think, oh, I don't know if I want to go there. Right? mental energy. It's making me
think. But when you do, when you stop to reflect is exactly like what you said, you remember
God's faithfulness. And you will forget, because life gets crazy. It just does. And you know,
none of us expected. I asked you guys today, I said, so did your plans prevail in 2020? It
didn’t, so, when I filled out that section about reflecting on what was but then also looking ahead
with hope and anticipation, I was reminded of things that I'm grateful for that I don't think
I would have thought of if I hadn't taken the time to just sit with God. And pen and paper
and really go there. So okay, Lara, you mentioned you know, here we are getting ready for Christmas.
Thanksgiving is past. It’s typically a busy time of year, it looks different this year.
For a lot of people in different ways. I'm not even going to name all the different ways, right.
But it does, and it can bring some anxiety, it can bring a little like,
you know, this Christmas, maybe all our traditions aren't gonna work out or, you know, but we've been
focusing on worship for the past two weeks. And just because this is week three, we still have
journaling left. Yeah, we want to keep doing that. But how do we keep a posture of worship,
especially after this online Bible study ends and going into the holidays? How
do we keep this posture of worship? LC: Yeah, you know, I think about especially in a
time like this, where we're not just in the middle of a holiday season, but we're starting to look at
the future. You know, dreaming is an exercise in faith. And I think especially right here,
right where we are right now, I think a lot of us are feeling like, I don't want to dream. I don't
know what's gonna happen next year, I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, right? And so like
you said, Melissa, we feel stuck. We feel like, I don't want to do this, I don't want to reflect,
I don't want to remember the hard things, I don't want to look forward to the good things.
But again, when we remember, it kind of unlocks this amazing treasure chest of things that God has
done for us, we forget. And then dreaming really is an exercise in faith to look forward. But
right now, it's also a sticky season. Because like you he said, there are things that are different
that are making us a little nostalgic that might be making us really sad right now, maybe we're
not able to visit family, whatever it may be. So three things come to mind as we move through this
holiday season and we prepare ourselves for the new year. Number one is you have to think about
the big picture, especially in a time like this where it can be so easy to be in that narrow,
oh my goodness, I have to make cookies for 15,000 people. And I'm not going to be able
to get all my Christmas presents done this year, or maybe finances are really difficult this year.
And that's going to be you know, the norm for so many people. You have to think about the big
picture, that this will not last forever. God made us for seasons, look to where you want to be when
you're say 80 or 90 or 100 years old. And then what can you do about it today? So my best advice
in this season, is to choose just one thing based on where you want to be in the big picture
that you're going to cultivate in this season. Just one thing. Now I know, everyone's thinking
to themselves, I have like 800 things, actually, and you should see my to do list, my gift list is
still like a mile long. But if you were to just focus on one thing, maybe it's one way to worship
or one scripture to focus on or one word to focus on, you can use that as an anchor to always come
back to what matters most. And to be able to just rest and make life a little bit easier and
simpler in a time when we really need it. KS: That's so good. I like what you said, just
focus on one thing, and it's like an anchor. It's something like, Ebenezer wall, you can look up and
recenter yourself and refocus yourself. MT: And one thing is doable and manageable.
It's not overwhelming. KS: It's a breath of fresh air,
like I can do one thing. So that's really good, Lara, thank you so much for that. And so
as we wrap up our third week of study, it’s been so much fun to be with you. But is there
anything that you want to tell our OBS’ers, as they go into the third and final week of our
“Write The Word” online Bible study? LC: Yeah, you know, my kids and I have been
collecting nature, we've been collecting leaves and acorns. And I have this little acorn here.
And there is a tree in South Carolina that maybe some people have been to it's called
the angel oak tree. It is so big. I think it's wingspan if you will, it's like 150 feet from
one end to the other. And I think our faith is a lot like that. We want faith as big and as
strong as that oak tree. But where did it all start? Just this one little acorn, one little
acorn planted in the ground grew little by little over time into that really majestic tree. And
it's the same with our faith. One word written in your journal today. One Bible verse focused
on during the week, God's word is living and active. And we need to just let it do its thing.
Sometimes we feel like quantity is better than quality. And yes, God wants us to know all of Him.
He wants us to read His word. He wants us to know every facet of Him. But mostly because He loves
us. And He loves us enough to let us little by little Let the Word be planted in our hearts. And
then hopefully over time, it grows into something equally as majestic for other people to see.
That's a beautiful picture. MT: That is such a beautiful picture. And
Lara, you got me just as excited for week three as I was.. I am so excited to keep
doing this, day after day.. KS: One little acorn. Make a huge
tree make your faith even stronger. MT: Yeah. That was good. Well, you guys,
we're going to have another great week. Okay. So keep going. And, and like I said earlier,
the journal will keep going once the study ends, okay, there's still pages, okay.
After the study. Please, we're trying to develop this daily habit of writing God's word. And you
were already learning what it can do to cultivate within our hearts in our lives. So
keep going. But this is going to be a great week, going to finish strong. Thanks for joining us
and just remember as we write the word, you guys know, it's the truth. Yes, God's Word is
the truth. And when you know the truth and live the truth, it changes everything. Bye, everybody.