We did the Return to Jerusalem study a few years back and I remember it filling in so many gaps in my knowledge of Israel’s history, and how it enriched the rest of my Bible reading, Tauni. I’m glad you’re enjoying it! It’s hard to describe CBS to those who haven’t been. It’s so much more than an in depth Bible study. 🙂 We have core group luncheons once a month and I’ve always enjoyed those so much. And once every few weeks we have in group coffees, where we come 30 minutes early for coffee, tea and treats, and have a topic of discussion so we can get to know each other before we get into our study. At last week’s luncheon, our core group leader asked us to bring any picture of ourselves and tell a little about it. That is a wonderful ice breaker for a new group, and we had some good chuckles around the table. I pray for your healing and joy today, dear Taun…. xoxo

CBS, well there is a topic I love! I had joined a group when living in the mountains and it was just too difficult with the inclement weather to travel the 30+ minutes it took to get there, even though it was at the church I regularly attended. I am very grateful you gave me the prompt (push) I needed to revisit. It is once again hosted by the church I regularly attend, so God made sure I wouldn’t miss it this time around. What a blessing!! In the last five years it has captured me in a way that has made me a participant for life. This year we are doing, “A Return to Jerusalem.” We are making stops in many of the prophet books in the old testament (Daniel being one of them). I had an aha moment this week reading about Zerubbabel and how he let discouragement get the better of him when attempting to rebuild God’s Temple in Jerusalem. So much so that the building stopped for many years. I have been feeling discouraged lately and it has been very difficult to “see” past it. As always God’s word gets to the heart of the matter and while I am not always successful at first, I am not allowing discouraging times to get the better of me as much these days. We did something wonderful last night, we had our first “Fellowship” night in one of our ladies homes, not on a Bible study night. Julie, do you know if other classes do this? It was a great night that we could focus on fellowship and really get to know one another. I was so blessed and believe that as we go through the year together now our sharing will be made the richer for it. Anyway, got to get back at my day, love you my friend ~ XXOO