For Week One of our Proverbs 31 group, we spent the week getting to know each other better. The ladies in my group are all amazing women of God and have blessed me so much by sharing about themselves and also sharing their SOAP journals with the group. I thought I would introduce myself here.
Day 1
I thought it would be fun to start with introductions to get to know each other a little bit. I came up with a few questions to get started.
1- What is your name and birthday? Just for fun, tell us your age or if you'd rather say "I'm in my ... 30's". That's fine too. Nicki Swilor. July 22. I hit the big 30 this summer! I hear the 30's are awesome. Can't wait!
2- Are you single or married? What is your spouse's name, if married? I am married to Luke.
3- Do you have kids? What are their names and ages? I have 2 kids. Zac will be 2 in August and Lucy will be 1 in September.
4- What is something that you are passionate about? Lately, God has broken my heart for special needs children in orphanages around the world. I don't know what He wants me to do with this, but I can't stop reading adoption blogs and wanting to do more. I have especially fallen in love with this little guy http://reecesrainbow.org/1792/artem-t-azbv-14 and just want to go get him now! I don't know HOW that can happen. At least for now. I know that God knows how and why and when. For now Luke and I are praying for him and hope that a family commits to him soon! I have felt pretty passionate about this since March. It's on my mind constantly.
5- How has God blessed you recently? It's not necessarily a recent blessing, but I continually feel blessed to be able to stay home with my kids. God blessed Luke with a job a week before I was supposed to go back to work after having Zac. I am so thankful to be able to stay home and am reminded by friends who have had to go back to work that it is a HUGE blessing. Sacrifices have been made financially, but they are so worth it.
6- What do you hope to get from this study? I hope to grow closer to God and to a new community of friends through this study. I pray that it will help me to stay in His word daily. I struggle with this and with journaling! I also pray that I will better balance my relationships with God, Luke, and the kids (in that order!) I seem to get caught up in taking care of the kids needs and push Luke to the back burner. He deserves more attention from me!
7- What is one of your favorite Bible verses? Proverbs 3:4,5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
Day 2 we each introduced someone else from the group.
For Day 3, we shared a funny story about ourselves. You can choose something funny you have done, a funny quirk you have, anything funny about you.
Here’s a quirk.
I asked everyone to share their addresses and then shared this quirk about myself… Just in case I want to check in or say hi. And maybe to send you a fun card or something in the mail. This isn't a promise. I am good at saying I'll send a card. I'm even good at writing a nice card. I'm also good at leaving them on my counter for weeks and not getting them in the mail. Yes, this happened with my thank you cards after my baby showers and they sat there so long I was too embarrassed to send them out.
And my funny story… When I was pregnant I took a bathroom break at Walmart. I walked all the way to the very end stall in the bathroom and as I was locking the door noticed what I thought was a man walk in to the ladies restroom. As I'm thinking, "What is this creep doing in the ladies room," I hear him say, "I think you're in the wrong room." Sure enough I walked right passed the urinals without even noticing them! And I quickly became the creep in the men's room! The joys of having pregnant brain!
Day 4 was my favorite day! We all shared how we came to know Christ!
I was working the worst job. I remember crying almost everyday before going to work and circling the parking lot working up the strength to go inside. I hated it! I had done all I could do to get a new job and was so frustrated that I had sent so many resumes and had interviews with no success. I remember one day I was DONE! As I was circling the parking lot I prayed "I am done. I can not do this by myself. I am giving this to you." I got a job within days! I knew it was straight from God! I knew He was saying just trust me. Give it to me and I will help you. That was the day I put my complete trust in God and stopped trying to do it all on my own. It wasn't long after that that Sherry invited me to The Rock. Growing up, I was taught/under the impression that there was a list of rules or things I had to do to be "good enough". It never made sense to me, but I didn't know anything different. During announcements at the first two services I went to in Sandy I heard this scripture "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9 BAM! It was all I needed to hear. I knew it had to be more simple than what I was taught. I knew that it was not what I could do, but what He had done. Thank you Jesus for saving me and changing my life for you!
There is no reading for Day 5, but it does suggest making a few goals for the group. The study plan suggests 3 goals.
Also, Fridays we will share prayer requests. Thanks for blessing me this week!
Goals
1. To finish and encourage everyone else to finish the study. And not be lazy about it!
2. To seek God through it all and listen to what He is teaching me through this study.
3. To allow God to continue to change me for His glory. To be a tool for Him, so He can use me however He sees fit.
Prayers
Please pray for my little brother, Colton, who is getting married to Brooke tomorrow! Pray that they will lean on God to lead their marriage. And that they will lean on Him when times get rough. Also, that their day is happy and not stressful. We have a blended family and things tend to be stressful sometimes with everyone involved. I haven't seen his Mom (or her family) in years and things didn't end very well. I'm sure things will be fine and I'm actually looking forward to seeing everyone.
Please pray for my Grandma Chiyo who was recently diagnosed with cancer. She starts chemo on Thursday. Specific prayer that she will not become sick or in pain as she hasn't yet. Praise God for that!
And pray that God would help me spend more time being a better wife for Luke. That I will pay attention to his needs. That I will serve him better. And that I won't let daily distractions get in the way of spending more focused attention on Zac and Lucy throughout the day.
Thanks!
1 comment:
It is fun to get to know more about you! Thank you for always sharing your faith and experiences with the gospel!
p.s. I have that problem with cards too. :)
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