WHAT TO EXPECT ON THE THISTLEBEND BLOOM BLOG
Bloom! is a personal look into a few women’s lives as they participate in Thistlebend studies and follow the Lord as He tills their hearts. May you be encouraged as you experience the tilling, the Lord is doing in your own heart!
Planning for Repentance
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit” (Matt. 12:33-34). This week, one of our discussion questions asked us to read Matthew 12:33 and share whether we saw any similarities between ourselves and the Pharisees, who knew how […]
What My Eyes Are Focused On
Laurie said in her lecture this past week on repentance something along the lines of, if we don’t have a defined plan to put our sin to death, we’re not really serious about our sin. The Lord allowed me to see that I don’t take my sin seriously. Sure, when I see my sin and […]
Minimizing Sin?
“Aww shucks, I just rolled my eyes.” That’s what I wrote down, because that is what I think. Surely rolling eyes just isn’t that big a deal? Is it even a sin? Ok, maybe a small sin? It’s just so easy to justify. To ignore, deny, sweep under the rug, and minimize. Oh how easily […]
Overcoming Shopping
Where do I begin? I would describe myself as overwhelmed with emotions. At the beginning of this week, I was so ready to take on my fast of shopping. I was only going to buy things I needed such as toiletries and groceries. Worldly possessions had begun to rule over my heart. I would constantly […]
Taking Sin by the Roots
Oh, how challenging, rewarding, hard, helpful, illuminating, thought-provoking, revealing, impactful, life-changing, and heart-piercing this Heart of a Woman study has been! I love it! The format is so unique. I love the daily homework. I have enjoyed the Scriptures we’ve been provided to pray through each day. It’s new to me to ask the Lord […]
Fasting Makeup
Last week and into this week our Heart of a Woman study called us to initiate a fast for the Lord. To purposely give up something you love for a certain amount of time just never sounds fun. It’s like I could almost feel my flesh cringe as I read about fasting and what it […]
The Real Deal
In a lecture I listened to a few weeks ago, the main topic was confession. One of the things Laurie encouraged us to do in order to put our old sinner girl to death and live from our new identity in Christ was to be honest with ourselves about our sin, confess our sin, and […]
Bible Study for Real Life
It’s interesting to me as I sit here preparing to write to you that I’m realizing that somewhere down in my heart and mind remains the notion that Bible study is an activity on my calendar; an item on my checklist; just one item among many that I am supposed to do. I go to […]
Do I Believe That…
So last week in the lecture for Lesson 5 of Heart of a Woman — “A Holy Fast: Fasting to Feast,” we were posed with many questions towards the end that definitely stuck with me through Lesson 6. Listed below you can find some of these questions. I definitely encourage you to go through them, […]