Woohoo friends! We made it to the end of May (just about!) and through our book of the month! I hope you enjoyed “Well-Watered Woman” š So much of what I feel God has been pressing on my heart over the last few years was reiterated in this book. Abiding, obeying, reading the Word, growing where we are planted, replacing lies with God’s truth…it was all clearly laid out in this lovely book. I so appreciated Gretchen’s honesty in sharing her story and struggles. I knew she was going to lay it all out there when she admitted she asked God if He could just give her a break! I literally had that same conversation with God and had just told my best friend about it before I started reading.
I can’t wait to hear what you thought about “Well-Watered Woman” and to hear your answers to the discussion questions!
Discussion Questions:
*Do you have any experience in gardening? Would you say you have a black thumb or a green thumb?
*Would you describe your Bible reading time as consistent? Or is this a habit you need to implement in your day to day life?
*Gretchen writes about “rotten roots” that need to be replaced with gospel truth. Can you identify any “rotten roots” in your life? How can you begin to replace them with gospel truth?
*In chapter 3, the author tells her own story of meeting Christ and shares the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. What is your “grace well” story? Are there any “wells” holding you back from following Christ?
*How would you define “dying to yourself”? Have there been large or small moments in your life where you feel you have “died to self”?
*“Someday isn’t ours to grasp; it’s God’s alone. ‘Here’ is all we have.” How can you be faithful where you are right now?
*In Chapter 9, Gretchen writes about false vines and makes the call to allow the Lord to prune us as necessary. Do you know of any false vines that you may be attached to? How can you turn away from these false vines and turn to Jesus, the True Vine?
*Review the ABIDE acronym in Chapter 9. What are some ways you can begin to abide in your day to day life?
*In Chapter 11, Gretchen gives many examples of “capital T truth” and “little t truth.” Can you think of one example in your own life where you need to replace “little t truth” with “capital T Truth”?
*Do you feel that you are “under construction” as Gretchen discusses in chapter 12? Are there failures that you need to stop obsessing over so that you can obsess over God’s faithfulness instead?
*Are you leading like a follower of Jesus? What would that look like in your life today?
*How would you have defined a Well-Watered woman before reading this book? How would you describe her now?
*Review all of the Well-Watered Woman statements at the end of the book. Which one spoke the most to you?
Scripture of the Month
Isaiah 58:11
Romans 12:2
Prayer
Father God, thank You for Your faithfulness. Sometimes we tend to forget all the ways You have shown up for us. It’s easy to get distracted by our struggles, by our day to day tasks, and the lies we face. Thank You for being with us every step of the way and for working in ways we can’t even begin to imagine. We know You can help us to grow and flourish right where we are and we do desire this, Father. We don’t want to waste this one and only life by feeling ungrateful, frustrated, and refusing to surrender to You. Would You help us to release our hands from the things we are holding onto that are not of You? Would You help us to be faithful to You in the life we have now? We are not promised tomorrow and we need only do the next right thing in obedience and faith in You. Please strengthen us. Give us wisdom and joy and help us to live the well-watered life. We thank You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
For Next Month
*Click HERE for all the details for June!
I donāt do ironing and I donāt do gardening. Never been interested in either, and Iāve been (and still am) ok with that. š
Reading this book, however, really opened my eyes to understand how oneās relationship with Christ is similar to gardening, and how important it is to tend to that relationship like a garden. Furthermore, this book made me realize how dried up the garden of my life isā¦mostly by my choosing! š«£
I was really encouraged by Gretchen stating that believers can still have rotten roots although they have gospel roots. While we are made new in Christ, so much of the time we still wrestle with who we are and what we believe about God and ourselves. We shouldnāt be ashamed of this or run from it; we should be honest, bringing all the questions/concerns before God who will be faithful to show us the Truth and uproot the false, rotten roots.
When the waves of life crash over us, they expose our roots. Not a pretty sight as I have been seeing my own roots exposed lately. š āOur core beliefs – whether true or false – become stronger and more fortified through the storms of life.ā (Page 30) One core belief Iām continuing to have to let God transform is that āI shouldnāt have to suffer or be needy.ā (Page 37) When I read those words I was relieved and terrified: it was as though my thoughts were written on the page and I could breathe a sigh of relief knowing someone else felt the same way. At the same time, I was forced to come to terms with the true feelings of my heart. The questions I found myself asking after reading the next part of the bookās passage about Godās grace being sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9) were, āDo I want Godās grace?ā and āDo I believe His grace is sufficient?ā
Thatās raw, I knowā¦
Funny thing about weeds: many of them are pretty and look like flowers. Like dandelions and wild violets. āHowever, there comes a point when you realize that they should not be creeping so fast and that maybe they should be stopped. These weeds can take over your whole yard if not controlled.ā (allaboutgardening.com) The phrase, ācreeping so fastā caught my attention and totally makes me think of how the enemy creeps in and alters our perceptions and beliefs. We can so easily get tangled up in weeds (i.e., false vines) because we donāt see them as we should, as they really are.
Sadly, there are a multitude of false vines we can attach ourselves to and a ridiculous number of empty wells we can draw from in this life. And the even sadder part is how deceived our hearts can be in clinging to these things! I definitely agree with the author when she says, āāJesus plus somethingā has infiltrated todayās Christian culture.ā (Page 88) I do think this is referring to the Christian Western culture, and Iāve fallen (still do) into this trap.
We like to make light of things. Mostly because we donāt want to deal with things, in my opinion. š³ Of course we say we know God has got us, but if Heās made some things for our enjoyment, then those things plus Him should work even better, right?
So we succumb to idolatry barely realizing what weāve done. Hints of the enemyās lie to Eve: āDid God really say?ā can be heard in our own rationalizations. Why? Because our trust in God needs to be strengthened. All. The. Time. Why? Because the enemy is going to try to have us believe him instead. All. The. Time. The little t truth and the capital T Truth are constantly in front of us. Which one do we choose?
Not surprisingly, weāre going to choose the little t truth. A lot! But thatās where Godās grace and faithfulness come in. āObsess over His faithfulness, not your failures.ā (Page 212) Honestly, Iāve got a lot of reconstruction to do in this area as one of my greatest failures is pride. The first time I read that sentence, I think I read it as, āObsess over His faithfulness, not othersā failures.ā š«£ Like I said, Iām majorly under construction in that area.
The Well-Watered statement that stood out to me the most is: āā¦doesnāt put off living as she waits for āsomeday.āā (Page 275) A lie Iāve lived with for awhile now is that because I canāt live in my perfect life scenario, I canāt live. I mean whatās the point? All that time, energy, effort, and money will just go to waste anyway, right?
This circles me back around to how I said at the beginning that I realize Iāve been living the dried-up life mostly due to my choosing. Jesus is offering me a well-watered life; He wants me to have it. How can I pass that up? Why would I want to?
I want to start living life backwards. Shifting my focus on God and on others, rather than myself. I want to start trusting that God is moving even when I donāt āalways see or even feel the flourishingā¦[or when] blooms arenāt continuousā (Page 259)
I may not like the valleys, but I donāt want to be afraid of or avoid them anymore. I want to trust that Godās in the valleys as much as Heās on the mountaintops and that Heās able to cultivate growth even in the lowest places. (alluding to Page 269)