Good morning…
The sun rises on the first day of our interactive, online study of Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s 1955 classic Gift from the Sea. This companion study includes book excerpts recorded from the beach, Scriptures, music videos, and questions to ponder.
I just checked our class roster and sixty-three women have signed up to join us on this God-inspired adventure. Sixty-three women from Atlanta and other Georgia towns, Florida and Ohio, Connecticut and Canada. Sixty-three surprises me.
I chuckle at the number. As I sat on the beach in May, guess how many book excerpts God coaxed me to read into my cell phone. Sixty-three. Sixty-three voice recordings, seasoned with the sounds of waves, wind, and birds, were miraculously tucked inside my phone when I returned home from Kiawah Island, South Carolina. These spoken words eventually became a backbone of our study.
Check out one voice recording from the introduction to the fiftieth anniversary edition written in 2005 by Reeves Lindbergh, Anne’s daughter.
Reeves Lindbergh mentors us with her beautiful words.
“I am talking about the freedom that comes from choosing to remain open, like my mother did, to life itself, whatever it may bring: joys, sorrows, triumphs, failures, suffering, comfort, and certainly, always, change.”
Then Anne Morrow Lindbergh herself expands our freedom to connect together, soul to soul.
“The best ‘growing ground’ for women, however, may be in the widespread mushrooming of women’s discussion groups of all types and sizes,” Anne writes on the next to last page of the book. “Women are talking to each other, not simply in private in the kitchen, in the nursery or over the back fence, as they have done through the ages, but in public groups. They are airing their problems, discovering themselves and comparing their experiences.” (129)
As sixty-three plus me begin this study today, we will follow the Lindbergh’s lead, choosing to remain open to the guidance of God and gathering together in small “Discussion Cohorts” to uncover what we are learning with the Lord from now until Thanksgiving.
The Lord says, “So I will teach them about myself. This time I will show them how powerful and mighty I am. Then they will know that I am the Lord” (Jeremiah 16:21, NIRV).
…Sue…
P.S. It is not too late to register for this class or for any of our Northside’s Women’s Ministry opportunities: www.NorthsideUMC.org/womensclasses
P.S. Each Monday for the next twelve weeks I will include our study material for you to explore with God. You are welcome to share the God-guided material with loved ones as you feel compelled. Each segment takes about ten minutes, offering you a springboard into your quiet time with God.
Week One of our companion study of Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Gift from the Sea
Between each segment, you will receive an email of your personal reflections. Each private email will invite you into the next segment of material. Enjoy your energizing, interactive time with our living LORD.
Segment One: https://northsidechurch.typeform.com/to/XsV2NvD9
Segment Two: https://northsidechurch.typeform.com/to/IjLCxwNi
Segment Three: https://northsidechurch.typeform.com/to/sNI1agmI
Segment Four: https://northsidechurch.typeform.com/to/fsw0rwYx
Segment Five: https://northsidechurch.typeform.com/to/m8MH23NM
