BSF

When I was a kid, my mom attended Bible Study Fellowship and I went to the children's group. I distinctly remember walking into the church sanctuary for the first time (it was not the church we were members of and attended regularly). Several ladies were milling around toward the front of the sanctuary before it began. That image is the only one I remember even though Mom says we attended for four years, from when I was 4 to when I was 7 years old. I think that moment is fixed in my memory because I was nervous about going somewhere new and didn't know what to expect. Otherwise, I have a general memory of it being a good experience. 

As an adult, I joined Bellevue and became deeply involved in ministry there. Along the way, I remember a couple of people mentioning that many of the women teaching ladies' Sunday School classes came out of Bible Study Fellowship having led groups there first. Wanting to become a good teacher of women, I tucked that away not knowing much about how to get involved and being deeply invested at the church already. I later attended seminary and thought little more about it. 

When I first met Matt, I thought he was handsome, but didn't know much about his spiritual life. As we got to know one another, one of the things I learned about him was that he joined a Bible Study Fellowship group in Minnesota before he moved to Memphis. Reminded of my long-standing high opinion of BSF, I was glad he looked into joining a BSF group (finding they didn't have any for men) or something similar in Memphis. 

After moving to Baltimore, I looked online to see if there was a group here. Unfortunately, the closest group to where we lived at the time was more than an hour away. Not at all practical on a weeknight, particularly when adding traffic considerations. 

A few weeks ago, when Matt and I were out to dinner on a date night, he hesitatingly asked how I'd feel about him going to BSF one night a week. He said he knew that would take time away from us, but he found a group nearby and wanted to dig deeper in theWord. So, I gasped and refused to agree to such absurdity! Lol Rather, I was supportive and encouraged him to do it. ;) 

Looking online and finding a ladies group meeting at the same time at another church close to his, I sheepishly asked if he'd mind me joining him in BSF by going to my own group. Fortunately he thought that was a great idea ;) 

We have met with our respective groups twice now and are completeing our daily study of week 2 material. It's been really good so far. Matt is in a group of men nearer his age than most of our friends at church. He can already tell from his small group that these men are well-versed in Scripture and will have a lot to offer in sharpening him. Exactly what he hoped to find. 

The first night I became reacquainted with a girl I vaguely knew in high school at Briarcrest! She was two classes behind me then and her sister was a year ahead. We recognized one another right away (exchanging maiden names to make the connection) and ended up being assigned to the same small group. We also met the daughter of two Briarcrest graduates and hope to get to know her better as well. Since there were only 8 new people the first night, we were pretty amazed to find not only two other Memphis people new to the group, but Briarcrest people to boot! 

This year in BSF we're studying the book of Matthew. Even though we're in different groups, it's nice to know we're studying the same material. On our way home this week, Matt suggested we talk about what we glean from our person study on Monday nights.  I can't wait!! 

If you may be interested in joining one of their studies, BSF is available nation-wide and around the world. See if there is a group near you by googling Bible Study Fellowship and search for a group on their website. It's not too late to join this year!