Questions for "Hinds' Feet" Study 4/27 Chapter 13

Chapter 13

In The Valley of Loss

1. What was your response to M.A. having to descend into the valley once more? Has there been a time in your life when you have felt similarly. Share if you feel comfortable.

2. Have you, like M.A., ever considered turning back from following Him? What was that like for you?

3. How does the Shepherd reassure her?

4. Respond to: "Will you bear this too, M.A.? Will you suffer yourself to lose or to be deprived of all that you have gained on this journey to the High Places? Will you go down this path of forgiveness into the Valley of Loss, just because it is the way that I have chosen for you" Will you still trust and still love Me?"

5. Why do you think the Shepherd calls this the "Path of Forgiveness"? Who is being forgiven? Are there those you need to forgive?

6. Once again, M.A. turns away from the way to the High Places, yet this time it is an easier journey. Why?

7. What surprised M.A. about the valley? Have there been pleasant surprises in the valley's of your own journey?

8. How are Sorrow and Suffering changing?

9. What is your take on the Shepherd saying, "Love is beautiful, but it is also terrible?" Does that fit with the look of compassion and determination on His face? How does M.A. respond?

10. Do you think you will be able to come to a place where you are "ready" to change your name? What do you think it will take if that has not happened for you?

Bonus question for over-achievers. *smile* See if you can find the lyrics to the song "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redmond. How do they apply to this chapter?

Questions for "Hinds' Feet" Study 4/27 Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - In the Mist

1. Compare M.A.'s journey in the mist, to your own journey with chronic illness. Do you respond "better" to the crisis moments? How do you handle the day-to-dayness of chronic illness?

2. Why do you think Hannah Hurnard chose to use the terms "plodding", "trudging", and slipping" to describe this part of the journey?

3. Who most easily commands your attention: Resentment, Bitterness, Self-Pity, Pride, or Fear? Do you have a plan to cope with this enemy?

4. Sorrow and Suffering have a different take on the situation around them. Why do you think this is so? How did they react to the "voices"?

5. What happen when M.A. starts to sing, even though she doesn't really feel like singing?

6. How does M.A. respond when she realizes the Shepherd had been following behind her? How does He reassure her?

7. How do you think the Shepherd views you differently than you view yourself? How easy is it to reconcile those viewpoints? Who do you tend to believe?

8. How does M.A. now feel about Sorrow and Suffering?

9. How would you respond to the question the Shepherd poses to M.A.? Do you love Him enough to trust Him completely? If not - what is in the way of that happening?

10. Have you ever felt the Shepherd was trying to deceive you? Would you let Him if it were possible?

Study Starting Sunday May 3rd

Hey all! The Sunday "Hinds' Feet On High Places" study will start on May 3rd 3:30 Central. Make sure you check your time zone! Plan on spending between an hour and an hour and a half at the study. You do not have to have read the book by the start of the study. We will take it a chapter or two a week with posted study guide questions. If you are planning on attending, please leave a comment here, or contact me @ deniPath4Change @ yahoo dot com. Thanks and see you then!

Young Adults, Chronic Illness, and Employment

There's a discussion about young adults, chronic illness, and employment on the blog, A Chronic Dose. Laurie Edwards, the author of the blog, has chronic illness and is the author of A Life Disrupted. She is both looking for feedback from those who experience or have experienced chronic illness as a young adult and has some ideas and experiences to share.

Transcript from last Monday's chat

I've just posted the transcript from last Monday's chat. Taxes this week had me swamped!

Hinds Feet Study April 20

Sorry to take so long to get this up, but I'm still not doing too well. There will probably be a sub for me for this Monday too. No new questions this week. (Don't get used to it! :) ) The personal question to Christ as if you were M.A. at that point in her journey will be discussed as will the questions from the last chapter, as time ran out due to your great discussions!

Be Blessed,

deni

Chat room working again

Folks seem to be able to get in the room again. It looks like it's coming up for different people at different times. If you can get to www.parachat.com, you should be able to get the room to load. If you can't get in, I'm still in the temporary backup room, so come in there.

Nice to see the mountains again! lol

Chat room is down temporarily

All of Parachat's servers are presently down because of damage to an optical fiber in the San Fransisco area. Since our room is hosted on their server, this means our room is down. I have created a temporary room on chatzy for us to use until the normal chat room is working again. To get to our temporary room, go to http://www.chatzy.com/348891275838 (you probably want to open it in a new window), type your user name ("name or alias") and click on "enter room". No registration is required.

You can see what's happening in the chat room from there; to talk, click "join chat" at the bottom right.

If you need to change the font size, you'll need to tell your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc) to use a larger font size. Click "visitor list" on the left to see who is in the room. I'm there now and plan to stay in the room. I think I have it set up so I'll know when people come in but please be patient if I don't see you right away.

Hopefully, the problems Parachat are having will be solved soon (perhaps 9 pm eastern), and we will be back to our normal room soon.

Hinds Feet on High Places Study Questions for April 13 2009 Chapter 11

Please read all 3 Chapters: 9, 10, and 11

Remember the questions are study guides. Don't be overwhelmed by the 3 chapters - they are an easy read and flow together. One of the questions is a bit different. At the end of Chapter 10, M.A. has been through an amazingly difficult ordeal. If you were M.A., what questions might you have for the Shepherd as He approaches you on the mossy bank?

In the Forests of Danger and Tribulation

1. What do you fear most when you realize that the Shepherd means to lead you through danger and tribulation?

2. Read Psalm 23 and Psalm 91.

3. What does the Shepherd say about trying to picture the situations ahead of us? Do you find this to be true in your own life?

4. What cuased M.A. to limp more painfully? Why do you think that is so?

5. What does God tell us to do with our own bitter, resentful, self-pitying, and prideful thoughts?

6. When and why does M.A. experience peace?

7. Have you ever asked to learn Sorrow’s song?

Hinds Feet on High Places Study Questions for April 13, 2009 Chapter 10

Ascent of the Precipice Injury

1. What does M.A. learn about anticipation?

2. What does the bridge that M.A., Sorrow and Suffering find suggest to you?

3. What do you think of the resting place they find? Why is it there? Has the Shepherd provided a “resting place” for you?

4. What is the meaning of the little flower “Bearing the Cost”?

5. What is M.A.’s fall symbolic of?

6. What does she remember?

7. If you were M.A., what questions might you have for the Shepherd as He appears on the mossy bank?

Hinds’ Feet on High Places Study Questions for Chapter 9 Monday April 13th

Great Precipice Injury

1 What does M.A. see when she gets to the foot of the mountain before her? How does she respond/ Have there been times in your own journey when you have felt the same way? What did you do?

2. What does Suffering point out to her? Why do you think it was Suffering who pointed this out rather than Sorrow?

3. What impossible situations has the Shepherd put before you?

4. Who does M.A. encounter? Why do you think he appears in the story at this point? What challenge is being placed before M.A.?

5. Why does M.A. not want to call for the Shepherd? Have you ever been so afraid of what is happening that you feel the Shepherd will only make it worse?

6. How does M.A. respond to the Shepherd when He quickly answers her call?

7. Why do they end up laughing?

8. What meaning does the rainbow have in this story? Why were Sorrow and Suffering at each end of the rainbow?

9. Why do you think the Shepherd choice Mount Precipice for M.A.?

10. What are your thoughts on the cordial the Shepherd gives M.A.?

Link to transcript from Monday night 3/30/09

Here is the link for this past Monday nite's transcript. Sorry I did not get the questions and the link posted sooner!

Be blessed,

deni

Hinds Feet on High Places Study Questions for April 6, 2009 Chapters 7 and 8

This week we will be going through Chapters 7 and 8.

Chapter 7 On The Shores of Lonliness

1. What was the deep inner change that had taken place in M.A.?

2. What new and impossible thing was happening in M.A.? Has this happened to you? Does it seem possible that it can happen to you?

3. How does M.A. view the cove?

4. Why do you think the relatives descend upon her now? What is different about this “attack” from them? How is M.A. different?

5. What voices do you listen to? How do you defend yourself from them?

6. What does the Shepherd say is the reason that M.A. was overtaken by her relatives?

7. What did M.A. learn about herself?

Chapter 8
On The Old Sea Wall

1. How did M.A. respond when she saw that once again, her path turned away from her goal?

2. How did Bitterness gain a foothold?

3. What does the Shepherd ask of M.A.?

4. What do you make of the different settings of the journey? The desert? The sea wall? The woods? Can you see parallels in your own life?

5. What is happening in M.A.’s heart? Yet, how does she respond?

6. What does she ultimately find in her own heart?

7. The Shepherd says “Now shalt thou see what I will do.” When was that spoken in scripture and under what circumstances? Do you see a parallel here?