08/08/2026
My neighbor and I have been doing a Bible study together on Friday afternoons and it has been such a wonderful experience. We have been neighbors for over 20 years, and have enjoyed passing interactions, but doing this Bible study together has been transformative for both of us. For years, I have been feeling drawn to learning more about the Bible and what it really means; the history behind each book etc. After Charlie Kirk was killed, my neighbor and I ran into each other at the local grocery store. We live just across a yard, but had not seen each other for many months. Life, you know. We started talking and right there in the grocery store we started our plan to get together and learn all we could together. I can’t tell you how much of a difference it has made in our lives. There are days when I am so exhausted after work and feel like there is no way I can meet that day. But, when I go ahead and push through I end up invigorated and alive and my stress of the day flows away. I am truly amazed.
We have started out reading The Case for Christ (which I read when it first came out, but reading it again has been very rewarding), and using the Bible alongside of it. We are almost finished. Next, we are going to study Romans together. Yesterday was such a lightbulb moment for both of us. We did not even discuss the book, but prayer and what really happened with Jesus before he was resurrected and other questions we had been pondering over the week. We went down a rabbit hole and came out the other side more enlightened than we had been before.
I grew up Methodist, then went to a non-denominational church part of the time we lived out west, and baptist part of the time living here in Tennessee. When I was young, I would always say the Lord’s Prayer before going to sleep. It calmed my spinning brain and gave me peace. I have since grown out of that. Not sure why. But recently I was watching something about the advice Jesus gave for how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer. My neighbor and I read it together and focused on each line and what it meant. I have said that prayer most of my life in one way or another, but never really caught the meaning of each statement. We read each line and were amazed by the deep meaning in such few words. I feel like I understand it so much better now. Why we need to pray as Jesus taught us instead of a bunch of wordy prayers that never get to the point Jesus was leading us to. Just listening to our own words and hoping they meet the mark. They don’t. So, I have taken up the practice of my younger life and have started saying the Lord’s Prayer each night before I go to sleep. It still has the same effect. Calms my brain. Gives me peace.
From there we talked about how we both talk to God as if He were right there in our presence, because he really is there. We talk to him just like we would talk to anyone else and make sure we are listening to what He is saying back to us. To me that is a different kind of prayer. Having a real relationship with God, not just an acquaintance type of relationship. I know that He knows my needs, wants, fears and anxieties, but it sure does help to talk openly to Him about them. And I know that if I really listen to what He tells me, and I willingly (even if I don’t know exactly how things are going to happen) follow His lead, my life will not necessarily be easier, or more luxurious, but it will definitely be fuller and more real.
Who would ever have known that a chance meeting with my neighbor at the local grocery store would have turned out to be a truly life-altering experience. Just thought I would share. I hope you all have a blessed day.
