Dear Friend,
Welcome to our "messy" Bible study! While I wish I could open my front door and invite you in for a visit, I am happy you can virtually “come on in” by clicking here.
But first, let me introduce myself.
I grew up in Yazoo City, a small farming community on the edge of the Mississippi Delta. During my growing up years of riding bikes and reading books, I had the benefit of having some amazing Sunday school teachers and others who took God’s Word seriously but who could tell some pretty funny stories, too! Their loving influence allowed me to learn God’s Word and apply it to all the messy things a girl encounters—from failures in playground kickball to negotiating high school hallways.
Later, I attended college and met my favorite person in the world, Lee Tyner. We started what would one day become a messy, wonderful family of seven! Eventually we landed back in Oxford, MS, and although we made our favorite memories there, I also struggled. Health issues became the norm. Money was tight, and days with five kids were long. Throw in my propensity for anxiety and depression, and I felt, well, very messy.
Yet, those Sunday school stories stuck with me. God’s faithfulness to the messy people of the Old Testament gave me comfort and guidance. And as I worked on staff at our church, I loved to pass along the same encouragement to women in their messy places. In a world that shifts so quickly with a cancer diagnosis, strains under an unloving marriage, or falters after a rough day at work, I felt confident I had one thing to offer them: the truth about God’s love and power.
Then, God threw in a sudden plot twist as my husband changed jobs and we moved to Texas! I’m writing this email as we mark our third year in Fort Worth, a beautiful new story He’s placed us in. Here, we have lived through exciting and mundane chapters, hard ones and ones to celebrate.
But in all of my stories—from childhood to Cowtown—God has been the main character and Hero, not me.
So, please, come on in! This week we are combining the first two chapters of the book into the first lesson of this summer study. Since the “Not So Fabulous Five” lesson is more of an introduction, you could watch it prior to your group’s official start date or just skip that video and begin with “God’s Story.” If your group is watching the videos and wants to show both, I suggest viewing the first video as a welcome, breaking for the corresponding discussion questions, and then reconvening to watch the “God’s Story” lecture as a closing video.
No matter if you are joining me alone from your apartment or alongside a group of women, I look forward to us all gathering together to study the lives of Matthew’s “messy mamas,” so we see how God takes all our stories and works them together for His glory and our good.
Your "messy" friend,
