Grin with Grace Bible Study

Grin With Grace
by
Kathy Carlton Willis


MY THOUGHTS:
For some reason grace is a difficult concept for me to comprehend. Why would the God of the Universe care to give us, each of us personally, gifts that we don't deserve? Yet he does, every day in a multitude of ways. This study has opened my eyes to the amazing array of blessings God graciously provides and helped me understand how I can translate God's gifts into my interactions with others. The more I'm able to accept His grace, the more I'm willing to extend grace to others.

Willis has created a study that goes deep into God's word and steps beyond mere words to help the reader understand the context and meaning behind the text. Instead of just asking questions with obvious right or wrong answers, she asks really thought provoking questions to helped me  personalize the Biblical text and really understand how grace impacts my life. In addition, each chapter ends with a challenge to really think through a tough situation and determine how to actually apply grace in life.

For the first time ever, I actually sent a note to the author of a Bible study to let Kathy know how much this study was impacting my life. We had a difficult situation with one of our teens, and the Grin with Grace chapter I was on seemed written for that moment. This study is definitely the right one at the right time for me.

Every aspect of this study has been meaningful to me -- from the amazing quotes at the beginning of each chapter to the stories that make me smile. I'm not quite done with the study, but I have found myself stopping in the middle of a situation to remind myself of the need to accept and give grace. I can't remember a Bible study that had such an immediate impact on my life.

I would highly recommend this study for individuals and for groups. There are DVDs and leadership guides available to help!


ABOUT THE STUDY (from the back of the book):

Have you ever felt the need to bite your tongue or grit your teeth? Grin with Grace explores ways to genuinely smile in the face of adversity and challenging circumstances. Sometimes, we just need to grin with grace! God blesses us with His grace, and it impacts our relationship with Him and with others.
Each chapter features five sections:
• Grin with Grace contains real-life stories and observations. You’ll laugh at the humorous confessions and wacky insights, and relate to Kathy’s transparent honesty. Be inspired to see grace in your everyday life.
• Grow with Grace features a grace word study. Kathy examines Bible verses and personalizes the meaning to your situation. Workbook prompts allows you to write down your thoughts as you read along.
• Go with Grace offers life application. Pick one action step and make it work for you, or pick all of them—but do something to live out your grace-walk.
• Give with Grace advances life application further, equipping you to become an instrument of God’s grace to others. You’ll be inspired to take what you’ve learned and give it away to others. This is when faith becomes ministry—when your focus expands to see the needs of others.
• Your Grin with Grace Challenge describes a grace-challenging scenario to give you an opportunity to exercise your new found grace. It allows for speculation and judgment calls, to prepare you for the what-ifs that happen in life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kathy Carlton Willis writes and speaks with a balance of funny and faith -- whimsy and wisdom. Not many funny girls also have Bible degrees! Kathy's a pastor's wife, which gives her plenty of opportunities to grin with grace. She shines the light on issues that hold women back and inspires their own light bulb moments. Almost a thousand of Kathy's articles have been published in books, magazines, newspapers and online publications. She's affiliated

with several Christian writer and speaker organizations ad serves as a consultant in the industry.