Captivating Chapter 1

For this swap we will read Chapter 1 of the book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. Then we will answer the following questions and discussions below and email these to our partners. If you have any questions you can pm me or leave a comment below.

Please try to get a start on this, we will have a little over a week after partners are assigned to send our study. These questions are indepth and take some courage to respond to. So, please remember to pray about the study before starting each week. Please, please try to be on time:-) (taking to myself here too!) So, get started and have fun.

Study Questions/discussion for Chapter 1:

THE HEART OF A WOMAN

"...we have a feminine heart. We have to start there, because as the Scriptures tell us, the heart is the center of it all."

Look up Proverbs 4:23 and type it below

"Think about it: God created you as a woman (Gen 1-27). Whatever it means to bear God's image, you do so as a woman. Female. That's how and where you bear his image. And not in your body. The Trinity does not have a body. No, you bear God's image in your heart."

Is this a new thought for you?

What are some of your favorite stories or movies? In them, who do you want to be?

ROMANCED

In your own words, define the desire to be romanced.

Do you remember some of the games you played as a little girl? What were some that you really enjoyed?

Are you aware of a longing to be someone's priority? What would you like that to look like?

IRREPLACEABLE

How would you describe the desire to play an irreplaceable role in a heroic adventure?

What were your dreams for you life when you were a little girl? What did you want to be or do?

Allowing yourself to dream a little bit, think about this: If you could do or be anything you wanted now, what would it be?

Let you mind drift over that idea, imagining what your life would be like if you could follow that dream, the people who would be around you. Would you characterize that dream role as one that would be easily replaced or one that is more on the side of essential?

How would your living that life impact others? How is the life you are living now impacting others?

BEAUTY TO UNVEIL

Who is beautiful to you and why?

Do you want to be beautiful, inside and out? Do you think you are or could be beautiful?

Describe the desire for a beauty to unveil.

A LOSS OF HEART

How have you felt the message of "try harder" come to you? How has it made you feel and /or expressed itself in your life?

Do you believe the message of "try harder" is coming from God? What do you honestly believe God thinks about you/ feels about you?

How do you handle your heart when your core desires are not being met?

"God did not place these longings in our hearts to torment us. Rather, they reveal the secret of who we truley are and the role that is ours to play. There is so much hope here, hope to become the woman you secretly long to be, the woman who is romanced, irreplaceable, and utterly beautiful."

React to that thought. What if it were true?