“We Saved You a Seat” is a women’s Bible study written by Lisa-Jo Baker. It is written to help you work on finding and keeping lasting friendships. This study should be done at a time when you are really ready to explore finding lasting friendships. I did not do this study at a time that was right for me, so I did not benefit in the way some might from doing this study. At the time, I had recently moved to a new town, live somewhat in the country with few neighbors, and spent most of my free time traveling to visit my husband in prison 3 days/week. Although I was lonely, and would have liked to make new friends, how do you answer one of the first questions women often ask – what does your husband do? For me, it was just easier to avoid that as much as possible. I had started to develop my relationships with my sisters-in-law for a while before starting this study, so I could dig into getting to know them more. I believe it was through this study that one of my sisters-in-law discovered the (in)courage Bible and bought one for each of us to use.
I have not had a lot of meaningful relationships with other women in my life. I find that I am very different than most women and view life very differently than most. I have made efforts many times to befriend other women and mostly connected when I had a common interest in regards to homeschooling our children. I have found that very few women were willing to reciprocate or care about the relationship as much as I desired.
It has been a couple of years since I did this study, and I am so grateful that I have been able to really get to know my sisters-in-law, and outside my marriage relationship, they are the women I hold the most dear in my life. I know that when the time is right, I will be prepared to find and keep lasting relationships with other women.
What did I gain from this study? Well, I mostly used this time to really work on myself. I took an inner look at qualities that I can work on so that I will be ready to be a friend. At the time I did this study, I was also working on my book “The Road to Relationship.” So, this was giving me more mental notes to consider in the writing of that book.
 | We Saved You a Seat Bible Study Book By Lisa-Jo Baker In today’s busy world, we’re wired to appear “fine,” warding off authenticity and shielding ourselves from judgment but we yearn for authentic relationships. Written for women, We Saved You A Seat is a 7-week study on friendship that unpacks seven practical ways to take Jesus up on His invitaion to love other people by being the friend who makes the first move. The book has personal study and friendship challenges to be completed during the week between sessions. A Leader Guide is included in the back of the book. Digital resources including video sessions for these lessons can be found at lifeway.com/WeSavedYouASeat. Noteworthy: This author is one of a special group of women who writes for (in)courage, the popular online friendship community. Every day they take turns pulling up a chair to share their stories of what Jesus looks like in their every day, gloriously ordinary, and often messy lives. |
Unique things about this study:
- Only 3 weekly lessons to finish between group videos.
- Friendship Challenge each week – I did not participate in most of these since I had no one close by to physically get together with.
- Video sessions are done at a table – very relaxed and down-to-earth
- The video session questions really make you dig deep into your own life.
- I love the entire graphic flow throughout the book that really keeps you in the mindset of the book.
Now that my husband is out of prison, we are working to reconnect and figure out life again. Plus, we now got hit with this “Stay at Home” order that has really slowed down the connecting with others possibility. I know my chance will eventually come and I will continue to work on myself and love others around me in the ways I am afforded.
I would recommend that you do this study when you are really in a place to find and work on a lasting relationship. It was hard for me to complete many of the challenges since I was not in any form of a regular, personal relationship/friendship with anyone at the time besides my husband.