“With Faith Like Hers” Bible Study Series by Carol Peterson

One of my favorite blogger friends Carol Peterson is launching a new Bible study series, “With Faith Like Hers.” She has completed 3 books in the series, “I Am Eve,” “I Am Esther,” and “I Am Ruth.” There are 2 more in the works…

Carol sent me a copy of “I Am Eve” – cool even for a dude to read! So I came up with some questions on her series and writing…

What inspired you to write the series?

It wasn’t so much inspiration as God poking me until I agreed to write it. He first gave me a verse from the Book of Esther, which led to me argue with Him over whether I should write a book or a blog post. Once I agreed to write a study of Esther, three people suggested it be a series on Bible women. After more prayer, I planned out the series, With Faith Like Hers.

Or maybe God did.

Do you have a favorite Bible lady? Why is she your favorite?

As a girl, I loved Esther because going from Jewish exile to Queen of the world’s greatest empire was awe-inspiring. Being forced from her home and dumped into a harem was a more likely description, but I loved the Cinderella story, regardless of pesky real life facts.

Surprisingly, Eve became my favorite Bible lady. Yes, we pay for her disobedience. But she walked and talked with God in the Garden. She knew God was actively looking for her. She knew she was loved despite her sin. She sought knowledge and learned about God’s forgiveness and provision—lessons I still struggle to learn.

Frankly, each woman becomes my favorite as I write their story. Ruth had a brave heart. Mother Mary summed up 4,000 years of Scripture in five words—“Do whatever Jesus tells you.” Elizabeth had a hand in preparing the way for the Lord. How can you not love those gals?

One of my favorite devotions from I am Eve was “I Live Amid Incomparable Beauty.” I discovered we have both been to a pretty special place, Kealakekua Bay on the big island in Hawaii. So I’m asking Carol one of her own questions from her book: What aspects of stewardship over God’s resources are you most passionate about?  

Kealakekua Bay is indeed incomparably beautiful!

I tend to be personally rigorous about not wasting God’s natural resources—turning off lights and taking short showers. But the stewardship I’m most passionate about is the stewardship He has given us of our bodies. I haven’t always done the best job taking care of mine, which is why I’m passionate about it now.

It is convicting to combine the realization that this bag of bones belongs to God with the fact that God is living right here in me—watching how I take care of it. We struggle with faulty thinking that: “God owns my heart and soul, but this body is mine.”

The thought I keep in my head is that if I am God’s hands and feet in His world, how am I taking care of His tools? My truth is that I haven’t always done the best job I could caring for this resource.

I’ve heard that most women struggle with their true beauty, so “I Value Modesty” is a very meaningful devotion in which Carol describes how Satan convinces us to feel shameful about our bodies. Carol, describe the importance of modesty in today’s society. How can you encourage modesty in others?

God made our bodies “very good.” Before Eve met Satan, she felt no shame and had no need to cover up. Satan encourages us to feel shame. Satan also encourages others to sin because of woman’s beauty.

Womanly modesty is a matter of self-protection. We can’t stop others from having lustful thoughts but modesty can help us not encourage them. I think of modesty as part of woman’s “robe of righteousness.” If I were sitting next to the Apostle Paul while he wrote to the Ephesians, I would suggest he add a “smock of modesty” to his list of the armor of God for women.

Wearing sweeping cloaks and veils isn’t practical today. But we can stay within socially accepted levels of modesty. One of the ways Christians express their faith is by modeling their lives to others, especially to younger women who look to us for guidance. Modesty should be part of that modeling.

You’re also working on a line of beauty products with your daughter to go along with the book series. Can you tell us more about that exciting project?

My beautiful daughter is a physicist. One day we chatted about Queen Esther’s 12 months of beauty treatments before she was presented to the King. I said it was like a year-long spa experience. That simmered in my imagination until one morning I was using a sugar scrub Nicole had made for me. The two things clicked.

We’re creating a line of products called Esther’s Spa with a unique fragrance for each woman in my Bible study series. We connect the fragrance with the woman’s circumstances—succulent fruit from the Garden for Eve, a sweet floral blend reminiscent of Esther’s palace grounds and a cool, relaxing scent Ruth might have enjoyed after an exhausting day in the barley field.

A sugar scrub is first. We hope to have a matching lotion by the end of the year, for the release of I am Mary (a study of Jesus’ mother) and her spicy fragrance, with hints of frankincense and myrrh. The fragrance for I am Elizabeth will give a nod to her son John the Baptist’s diet that included wild honey—expected to release in 2015.

Just one more announcement for today…

Carol Peterson’s Cyber Party

This post is part of a week-long cyber party, celebrating the launch of my new Bible study series. A party isn’t a party though without friends and gifts. So please get to know some of my friends, by heading to their place and signing up for a drawing. Leave your name and email addie in a comment. At the end of the week, I’ll pick three people who will each receive one of the Bible studies in this new series.

For more fun:

*Monday’s delicious CYBER LAUNCH LUNCH is still going on at my site www.CarolPetersonAuthor.com. There’s plenty of cyber food left. (OK, so they’re recipes, but they’re still available for download and still delicious!) Leave a comment with your email address to enter the drawing.

*Also on Tuesday at www.CarolPetersonAuthor.com, I’ll chat a bit about the writing of I am Eve and how I had to rethink the idea that living a life like Eve was a bad thing. Remember to leave a comment to enter the drawing—once more.

*Then return to Wednesday’s post at www.LynnMosher.com to glimpse a bit about one of Jesus’ ancestors, Ruth. Don’t forget to leave a comment to enter the drawing—one more time.

*Then Thursday, go to Terrie Thorpe’s blog at www.4everhischild-tathorpe.blogspot.com to glimpse a bit about Queen Esther. Don’t forget to leave a comment to enter the drawing—one more time.

*Return to the celebration on Friday at my site again www.CarolPetersonAuthor.com. More gifts and offers await you there; along with my thanks for helping me celebrate this launch.

One more gift to you: if you purchase two of the three print books in this series from Amazon, email me a copy of your receipt and I’ll email a pdf of the third book FREE.

All three books are part of Amazon’s “match book” program. If you purchase the print book for a friend, you receive the Kindle version for only 99 cents. That’s a good deal available any time.

BIO: Carol Peterson has an unquenchable desire to understand and share God’s Word with others and help them apply His teachings to everyday life in the modern world. Her books are available on Amazon. She writes about faith on her website CarolPetersonAuthor.com.