A little help here (and introducing Good Morning Girls!)...

I'm a groupie, I'll admit it.

Dictionary definition of Groupie - "An enthusiastic follower of some group or activity."

And time has proven that if I have trouble with the enthusiastic bit when it comes to a certain activity, then being a follower in a group will get me way more motivated than if I tackled the activity on my own. Anybody with me?

Take exercising, for example. I have a sad, sad track record with that evil word. Ha. It took my first pregnancy (and that crazy 60 pound weight gain!) to get me just a tiny bit motivated to do something to keep my body in shape, and still I never seemed to be able to fit it into my schedule (remember the days before kids when we thought we were really, really busy?! Haha.). I tried, but failed at any consistency in my workouts. It wasn't until two girlfriends and I schemed to meet at the crack of dawn several mornings a week to chat - uh, I mean walk - for an hour before work that I actually followed through with anything. If I wasn't at the end of my driveway by 5:30am, someone was going to knock on my door. You'd better believe that I would have snoozed my alarm and rolled back over a hundred times if I didn't have that accountability on my doorstep. That year, I may not have gotten in the best shape of my life, but I learned the very important skill of not getting completely out of breath while walking and talking simultaneously, both at a non-stop pace. :)

And I also learned the art of self discipline.

Bible reading is the same for me. I need accountability. I need consistency to make a difference in my spiritual walk. I need someone "showing up" to make sure that I'm going to show up too. I wish it wasn't true. I wish it could all come from me. But the reality is I need others to spur me on.

God knew that would be the case:

"Let us not give up meeting together..."

"Let us encourage one another...."

"Let us consider how we may spur one another on ...."

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up..."

"But exhort one another every day..."

After crying out to God to give me a renewed passion for and renewed commitment to His Word, it's time to take action. I can make all of the goals that I want, and definitely need to pray for God to help me (please do!!), but if I don't actually do it, I never did my part to show up on the driveway, you know?

My action starts here, at one of my favorite blogs ever:

Starting January 16, I am going to be accountable to a small group of women who share the same passion as me to daily be in the Word. We're studying Ephesians together, and a schedule is already all laid out for us, thanks to my friend Angela at Good Morning Girls (GMG).

According to their blog...

“Good Morning Girls” are groups of Christian women who email, facebook, twitter or text message to keep each other accountable for their quiet times."

Accountability? Yes, please.

It's tech accountability, so I don't have to fit one more "outing" into my schedule. I simply read the short Bible text assigned for the day (seriously, just a handful of verses - totally attainable!), spend time with God by journaling some thoughts with the plan provided, and send a quick message to my GMG girls about the passage of the day.

A group of women to encourage you, pray for you, and keep you on track in your commitment.

I love it.

There's still time to form a group and sign up. Grab one, two, or five friends, and start 2012 in God's Word daily...

... with a little help from your friends.

For study details, hop on over to Good Morning Girls here.