The New Eve (29 page)

6. Which of the four parts of the biblical definition of womanhood is most meaningful to you? Tell why.

7. The second bold move of a New Eve is to adopt a biblical definition of womanhood. Can you adopt the definition given in this chapter for your life? Would you have a passion to pass it on to others? To your daughters? Why or why not? If not, what definition of womanhood will you use to call your life forward?

8. What was the most influential thing you learned from this chapter? Explain.

Now that you have read this chapter and had your discussion time, what personal applications (new beliefs, priorities, behaviors, ways of thinking, etc.) will you leave with? Take a few minutes and record them in the space below.

Discussion Questions

Writing out your initial answers to these questions
before
your small-group meeting will enhance the quality of your discussions. Take a moment to record your answers.

1. The third bold move of a New Eve is to embrace a big-picture perspective on life. How do you see that helping a woman manage her life? What mistakes (if any) have you made by having a shortsighted perspective? Explain.

2. React to Sylvia Ann Hewlett's advice to young women found in chapter 7. Agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer.

3. Pick a season of life you have already lived through. Does the wisdom being offered for that season in these chapters fit what you learned, having gone through it? What would you change? What would you add?

4. Look at the wisdom offered in the season of life you are now in. What is there that affirms you? What challenges you? What are you not sure of or not clear about? Ask any woman in the group who has already passed through your present season to share her thoughts and insights with you.

5. Look at the season that comes next in your life. What are you doing now that will make the transition to this next season go smoothly? What are you doing now that might make this next season harder?

6. If you have had to blend two seasons into one (and many women do), what wise moves would you include in this new blend? Explain. What advice could the other members of your small group offer you?

7. Look as a group at the final season of a woman's life: the Glorified Saint. What do you feel about your life now as you read through this last season? What helpful insights does it offer you?

8. After discussing these chapters, what is one thing you could do now to live better as a woman from this big-picture perspective? Explain.

Now that you have read these chapters and had your discussion time, what personal applications (new beliefs, priorities, behaviors, ways of thinking, etc.) will you leave with? Take a few minutes and record them in the space below.

Note:
Please come to the next session with one or two end goals filled out in your “Before I die, I want to …” diagram at the end of chapter 9. This will be
very important
for your next small-group discussion.

Discussion Questions

Writing out your initial answers to these questions
before
your small-group meeting will enhance the quality of your discussions. Take a moment to record your answers.

1. “Thinking ahead” and “Knowing where you're going”—where have you seen the wisdom of these statements proved in your life? Explain. Where have you made mistakes and wasted time and opportunities by not heeding such wisdom?

2. Share your thoughts on the fourth bold move of a New Eve: Live with the end in mind. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being very clear and 1 being totally unclear, how well would you say you've defined your end? Explain.

3. Before now have you ever written down your end goals? If so, has that worked for you? What have been the benefits?

4. Look again at Ephesians 5:15–17. How does this passage encourage you to embrace the end-in-mind lifestyle? Share together as many observations as you can from this passage.

5. Use your remaining small-group discussion time to share together the first pass of end goals you each wrote down in the “Before I die, I want to …” diagram in this chapter. After each person shares, ask for feedback. Use this feedback to help further clarify and think through the direction of your life.

Now that you have read this chapter and had your discussion time, what personal applications (new beliefs, priorities, behaviors, ways of thinking, etc.) will you leave with? Take a few minutes and record them in the space below.

Discussion Questions

Writing out your initial answers to these questions
before
your small-group meeting will enhance the quality of your discussions. Take a moment to record your answers.

1. Before this study how much reading and research had you put into building a reservoir of wisdom for understanding and successfully engaging a man? None? A little? A lot? Share your best piece of man wisdom with the group.

2. This chapter presents four fundamentals for successfully engaging a man. What impacted you the most in reading the section about what drives a man? Be specific.

3. What stood out to you after reading about the four top needs of a man? Are there any specific adjustments you could make right now to better address the needs of your man? Explain.

4. React to the three things you need to know and resolve before choosing a man. If married, did you know these three things about your husband before you were married? If so, how has that helped your relationship? If not, how did ignoring these things impact your marriage later on? Be specific.

5. As a married woman, knowing what you know now, what other things would you tell unmarried women are important to know and resolve before making a commitment to marriage? Tell why you think these things are so important.

6. What impacted you the most in reading the ten no-no's with a man? Explain. What is one immediate takeaway you can apply right now? Tell why.

7. Were any of these ten no-no's a surprise to you? Which one(s) and why? Are there any you have struggled with? Why?

8. What is the best piece of man wisdom you will take with you from this study and discussion? Explain.

Now that you have read this chapter and had your discussion time, what personal applications (new beliefs, priorities, behaviors, ways of thinking, etc.) will you leave with? Take a few minutes and record them in the space below.

Discussion Questions

Writing out your initial answers to these questions
before
your small-group meeting will enhance the quality of your discussions. Take a moment to record your answers.

1. What impacted you the most as you read the biblical outline for marriage on pages 166–67? What specifically appealed to you on that list? What did not? Explain.

2. What would have to change in your marriage for it to better align itself with the biblical outline on pages 166–67? What would be a good first step for you to move in that direction? Ask the group what advice they might have for you.

3. What specific responsibilities did your wedding vows charge you and your husband with in order to be married successfully? Explain. If you could rewrite your vows now, what would you want them to say? If you are single, what will you want your wedding vows to say?

4. Look at the biblical diagram for marriage that's on page 171. Do you see marriage this way? If not, what is the outline you are working from for your marriage (or future marriage)? Explain.

5. Share your thoughts about helper and head. Are you comfortable with these terms for your marriage or your future marriage? Why or why not?

6. What one or two things stand out to you from the research on marriage provided in chapter 11? Explain. As you observe couples around you, would you say their marriages confirm or challenge the findings of this research? Explain.

7. What is your greatest takeaway from this chapter? Explain.

Now that you have read this chapter and had your discussion time, what personal applications (new beliefs, priorities, behaviors, ways of thinking, etc.) will you leave with? Take a few minutes and record them in the space below.

Discussion Questions

Writing out your initial answers to these questions
before
your small-group meeting will enhance the quality of your discussions. Take a moment to record your answers.

1. Take time in this final session to review the previous eight discussions you have had together as a group. What has this New Eve study meant to you? What new insights do you believe you will leave with? Be specific.

2. In what ways has this study changed your perspective as a woman?

3. What practical applications from this study do you honestly think you will use?

4. In keeping with the story in chapter 12, what is your biggest challenge to becoming a New Eve?

5. What will be your first bold move?

6. How do you plan to work this bold move into your life? What will be your practical steps? How do you see this bold move changing the way you live life? Explain.

7. Conclude your New Eve study by praying for one another and the bold moves each woman intends to take.

1. Douglas B. Sosnik, Matthew J. Dowd, and Ron Fournier,
Applebee's America: How Successful Political, Business, and Religious Leaders Connect with the New American Community (New York:
Simon and Schuster, 2006), 224.

2. Celinda Lake and Kellyanne Conway,
What Women Really Want: How American Women Are Quietly Erasing Political, Racial, Class, and Religious Lines to Change the Way We Live
(New York: Free Press, 2005), 2–3.

3. Sylvia Ann Hewlett,
Creating a Life: Professional Women and the Quest for Children
(New York: Talk Miramax Books, 2002), 133.

4. Peg Tyre and Daniel McGinn, “She Works, He Doesn't,”
Newsweek
, 12 May 2003.

5. Obtained from the Center for Women's Business Research, based on an analysis of data from the 2000 census.

6. Tyre and McGinn, “She Works, He Doesn't.” Also see Matt Krantz, “More Women Take CFO Roles,”
USA Today
, 13 October 2004.

7. See “Women Are the Backbone of the Christian Congregations in America,” the Barna Group, 6 May 2000.

8. Michelle Conlin, “The New Gender Gap: From Kindergarten to Grad School, Boys Are Becoming the Second Sex,”
BusinessWeek
, 26 May 2003.

9. “The Growing Gender Gaps in College Enrollment and Degree Attainment in the U.S. and Their Potential Economic and Social Consequences,” a study prepared by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, May 2003.

10. Tamar Lewin, “At Colleges, Women Are Leaving Men in the Dust,”
New York Times
, 9 July 2006.

11. “The Condition of Education,” a 379–page report of federal statistics, June 1, 2006.

12. National Center for Education Statistics, http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/ display.asp?id=72.

13. Mary Beth Marklein, “College Gender Gap Widens: 57% Are Women,”
USA Today
, 19 October 2005.

14. Obtained from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and
The Detroit News
, “Female MBA Students …,” 29 July 2004.

15. “Full-Time Women MBA Students Outnumber Men for First Time at UNH,” available from the University of New Hampshire's Media Relations Web site, 14 September 2005.

16. “Female Enrollment in U.S. Medical Schools,” in
Modern Healthcare
, 24 May 2004.

17. Ted Gest, “Law Schools' New Female Face,” in
U.S. News and World Report
, 9 April 2001.