Lofty and Lowly Thoughts

Well I had some bigger-than-usual thoughts for a post this morning. I was challenged in April to read my Bible through in a year. Cheryl Miles, our speaker at the ladies retreat, mentioned that she had done this for the past couple of years and God has blessed much in the process. I resolved that weekend to do the same--I had begun many times but always ended up getting behind and giving up. Usually I ran into trouble when Bible study began and I couldn't keep up on both. Well I realized that it is not impossible to make time to read a couple extra chapters in the Bible each day--after all, there has NEVER in my life been a time that busyness prevented me from eating the entire day. It was time to take my spiritual feeding a little more serious. So I left that retreat in early April and resolved that I was going to read the entire Bible in a year.

About three weeks later, I thought I really need to get going on that resolve. I remembered that we had purchased a chronological Bible several years ago that was broken up into daily readings and I had really enjoyed it until I gave up. Only problem was, where was that Bible? Two weeks later, when I finally found the chronological Bible, I started my daily Bible reading with the goal of reading the entire Bible through in one year. That was May 8th and I am so thankful to say , by the grace of God, this morning's reading was September 3rd.

I have to say, I have been AMAZED at how God has blessed me in this endeaver. I began in Psalms (because Genesis is back in January) and the reign of David. I'm currently in Ezekiel, and though as I record my thoughts on my reading they often say things like, "This is very difficult for me to understand", even more often I find so many examples of God's grace, along with a greater appreciation for His holiness. It's awesome to me as well how God will use what I am reading chronologically, and apply it to another place I am studying. I saw Him do that in my preparation for teaching a Biblical Worldview to the high school girls this summer. I saw Him do that as I was preparing for VBS devotions for our Ecuador trip. In Sunday school two weeks ago, the topic was the omnipotence of God and Pastor Stan mentioned Jeremiah 32 as an example--I had read that same passage that very morning. God uses that repetition to build excitement, understanding and a love for His word!

I was pondering how God has blessed this undertaking while getting ready this morning. I was also thinking this would be good material for my next post and thankfully a little deeper than the past several! I was just getting ready to read the September 3 passages when one of the girls came running in, "We got TP'd!"

Well the brain gears switched quickly, the lofty thoughts vanished, and I ran to the window to survey the wreckage. Hmmm, this was a much better job than the one a couple of weeks ago. This one was creative! I picked up my camera and headed out to photograph the handiwork of some late night artists. I crawled under the plastic wrap wound across our front porch and started taking shot after shot. Beamer followed me out and instantly became very interested in the lawn. That's when I noticed the fruit loops. Scattered among the plastic knives were fruit loops galore and Beamer was most appreciative. Later, Michelle wrapped him in some of the TP as we cleaned up and he didn't even notice because he was so busy trying to collect as many of those fruity rings as he could.

Two thoughts to leave you with, maybe three:
1. Reading through the entire Bible is extremely rewarding--God will bless it in your life and grow you in your hunger for His Word!
2. Please feel free to ask me if I'm staying on top of my reading--I do better with accountability.
3. If you were involved in TPing our house--you did an excellent job, we were very impressed, and you'd better watch your back! :)