Monday, August 2, 2010

I ask, God gives

I started last week so far behind, I didn't even know what day I was supposed to be on. I had gotten swamped by family birthdays and my VBS volunteering that I didn't get to the scheduled readings for more than a week. So I ended up more than 7 days behind.

In the past I would have used that as my 'sign' (i.e. my excuse) to quit. This time, though, partnering with my husband and the Mom's Toolbox group encouraged me to not to give up but to pray and press on! I asked God to open up time and just give me a thirst for the Word. I wanted to catch up quickly, but I also wanted to be excited about it. I never want my Bible reading to feel like drudgery, a chore, or just another checkmark on my list of things to do. To me God's Word is too precious to read with such an attitude.

Well, you know the whole concept of ask and it shall be given? Well, I asked and God gave--abundantly! On Sunday and Monday, while Ted was at work and the kids were playing I was able to fit in a lot of reading. Joshua and Judges were interesting and familiar, so I got through them fairly quickly. Then I started catching a cold, which sounds like it would be bad and put me behind. Not so! Ted took pity on me, so for two days I was able to lie in bed for a couple hours when he got home from work. I spent that time resting and reading at the same time. The books that I was reading at that point--Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel--were so interesting that I couldn't put them down. I got up to make dinner and hang with the family, but after the kids were in bed I immediately picked up my Bible and continued reading.

I was hungering to read more, so much so that I actually ended up getting ahead in my reading once I started reading through 1 Kings. As I got into 1 & 2 Kings, they were so interesting that I slowed down a little bit to figure out the relations between the different kings and the separate nations of Israel and Judah. I spent the weekend with a group of friends at our annual homeschool planning retreat, where I was able to have plenty of quiet time to study those two books.

So now at the beginning of week 5 I'm right where I should be. And I can't take any credit for that--thank you Lord!

As for Ted...well, he's behind but still plugging along. He has an upcoming training event/evaluation at work, so he's spending most of his spare time studying for that. I'll be praying for him to find times to devote to his Bible reading while still leaving plenty of time for studying.

4 comments:

  1. That is so awesome! I am struggling through Kings and am about 4 days behind...praying for thirst is something I definately need to do!

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  2. What an amazing testimony!
    It reminded me of the 23rd Psalm as well, "He MAKES me lie down...." :)

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  3. Stephanie, you friended me on Twitter and I always check people out...weird huh? Anyway, your post was speaking to me. I am behind due to other obligations. I'm still reading. However, your post was timely and encouraging. Thank you!

    Dana

    P.S. I wish I could tag along for the homeschooling retreat. I plan to have my lesson plans done in the next two weeks. Thanks again.

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