Knowing and Loving the Bible

Saturday Molly had a competition in Tomahawk (over 120 miles away) for Forensics Drama. I am so proud of her; she won the female lead in the play, and has been spending ten hours+ a day at school between practices for that and Jazz Choir. She was supposed to be at the school at 6:45; the bus was leaving at 7am. I set the alarm for 5:30 giving her time for a shower. Instead I woke up to find her nearly shrieking in the doorway that it was 7:15! The drama instructor didn't answer his cellphone. Jesse threw on clothing in anticipation of driving most of the way if not all of the way to Tomahawk. While Molly was getting dressed, the phone rang: one of the other kids in the play was checking in. It turns out that they had to pass through Gillett to get to Tomahawk, and so Jesse and Molly met the bus at the gas station three miles away. Thank God! The team went on to advance to Sectionals and got high marks from the judges.

I opened up a can of worms last week. I hate Barbie; I really do. Molly was obsessed when she was little, and there were always tiny shoes with pointy heels hiding in the carpet and naked Barbies with bad hair all over her room. When Mia was born, I laid down the law with all family members: No Barbies allowed! Over time, I've relaxed enough to let her watch the Barbie DVDs, and she loves visiting my dad and stepmom's where there is a whole box of Barbies to play with. When the doctor told us that they were going to have to put an IV in Mia's arm on Wednesday night, I was desperate to find something to give her something to look forward to. So I promised her that after she got out of the hospital, I would buy her any toy she wanted. Guess what she wanted? Yep, Island Princess Barbie. It sings. Two different songs. Dad & Liz bought her one, and Jesse and I bought her the other. They are already missing their shoes.

Knowing and Loving the Bible by Catherine Martin is a fantastic introduction to Bible study for both beginners and long time readers. I'm currently on my third time through the Bible. Each time I read a different version to gain a little more understanding, but this time through it had become stale and a chore. Instead of looking forward to my two chapters a night, I found myself daydreaming and rushing through them. I felt so badly about it, but I just couldn't seem to make the connection I'd had the first time through. Martin's book opened up the Bible to me again and made it a joy in my day. The book is broken into 30 daily readings with questions at the end of each for digging deeper. On each sixth day, there is a full-blown Bible study with several verses to look up and answer questions about, all of which bring about greater understanding and appreciation for the Bible. Martin explain how to do several different type of studies: word, theme, person, etc. For each she gives detailed, but simple, instructions along with recommendations for other books that can enhance learning. Through it all, there is an underpinning of love for the Book. Martin's love of Scripture and the Lord is unquestioned, and she wants you to find the same kind of comfort and knowledge that she does. In the second to last lesson of the book, she asks you to pray to God for him to reveal your life verse to you. I was pretty sure that I knew mine, but I prayed anyway. The next night when I opened the book to the last chapter, there was my verse; it was an affirmation to me that not only is this my life verse, but that God will use Martin to speak to you about learning to love the Bible if you let her. My verse: Psalm 121 1-2 I lift my eyes up to the hills, from where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the creator of Heaven and earth.

The winners of the Amy Grant book contest last week were Christy, Jill, and Kathy. I sent your books out to you today, thank you for participating. The week of Nov. 12, I'll be having another contest to give away James Scott Bell's Try Dying. If you like John Grisham, you'll love Bell!