Finding new ways to absorb God's word

My relationship with God had become a little bit like doing the same exercise routine for too long.. it was not as effective as it once was. I had hit a plateau, and I wanted to get out of it, but my life path had changed so much that I could hardly even do the minimum (in my mind) to maintain. I had one baby, and then I was pregnant again and watching my own and another toddler, and then I had another newborn and we moved three times in four months. Then I found myself in a new apartment in Lancaster County, and a mom's group found me and took me in. We did a study of James, with Beth Moore teaching, and I challenged myself to get back into a devotion routine.

I did the homework, I read James, I wrote James, and I memorized James. I wrote it over and over, and repeated it over and over and it became like the back of my hand. (Now it is more like the back of my head (which I do not know as well), but that is what happens). But it is still in there and I know how it goes. I know it better than I've known any other book of the Bible. It is Holy Spirit empowering to memorize God's word.

I've read the Bible all my life. When I was in seventh grade, I read through the whole Bible in a year. I remember waking up at 6am and sitting in front of the heater vent in our living room after I turned the heat up to 65 (yes, you read that right.), and reading each morning.

As I went through high school I continued to read and do devotions and journal and pray some. Camp was a place where I really craved God's word and developed better understanding of God's love for me. In college, I continued to read and devour and consume God's word, but after I became pregnant with Naisa and she was born, it was much harder to get back into the word of God. I wasn't motivated. I wasn't focused. Even if I did read, it was just going through the motions, I wasn't absorbing anything. I knew I needed it, so I would keep trying, but there were long breaks in between, sometimes.

When we did the James study, I realized that writing the Scripture took it slower through my mind, and I listened and savored and absorbed more. I heard the sentences in my mind and understood their meaning. Having a teacher also increased the interest and having a group doing it with me increased the accountability.

So here I am in September, a couple months out from the James study, and I have decided that the best way for me to "get" God's word is to write it. Not necessarily memorize the whole book but maybe one chapter at a time. So right now I have started working through the books that Peter wrote. I am writing one chapter a day (and working on my handwriting. haha!) and I am listening through a series of exegetical sermons on First and Second Peter by Skip Heitzig. He does a significant job of researching and portraying the information in a way that makes it understandable, as well as entertaining, and it holds my attention. I find this kind of teaching helpful especially with certain verses in the Bible that no woman "likes" to read. "the weaker partner", "be submissive to your husbands".  I have greater understanding of how my own relationship with my husband becomes easier and more loving when I submit my own authority to God and entrust my will to Him.

I want to encourage you, if you are reading this, to take on a discipline to write a book of the Bible. Pick a short one, maybe one that you don't like!, and write it, slowly, just a chapter a day, and find a good quality teacher who does an exegetical teaching of the book (like Skip Heitzig) and follow along with them for a little while. Even if you don't agree.

Blessings

Updates in the house of Delp

This is the third day post stomach flu, and I am feeling much much better. I am surprised at how quickly my body lets me move, and my head is clearer and no headache.

TMI if you don't like vomit

On Monday evening, I stopped eating dinner because it didn't sit right and felt nauseous and had a headache until I threw up at 9pm and then the floodgates were opened. I was able to go to bed at 1am and then slept for a good while. Ben helped get Yonah to bed and then the next day he was able to find someone to cover half of his shift so he could come home early and help me. On Tuesday I drank diluted juice all day and managed a couple pieces of toast. I had no energy. I took two two-hour naps. I could barely feed the children breakfast. My head hurt and all my muscles and joints were so sore. Wednesday I was a little better and could handle the kids after noon, when Ben went to work. I sent Naisa to Moms group with my friend so that she could have social time. I took and morning and afternoon nap again. I made chicken for dinner and ate most of a piece. I had a lightbulb moment and took some vitamin C, and then I started feeling much better. I noticed that I was feeling better when I was trying to get Yonah to laugh--I didn't have the energy to do that before. This morning I feel pretty good, although my appetite, though returning, is not 100% yet. I made myself coffee and drank a tiny bit. Cheese and avocado tasted really good this morning. I had made myself a bowl of cereal that Naisa took a liking to and she ate all but the two bites that I reserved for myself.

I got a random section of poison ivy-like breakout on my ring finger. This sucks because my finger already has a ring stuck on it (and I don't have the guts to remove it because it hurts too much (and I have a husband who doesn't want to remove it for me). Earlier in the month I was able to slide it on and I rejoiced! But I haven't been able to remove it since, so I guess it will just remain on there until my finger decides to realign with being a size 6.

I am almost halfway through memorizing James 5. I have memorized James 1-4. When I am done (and practiced up) I may try to record a video of me saying it (which would be a really long video). I have been doing the James study with the Moms group I have been attending and at the beginning I didn't see myself memorizing it, but one day I just decided to try, and when you study something so indepth, you review it so much that memorizing (for me) was just the next baby step in understanding it. I have this bad habit of reading scripture just to get it done, and memorizing makes you think about the words and their meanings because you have to try to connect everything together.

Yonah is almost ten and a half months and he is doing more standing with out support. He is almost ready to get from sitting to squatting to standing.

We have a garden space at this apartment. I did some soil turning in the past couple of weeks and will put some things in the garden as soon as the transplants (that I also started) seem bit enough. The squash are very excited about being planted, but the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers are taking their time.

We are getting to know our neighbors a little bit more now that the weather is nicer.

Due to the stomach flu, I have now reached my pre-Yonah-pregnancy weight! So now to lose thirty five more pounds!

See you on the flip side, (XD)
Grace