Skip to main content

In the Margins of my life

I have a Bible…  It is old…  It has been with me for 15 years now.  It is marked up, written all in, colored and doodled in.  Stickers from High School and college are scattered all over the covers and note pages.  I got this Bible when I was a teenager and I have finally found a new Bible that I really like.  Something about going through my old Bible brought back a lot of memories.  I would write in the margins notes about how the verses spoke to me or about how I questioned them.  I wish I had the knowledge and foresight to date my notes or to write clearer or to write full thoughts instead of sentence fragments.  I wish there was a way for me to say, I want my notes from 1998, I want to know how God spoke to me in that time. 

It is easier now, because there’s an app for that.  (surprise surprise)…  I love my Bible on my Kindle (it is called YouVersion)- already it has made it easier for me to date and take notes.  I have gone through my old Bible, tattered, ripped and over used, and looked at the notes that are legible and comprehendible and remembered what God was doing in my life in those days.  I remember how He was moving and how He was working. 

God asked people to take notes.  In Exodus 17:14 “(then) the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.’”  This was after God helped Joshua battle the Amalekites and defeat them with His help.  It is ironic that God put this concept into my head to devotion on today, but it is the exact same passage that I heard a riveting sermon on this Sunday. 

If we don’t document what God is doing in our lives, then how are we to remember?  How are we to look back and see how God has shaken us from despair, from hatred, from failure and made us into who we are today… In Ester, King Ahasuerus had his scribe read to him from what had happened before and realized that Mordecai had saved his life which ultimately lead to a parade glorifying him.  Again and again, it is important to look back.  I have been really terrible about documenting my life.  It used to be that everyone had a journal that they would keep.  A diary to document what all happened in their lives.  We have really gotten away from that, I am terrible about journaling (other than on here), but I can’t look back and see what God has taken me out of.  I can’t look back and say, even in my hardest, darkest times, God pulled me out of the clay and held me up.

So my goal this year is to start documenting my life.  For me only.  Journal in the good and in the bad, when I am frustrated and when I am blessed and next year, I will read through it and see what God brought me through and know that He can bring me through whatever the next year has to throw at me.  He can get you through it too!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Balancing

This past year, I have been learning a lot about balancing the books.  I am blessed with an amazing husband who has always taken care of the financial aspects of or marriage, including me in on important decisions and making things work and helping me to understand; but when you run your own (confidential) business, you have to do it yourself.  I would say I was doing okay, but it is HARD to get the right balance when you aren't used to it.  I have to be very diligent and stay on top of things or I have to go back and try to correct things and remember things.  It is really a challenge.  I am NOT a numbers or math person.   Then I began thinking about life in general, how it is difficult sometimes to manage and balance the times in life that are very busy or more challenging.  How often do we just let things slide and then go back and try to fix them later? During my reading of Isaiah 40 this morning, I was reminded that God is better at balance than anyone out ther
Post a Comment
Read more

Daily Bread

I have a dog.  He is cute , but he is still a dog.  That means that he is reliant on me.  He likes me no matter what, If I am not around him, he flips out a little and has anxiety.  If others try to claim him or take care of him when I'm not around, he growls and barks at them.  My dog's name is Spike .  He is a Yorkie.  I promised my husband if he got me a girlie dog, I would name it something masculine so he wouldn't have to go outside and yell fru fru when calling our dog.  Spike knows that I take care of him.  He knows that my husband and I are the two that take care of him the most.  The kids try to play with him and he runs to us with the toys.  The kids try to take him out and he only comes back when one of us calls him.  He knows our voice and respects our voice.  He also is needy.  Like he relies on us to take him outside to do his business and to feed him and give him water.  Spike will let us know when he is out of food or water, he goes to his dish and bumps
Post a Comment
Read more

The Easter Story with M&Ms

I am preparing for my oldest daughter's school party for Easter.  I was racking my brain trying to figure out a cheap, but awesome party favor to give to everyone.  One of the things that I love about her going to a Christian School is I can do things like this. I looked at all the Easter M&M Poems out there, and didn't really like them, they didn't flow quite right or, which may have bothered me more, they didn't go in the order they set out in the beginning of the poem.  We have a discount grocery store in town and they had large bags of M&Ms on sale for $1.80 so I bought a bunch and will be splitting them up and putting them with this poem that I made up instead.  It is definitely inspired by the Christmas one that is floating around out there and a few of the other Easter ones- so I can't take credit for the creativity of the M W 3 and E idea.... The TRUE Easter story isn't about a bunny - it is about a Salvation - about a Savior that died on the
Post a Comment
Read more