A New Endeavor

Recently, my entire family was having dinner together. So my oldest brother, sister, and their families were there too. When we have a dinner together, there's something we like to do. Mom has a box of random questions, and we pass it around the table. Each person takes the top question, reads the card, then answers the question. It's a fun way to get to know each other a bit better. This time, my oldest niece got the question "What accomplishment are you most proud of?" Her reply shocked me! She said, "I haven't accomplished what I want to yet. I want to write the whole Bible out." Okay, this girl is EIGHT years old! Talk about making me feel like my goals are petty! Then her dad explained that he and his two older kids were going to start writing out the Bible. I asked if I could join them, and was told yes. 

We started on Monday. Each week we're writing out five chapters. So that's not too hard. At this rate, it'll probably take about five years to finish. But in this first week, I've realized just how much of a blessing this is going to be. Writing a passage out makes me really think about what's going on. I've made several observations I wouldn't have if I were just reading through it. I am looking forward to what God does with this!

I would challenge you to do something similar. Even if you don't want to commit to writing out the entire Bible, do some of it. Write out a book at a time. My church has done Psalms, James, and 1 and 2 Peter together. You'll be amazed by how differently you see the Scriptures! 

Time

It's really strange how fast time seems to pass. I feel like I should still be a little kid, playing make-believe with sticks as swords. But then something happens to remind me that I'm not that little kid anymore. One of my more recent reality checks was having a meeting to plan my graduation. A friend and I are doing our graduations together, and our moms wanted to talk about it. It's exciting to be finishing with school, but at the same time it's also intimidating. Once I'm done with school, there won't be a set thing for me to do. I have to take a step into the world of being an adult, and start making my own decisions. Yes, my parents will still help guide me, and I can always rely on God to show me His will; but it's still a slightly scary thought! 

After realizing this, one of the main things I thought of was spending time wisely. You only get one life, and each minute is ticking by inexorably. Are you letting time slip by, wasted? Or are you doing something productive? I've started evaluating, and there's a lot of things I could be doing better. My challenge now is to do them, and not waste my life once I'm done with school.