“Hi God….are you there?, It’s me Margaret!”
Every time I start to talk to God with a “Hi God”, I can’ t help but think of that line from a book I read as a kid by Judy Blume! Makes me smile and often laugh out loud! Good books will do that and I’ve been quoting another of my all time favorites a lot lately too- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst . There is a lot of wisdom in that little children’s book. One of my English teachers in high school even thought so and shared it with her classes even though we were “big kids” in high school! Thanks Miss Pelton!
Nowadays I still read. Actually I still read many children’s books too due to my job (a Kindergarten teacher) but I also have some favorite “grown up” books too! One that is becoming more and more a favorite is my Bible. It’s a source of encouragement when life gets hard, it has answers and advice and guidance. It’s got drama and suspense. It’s definitely a chapter book, and my version doesn’t have a lot of pictures, but it’s easy to read. It’s my favorite mostly because I find it gives me peace. The more I read it, the more I pray, and the more at peace I feel. I am more content. Not so content that I stop doing things, but content as in more “ok” with how life is, where I am, and with what is going on. Some would say it’s maturity. I hope it’s spiritual maturity and not just “getting old!”
A friend once shared she read one Psalm and one Proverbs each day. I started doing that too. It was almost like I couldn’t wait until the next day to read the next ones! I was familiar with many Bible stories and sayings, and realized by reading like this that many of them were found in Psalms! I have several different daily devotionals I’ve read over the years and they center around a certain passage, so I’ve “jumped all around’ in my Bible reading as I’ve read those too.
Some passages are highlighted because they spoke to me or were a focus of a sermon I heard. Some passages have notes I wrote in the margin to help me remember better what they mean or how they related to me at that time.
The Bible, God’s word, is for us-yesterday, today, and tomorrow! By hiding these words (verses) in our hearts, we take God with us 24-7! We feel His presence, we have His peace, we have His strength. His words are a “lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path!” I am so thankful for my past Sunday school teachers and church who first gave me a Bible. For college roomies and friends who helped me study the Bible and shared a new Bible with me. I am thankful for yet another Bible given to me by my family to help me be the best woman/mom I can be. I bet many of you reading this have more than one Bible too. How blessed we are! I hope you’ll open one of them and read some too!
I read today that we should become an “expert” in areas that mean a lot to us. And that what we do and read should be centered around those areas. If I want to be a Christian and share my faith with others, then I need to know what I believe and what God tells me. How do I learn this? Find this out? I need to read His word…the Bible! I need to study it- perhaps in a small group, or in Sunday school, or even a Bible study! I need to go to church and worship with others and hear the pastor share God’s word through his sermon. As I learn more, I can share more. I think God called us to do this too-go and tell others, right?
So I choose to start and end my day with God, reading His word, in many forms. I hope you can find some time to read too and even make it to a Bible Study or small group and listen what others are learning from God and share what you know too! Happy Reading!
~Nancy Lipscomb
