Stepping Out Once More

Before our Little Pumpkin was born, I had finally stepped out of  my comfort zone and started attending the women's Bible study at our old church. We had only been attending there for 2 or 3 years, so it was time, right? I was hoping to get to know some people, to learn and increase my Bible knowledge, and hopefully grow my heart knowledge and boldness in my faith. The study was on the book of John and it was a really good, in-depth study; I really enjoyed the homework and hearing from the other women when the group met. There were a few ladies in particular that I was really enjoying being around, wondering, "How do I become more like her," and was excited to spend time in the future getting to know them better.

Then I had a baby.

And then we moved.

All of my aforementioned hopes -get to know some people, learn and increase Bible knowledge, grow in heart knowledge and boldness in faith-
stalled. Maybe "died" is a better word.

Right before we moved, the women in my Bible study presented me with gifts for Pumpkin, and cards of advice and encouragement. Some of the things they wrote in their cards stuck in my mind and came back to me several times over the last year. Their words of wisdom are definitely a part of what has spurred me back into trying to learn and increase my Bible knowledge, and grow in heart knowledge and boldness in faith.

I have tried a few times over the years to get into reading the Scripture daily, or doing a daily devotional, or some kind of personal study in the Bible, but have never succeeded. (I know, I know -that basically qualifies me as a pew warmer.) Upon having Pumpkin and thinking about what daily life routines do I want her to grow up with, last fall I decided I had to start somewhere. Right now. Even if it wasn't the perfect method, or didn't instantly fulfill all of my previous "hope to's," I had to at least start. So, I started reading the Bible to Pumpkin every single evening before putting her to bed. I started in Psalms and read two chapters every evening. After a couple weeks, I thought maybe I should start doing memory verses with Pumpkin, too. Yes, I know she wasn't talking (and still isn't), but it wouldn't hurt anything, and, here's the real perk, it would help me to memorize Scripture. Later, I decided to add saying bedtime prayers together at the end.

Eventually, I asked Jason to share in the Bible readings, memory verse quoting, and bedtime prayers whenever he was home and awake. It has finally become a fairly solid routine for us. When I started I had no plan, or method, for how I was going to go about reading the Bible, but just continuing to read two chapters a night, consecutively working through the books of the Bible, is actually working out really well. As I said, I started in Psalms; we are now getting close to the end of Ezekiel. After we had finished Proverbs, Jason asked if shouldn't we skip Song of Solomon, because "Pumpkin's kind of young for that, don't you think?" I reasoned that nope, it's better for her to hear it now when she can't ask questions that we aren't prepared for! Plus, God put it in the Bible for a reason, so we shouldn't shy away from it just because it might be awkward or difficult.

It has been good for me, personally, to have this routine. I have learned things from Scripture that I never really knew, or understood, before. Most of it probably isn't rocket science, and hopefully other people aren't as blind as I was about it. Some of the things I have realized, I have wondered, "How in the world did I never get that, or realize that, before?"

I hope to be able to competently share some of my new revelations on my blog. Gotta be honest though: that's getting out of my comfort zone a little. Especially when I talk myself into believing that everyone else probably already knows what I'm just now figuring out, and of course, those people are going to shake their heads and wonder how I've survived as a Christian this long. But, I know that's just fear trying to keep me from growing in my boldness of faith. And, who knows? There may be someone else out there that never fully understood what that section of Scripture was about! So, I'm going to try to step out of my comfort zone once again, and share what I'm learning in my faith, and Christian walk, with you.