Learning Appreciation

I am learning an entirely new (and long overdue) appreciation for The Word. It all began several months ago. While talking to my dad, he told me that when he first became a Christian at age 19, he prayed for an appreciation for God's Word. Today, my dad knows the Bible better than almost anyone I know. Not only does he know it, but he LOVES it. He appreciates it like men appreciate a nice car. Or a home cooked meal. Or a win from their favorite team.

Seeing the wisdom in my dad's prayer, I prayed the same thing. I prayed, God, please let me appreciate The Word like my dad does. Slowly, day by day, God has been fulfilling this prayer. In the past, I have had random spurts where I read the Bible everyday for a couple of weeks. Always, I leave feeling burnt out and exhausted. This time, it's different. This time I'm reading not because I know I should, and not because I feel guilty if I miss a day. I read because I want to come to my Father and get to know Him better.

I have an app on my iPhone called YouVersion. It's awesome because you can find reading plans on just about any topic that interests you. When Michael and I first got married, we would read a plan together every day. It became difficult reading together every day because the plans are based more on meditating on God's word than talking about it. We found ourselves a little lost for words. So I decided to dive into it alone for now.

While I still miss reading every once in a while, it has become rare for me go an entire day without reading a single verse. I got a Twitter account thinking it would be a great way to motivate others and now find it to be a great way to get motivation (by following the right people, of course). If  I don't read my plan for the day, I at least read 10 verses or so on Twitter. I have also learned to read from another angle. Instead of reading to ingest information, I'm reading to find verses to memorize and plant into my heart. I'm searching for verses that have to do with situations in life so that I can remember scripture in times of need.

I've gotten to a point where I am yearning to read and memorize. All day while I'm at work I'm repeating my verses in my head over and over again. It helps me deal with stress. I write the verses down and I tell others what I'm doing and often they want to learn to verse too. Together we repeat verses over and over again while we work. Talk about bonding time!

To finish off, I want to thank my dad for sharing his story about his prayer. As any good father does, he has brought me closer to my heavenly Father. It is a blessing to grow up in a home where I was encouraged to grow closer to God each and every day. What other lessons did I miss because I wasn't paying attention?



For marriage and relationships: "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." Proverbs 3:3

For attacks from the world: "When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate. When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him to judges justly." 2 Peter 2:23

For stress and anxiety: "Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

For Christmas: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23