January 16, 2014

I have a confession to make....I am NOT a bible reader.  Never have been.  Oh, I grew up in a youth group at a Methodist Church and I went to bible study and we spent time in The Word.  And I remember having a children's picture book of bible stories that I LOVED as a child.  And they say that if you go to Mass every day for 3 years you will have heard the entire bible.  So...I know the stories.  I can tell you about Adam and Eve and The Garden of Eden.  I know about Jonah and the whale and Joseph and his coat of many colors and I know that his brothers sold him into slavery.  I know about David and Goliath and Jesus walking on water and healing the lepers.  You get the picture....I know the stories....

As I mentioned in my previous post, I started a bible reading 'plan'.  It is an app that I downloaded to my phone and I listen to it...when I can.  It is a historical plan, so it started in Genesis.  There was Adam and Eve and a lot of begatting (yes, I know, that is not a word, but you know what I'm talking about).  I won't tell you that I found it boring, because truly, I did not.  But it was rather redundant.  However, after my last post, I tried to be more 'intentional' about my bible listening.  Yesterday, I was a day behind and somewhere in the story of Joseph.  He had been brought to Pharaoh to interpret his dreams.  I was driving....and I was listening.  Now, mind you, the plan does not expect you to spend too much time in a day on it.  I have found that it is maybe three verses a day...not much at all.  And that has been just fine with me.  But yesterday, while I was being intentional, something funny happened.  My reading, err...listening, STOPPED!  It was over for the day.  And guess what?  I couldn't take it.  I had to hear more.  It was like watching TV and you break for a commercial at just the right wrong time.  It was that cliffhanger that leaves you with your mouth open saying, "HEY!  I was listening to that!"  Well, I skipped on to the next day and listened some more and today I find myself a couple of days ahead really enjoying my bible.

It's a funny thing; doing things intentionally.  

Now, I know that we are only 16 days into the year and far be it for me to think that I have set a lifelong precedent.  I know that I can slip back at anytime and go back to my old ways.  But it is a start and I plan to do my best to continue on this path of living and serving intentionally.

Now, if I can just get to that intentional exercise plan.  :)