dave-
thank you so much for getting back last night. it meant a lot to me. i was obviously pretty upset about the whole situation. robert likes to call me a drama queen, but when i told him what i was feeling, he was the one that kind of freaked out... which made me freak out even more... i think he is just worried that it will be very easy for me to slip back into my old beliefs. he kept telling me to pray and read the bible, and i knew i should, but my heart just wasnt open to it. the one thing that he didnt say... that i didnt even know i was looking for, was in the second sentence of your email... relax... and the second i read that, i did. :)
of course, you were right. i hadnt been reading the word... i dont know why i couldnt bring myself to open my bible over the past week or so... but i just couldnt... then while i was brushing my teeth... before i had gotten your email... rob came up to me and kind of shamed into doing a quiet time.
we have a really close friend that visited us a few weeks ago and he was telling us that one of his favorite people in the bible is paul. he likes him because of the strength of his conviction. i dont know what made me think of that last night but i decided that for my quiet time i would learn more about him. i was reading the part in acts where paul is singing while he is in jail, and i was thinking ... dang, here is this guy that once was persecuting Christians, and God changed him so much that even after having been beaten and thrown in jail he was still singing praise songs... this guy IS awesome... and then your email came through. i was so excited that you had given me some direction that i flipped right to ephesians....and smiled when i read who not only wrote it... but all three of the books that you recommended. (by the way blog readers.... if you dont know, paul wrote all three of these books.... pretty cool) :) Gods brush strokes are so beautiful.
anyway... i spent some time last night and today reading the three books you recommended... and you were right... i was malnourished...all three of them spoke to me, especially ephesians. i literally felt my body get warmer and warmer the more i read, and i knew it was God putting His hand on me... telling me once again to relax.... that He was in control... that He hadnt left me even though i had doubted... and i feel so much better. my little flame is burning again... and now i know how important it is to keep reading the word for myself.
i wrote down some of the verses that really spoke to me... if you are interested, they are below... most of them are about how we are children, and then, by God choosing us and adopting us we are washed of our sins and called to live our lives for Him... pretty powerful stuff... and of course... i cried. ;)
all of these spoke to me... the ones with the stars especially.
ephesians
1:5
1:13
1:18
2:1-5*
2:22
3:16-18*
4:14-15
4:31
5:8
colossians
1:9-14
4:6
galatians
1:23*
2:20
4:3-6
4:9*
i guess thats all i have really. thanks again for getting back last night. i feel so much better... and i am so ready to start to dig deeper by myself again. hope you have a safe and fun new years. we will hopefully be asleep by 9. :)
see you on sunday.
a
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