June 4 2015

June 4 2015 Greetings My Friend “And they walked with God in the cool of the day.” For some reason I am pulling this passage up a lot on these warm spring/summer like days. It seems like the cool of the morning or the cool of the evening I have quiet thoughts and make plans and live my life. In the heat of the day I do my work of loving Junior, writing, cleaning and cooking and in the cool I slow down or start out slow. This year I have given up worrying about my flabby arm look and I am wearing tank tops. With these on I am dealing with the heat so much better. To add to my comfort level I am able to put my hair up in a ponytail, small as it is. This too helps me deal with summer’s heat. The next thing I am learning is to move slower in the heat of the day and to hang out on the covered porch waiting for the coolness to venture out into the yard. I am enjoying summer like I have not enjoyed it in a long time. In the cool quietness I find myself talking with God about the littlest things such as how awesome our flowers are looking, the awe of hummingbirds visiting us again and the beauty of rolling mountains of green trees and patches of colorful flowers. In this quietness I sense God telling me again that “I am precious in His sight. The plans to prosper me not harm me and He will never leave me or forsake me.” At the start of my faith journey I kept hearing how important it was to memorize Scripture. I felt so sad when I could not memorize passages I picked out. I did notice certain passages that felt so tender, reassuring and speaking to me. One day as I was struggling I recalled a passage, part of it but enough that spoke to my spirit and gave me strength to face the challenge I was going through. Today I sense it isn’t about being able to memorize Scripture for the sake of memorizing it to quote to others at the drop of hat and show how much I am able recall. I think it is about learning those moments while reading that speak a lesson to me and remembering the lesson and even the words. Those are the passages that stay with me. I am a check it off my list kind of a woman so I felt that I needed to recall chapter and verse word by word. When I can let go of my to do list though I find myself absorbing and recalling much more than the rote memorization of word by word passages. One of the first Psalms I was introduced to as a child and even semi memorized was the 23rd Psalm. Today I know it more in the Revised Standard version that was around as a youngster. Now that I am reading newer versions I marvel at the different lessons I have learned from the same familiar passage. Still in my time of need I pretty much remember it the way I first learned it. I am finding that reading from different interpretations helps me understand the more difficult passages. I started my journey with the NIV Bible, went to the Chronological Bible for several years. The Chronological Bible helped me to understand the order in which things happened. When we moved to Virginia I started using the ESV Bible since our Minister read out of it at church and I am settled in that version for now anyway. A lady in our Sunday school class uses the Living Translation and will often read that as we work through our study each Sunday. It helps us too. Memorization comes when you commit to reading God’s Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach and guide you. Once more I also learn that the Holy Spirit is that quiet whisper on my heart. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet