Westward Ho!!! May 7, 2015

May 7, 2015

The New Journey Begins

Well, today begins the big out west trip that we have been looking forward to for over 6 months.

Our southern trip was a huge success and I am so excited to be heading out west. We are going to be doing things and seeing things that most people only dream about. Everyone I talk to wishes that they could do something like we are doing. I am very excited but I am a bit nervous.

We started on this journey for a lot of reasons. One of them was to let our kids see the United States and learn about the history and culture of this great country we live in.

We have accomplished this already. They have seen more and learned more about the US than most kids learn in their entire time in the public school system. They are getting ready to learn a whole lot more in the next two months.

That was not the only reason for this adventure. We set out to build memories and relationships with our kids. We wanted to grow closer to each other as a family.  The most important thing we wanted to do was grow in our relationship with the Lord.

I started out on this journey thinking that  I was doing all of this for my kids. I have realized these past 4 months that this trip has been for me. I have learned so much. The Lord has kicked me out of my comfort zone and drawn me closer to him. I set out with a lot of goals and some of them I have accomplished. Some of them I have flunked at. I mean, fallen flat on my face. The kind of failure that causes you to really examine your walk with the Lord. It has been all for the best though because it has made me reevaluate some of the things I set as goals. Some of them I have kept the same and some I have tweaked a little. Some have just gone away. And that is okay. Sometimes we need to let go of what we think we should do and replace those things with what God is drawing is to do.

There have been two areas that the Lord has really been working on me about. One has been scripture memory. When I was younger I did the basic memorization of the Sunday School verses and then promptly forgot them. I can finish a lot of verses but could not tell you where to find them or how to start them. I have always wanted to memorize scripture but I just could not find a way to do it where I could actually be successful. I felt like a failure. I then read about Beth Moore’s Siesta Memory Program. At the beginning of the year you take a book of index cards and decorate the front of the book. On the 1^st and 15^th of every month you pick a new passage to memorize. For me, this has been my light bulb moment.

It is something I felt I could do. I purchased the book and started January 1^st. I have been consistent with it every month. I have memorized more scripture on this trip than I have ever in my whole life. The key really has been reciting the verses to the kids. Every night I grab my book and give it to Esther. As I recite the verses she lets me know when I miss a word or need some help. An extra added bonus to this method is that she is starting to pick up the Bible verses too. It has been such a sweet time for us. The other kids are being encouraged to memorize scripture too. Several of the kids have asked me to buy them their own index card books so they can join me.

I am so blessed that the Lord led me to this method of scripture memory. He has put the desire in my heart to memorize more and more. I started out just with one verse at a time but now I am memorizing whole passages to get the context of verses. It has been an awesome time.

The other aspect where the Lord has been working on my life is in the area of scripture reading. I have read the Bible through many times. Before this year I had read it through 17 times. Each time has had its benefits. I have never had a time in my life where I have voraciously consumed the word…until this trip. I made the goal to read the Bible through in 90 days. It really took me 98. That was number 18. I am now reading through the Bible in 60 days. At least I am trying to. This will be number 19 when I am done. I should be done around June 9.

I can honestly say that this year I have never had a more sweet time in the word of God. Now some people will say that Christians need to take their time and slowly take in the Word of God. I have done Bible reading plans like that. Honestly, I have never really enjoyed those plans much. I have done McCheynne’s quite a number of times. It was okay but I found myself dragging through some books because it just seemed like it took forever to get through them. I have tried other plans to. I even did the 90 day reading plan a few years ago. I really enjoyed that. At the beginning of the year we were reading about George Mueller. From the time he became a Christian to the end of his life, he read the Bible over 300 times. We did the math and that averaged out to about 4 times a year or every 90 days. I truly enjoyed the biography we read of him and he is one of my Christian heroes. I figured if it was good enough for him, it was good enough for me.

What I have discovered is that reading the Word of God in big chunks at a time is what fits my reading style best. I have always been a very fast reader. I read fast but I am also able to comprehend what I reading. I can finish a several hundred page fiction book in an hour or two. I figured if I can do that with a fiction book then I can do so much better with the Word of God.

I set out and have already finished it in 90 days and fell in love with this reading style. I have learned more and gotten so much out of this past time reading it through. The amazing thing has happened though. The faster I read it and the more I am reading every day, the more I am craving and desiring. It. I need it every day and I find myself reading whole books of the Bible in one setting. I have never had so much of a desire to read the Word of God before. It has been wonderful.

It is also encouraging my children to read the Word. They are seeing me read it and they keep asking what I am reading every day. I think they have bets amongst themselves to see if I really can do it in 60 days.

I know this kind of reading plan is not for everyone. For me though, it has again been another light bulb moment in my Christian life. For me, right here, right now, this is what I need to do. After this trip the Lord my lead me to do something else but right now I need to do this. Some people do not understand how I can gleam any information or learning from reading the Bible this way but I just do. I cannot explain it. The Lord has revealed so much to me this year through his word.

Okay. This is just a little of what the Lord has taught me so far this year. Some things I cannot post as they are a little personal and involve more than just me. Let me just say that this has been a wonderful learning time for me.

I have seen such growth and maturity in my children too. We have a long way to go but that is the way it should be in Christian walk. We should never be satisfied with where we are. We should strive to be better than we were yesterday. I sometimes think complacency and satisfaction is the downfall of the American church. I am continuing to work on this with myself and my children.

These last two months are going to be a whirlwind of traveling. I am looking forward to it but pray that along the way that I do not lose focus of the why of this adventure. JOY.

I have found so much joy already this year. Joy in the Word of God. Joy in the blessings of my family. Joy in God’s wonderful creation. Joy in this amazing country we live in. So much joy but I crave more and I need more.

I have made some goals for this last leg of our journey. I pray that above all that I will bring glory and honor to God with my family and with the people that the Lord places in my path. He has taught me so much this past year and half. The loss of our dear sweet Asa has been the catalyst for a whole new journey for me. I am sad that I will never get to hold our sweet baby here on this earth but the changes that the loss have caused in my life…I would not trade for anything. I think about our sweet baby most every day but now I smile instead of cry. Yes, there are some days I struggle with the emotions and tears but there is JOY in it all. Joy of knowing that my loving Savior knew every moment and every tear. He has had only my good in mind through every circumstance of my life. What I thought was good for me has made way for the best that he wanted me to have.

As we begin this new part of our journey today I just want to praise him and thank him for all I have learned so far. I am excited to see what he has store for me. I cannot wait to share with you all what I learn along the way.

And lots of pictures. Yeah, lots of pictures of happy kids and a joy filled mom and lots of God’s wonderful creation.

Update – Made it to Marion, NC. Staying at Tom Johnson Campground. Got in around 9:45. Have an appointment tomorrow to get the brakes looked at on the camper. We just want to make sure that we are safe to go over the Rockies. Going to try and meet a friend of Carl’s that lives about 5 minutes from the campground. He has two daughters who have horses. We are going to try and see about getting Esther over to meet them. She loves horses. Tired but a good tired. Started listening to Pollyanna that we got from Hal and Melanie Young. The kids are loving the audio book. Listened to the first disk today along with some Adventures in Odyssey and Mercyme. Ready for bed.