A joyous blessing instead of mourning

Isaiah 61:3 (New Living Translation)

 

To all who mourn in Israel,

he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,

a joyous blessing instead of mourning,

festive praise instead of despair.

In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks

that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

I had a lengthy blog post planned for today, but my usual verbosity will have to wait.   I have heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but I've never quite believed it.  Today, pictures plus a few words will have to do.

To give a bit of context (and because happy pictures are better than the kind that follow):

Wedding day July 4, 1998

Yes, we jumped into the pool in our wedding clothes.

Our last Christmas together.  I was pregnant with Little Pud.

Today is the ninth anniversary of the worst day of my life.
 

Graveside service April 14, 2003

Today is also the second birthday of a sweet Baby Girl.

Truly a joyous blessing instead of mourning.  

I am thankful.

FB Note from Dec. 26, 2010: The Best Christmas Present Ever

As of today, Super T has been home for eleven months. We brought him home Jan. 26, 2010. He is such a blessing to me and the whole family, and I love him with all my heart. I was not planning on writing an update, especially since I am taking a break from FB (and have enjoyed a definite upsurge in efficiency in my life), but something happened Christmas Eve at bedtime that I had to share.

As I was lying down with Super T at bedtime, I said, "I love you, Super T." Super T then said (in his own way), "I love you, Super T." I said it again, "I love you, Super T." And he said, "I love you, Mama!" His first spontaneous "I love you, Mama"!!! Let me tell you, there is nothing like that in the world. This little boy who was a stranger one year ago loves me. I got all choked up and happy, and he said it again a few minutes later. He also told me he loved me a couple of times on Christmas day and this morning a friend was the first witness to him saying, "I love you, Mama."

Super T is a wonderful boy, a huge blessing, a treasure. He has been a perfect addition to our family. LOTL, Little Pud, and Super T are my trio of incredible kids. I don't know what I would do without them. I am so thankful to be their mom!

Ten chapters per day?

In December I started looking around for a new Bible reading plan. I have spent several years studying different topics and/or being "stuck" in one book of the Bible. All of this has transformed my thinking, but I was feeling that it was time to get an overview again. (See this post from October.) I looked into several plans. The one I was most interested in was the plan my friend used (which she describes in this post.) While searching for more info on her plan, I "stumbled" across this blog post describing Professor Grant Horner's Bible reading system. It intrigued me, so I did a bit more searching and came upon this very interesting interview with Professor Horner. I looked at his plan (and the reasons he gave for why he did what he did) and at my friend's plan (they are quite similar in concept) and made my own hybrid. If you are more tech-savvy than me you can get Professor Horner's plan on YouVersion and read on your smartphone or computer (they also have the M'Cheyne reading plan which is somewhat similar, but only 5 chapters per day and LOTS of other plans.)

I am reading 10 chapters per day from 10 different books of the Bible (6 Old Testament and 4 New Testament.) I do not do it every day. My plan is to do the ten chapters daily on weekdays and do more in depth study on weekends (I have had varying levels of success with this.) Today I was on day 40. That means I have read 400 chapters of the Bible since Jan. 1! WOW! It is exciting and fun (two words I would not have previously connected with this volume of Bible reading.) The fun part comes when different parts of the Bible have crossover, similarities, or other ties that I never noticed before. One day this week my passage in Genesis and my passage in Judges (hundreds of years apart in time) took place in the same obscure (to me) town. At least weekly (and often daily) there has been something like this. It is helping me see the Bible as a whole, to see the connectedness of it, and to build familiarity with even the parts that I would not normally think of reading (minor prophets). It takes me about an hour a day, requiring early rising since I cannot read successfully with my kids around (this also helps explain my lack of blog posts since early morning is my time for that as well). If I was a faster reader and/or I didn't always want to jot references down in my various scripture collections it would probably only take 30-45 minutes. My mom is doing a 9 chapter per day plan and can get it done in 20 minutes (she is a fast reader and has read through the Bible almost yearly for as long as I can remember--familiarity makes you faster.)

Now before you get all guilt-ridden or condemning of yourself for not reading as much (or even reading at all) realize that this is just what I am doing...what God led me to for this season of my life. Last year I just read parts of Isaiah over and over (and many many days didn't read anything at all with the time and energy consuming adoption transition...often I was in survival-mode and sleep-deprived.) I also have a very real and growing understanding of God's grace and the concept of roots and fruit (hopefully topics for other posts.) I do not do this out of obligation, because I have to do this for God to love me or bless me. He loves me and blesses me because of Who He is, not because of what I do. I am doing this because He loves me and gives His love to me so I can love Him and love others. I hunger to know more about Him and His plan for me. I know that by renewing my mind with the Word, my soul, my mind, is transformed into what He would have me to be. I want to be that person!