What a Journey!

Day three hundred sixty-five

It has been an interesting year. When I started this journey of scripture study and blogging I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought it might be therapeutic for a former seminary teacher to share what I discovered in my scripture study. I was really missing teaching.

Really, it was the brainchild of my husband, who has been the patient listener of many of my discoveries. I'm sure that part of his reasoning for challenging me to do this was so that he didn't have to listen to every detail, but he assures me that he thought that it was worth sharing with others.

So last January I set the goal to study my scriptures each day and to blog about what I had learned. I don't think I really understood the amount of time and effort this would require. That's probably a good thing, because if I had known that it would end up with 4000+ blog pages and countless hours of studying, I don't think I would have ever begun.

This journey has been filled with plenty of trials and obstacles.  I’ve had technical difficulties (the computer hates me), family emergencies, a job, projects, callings, all of which take a lot of time.  The average post took about two hours to prepare. That's a lot of time for a person who has a million other things to accomplish in their day.  It meant late nights studying because the day was filled with too many other things to do or earlier hours so that I could get it done before there could be any distractions. 

The blessings far outweigh the obstacles though.  My family has been extremely supportive of this endeavor.  My husband and my sons have often finished my chores, and have always been willing to listen as I bounce ideas off of them.  It has been a great blessing in my life to know that they would step up when I needed them to help.  I could not have done this without them. 

The biggest blessing has been my ability to see God in my life.  I had a good relationship with God before I started this, but it is much stronger now.  My outlook on things has changed, I am less stressed and more willing.  I have had my bad days, but I have learned to turn to the Lord more and rely on myself less.  There are some things that He puts in our lives that we are not meant to do alone, and the ability to recognize those moments is a true blessing to me.

Also, I have learned to be brave and step out of my comfort zone.  It is a scary thing to post your thoughts on spiritual things.  There have been many times when I doubted myself and felt like no one really cared if I wrote or not.  Over the year I have had people from all over the world read some of my posts.  At first that brought a little anxiety with it. I started to feel like my posts had to be super stupendous or I would embarrass myself.  Luckily, the Lord stepped in and let me know that I just needed to write what He wanted me to write and He would take care of the rest. 

It is an amazing thing to let the Lord lead you. When I go back and read some of my posts I can't believe that I wrote it.  Where does this stuff come from?  It is definitely not from me! I know this because I have received comments, messages and emails from people sharing their thoughts on what I wrote.  I am often surprised at what has touched their hearts.  Touching people's hearts, that is outside my realm, that's more of God's thing.  

Well I want to thank all of you that have followed me on this journey.  You should know that your kind words have made it a labor of love.  When I wanted to give up one of you would make a comment or send me an email that kept me going.  Thank you for that!

I also want to thank the Lord for this amazing experience.  He has carried me often through this and I have felt His love for me many times.  It is my hope that as I move on to the next thing that He will continue to bless me.  Hopefully, He will continue to use me in ways that bless the lives of those around me.  What a journey it has been and I am looking forward to what He has in store for me in the days to come!