Happy 2010 dear friends!! It's been a few weeks since I've written. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and New Years. I got lucky with work this year...I was supposed to work a 3-1130 pm shift on xmas eve & xmas both BUT...I got an EA on Christmas Eve & then a wonderful coworker offered to work Christmas day for me.....WHAT A GREAT GIFT!!! So Christmas eve Kyle and I were able to go to church together & have a nice dinner & exchange gifts. Christmas day we woke up early and went to Dorothy Day House to volunteer and cook a pancake breakfast. After that we got on the road and headed to WI...the roads were a bit sketchy but we made it. We spent a great weekend with Kyle's family.....enjoyed seeing all of the aunts, uncles, cousins & the yearly wrapping paper fight!. Also- that Saturday me and my two sisters-in-law went to town and got a pedicure, had lunch, and did day after christmas shopping!....was great fun and we decided it should be a new tradition!!!
I got so many nice gifts this year! Of note: a pie iron, ravioli press, misto, and dutch oven from my Love; some starter sewing projects from Kyle's mother (a new hobby!!!); cake decorating equipment (another new hobby!!!!); and a warm, comfy homemade afghan from my mom!!!!
Last week, Kyle's younger brother came back to Rochester with us and stayed the week. He put new brake pads on Kyle's truck, fixed the snowblower, put the motorcyle back together, and helped Kyle with more of the wiring in the basement. What a nice houseguest!!!
We spent New Years Eve with 3 other couples at a Mexican theme dinner party! One of the couples was recently engaged so that was fun to celebrate with them and hear about their plans!
Godstop:
I was listening to the Grace to You radio program (John MacArthur) recently and heard a series on interpreting the bible. He said that "knowing the bible" is one of the best ways to effectively interpret the bible. He offered one suggestion that caught my attention: Work your way through the New Testament 7 chapters at a time. Start in Matthew and read Ch 1-7 every day for a month. Then Ch 8-15 every day for the next month. Do this all the way through the New Testament. Read the Old Testament more as a narrative....just read it all the way through (at least 7 Ch every day).....and then do it again.
He also said not to get hung up on things you don't understand as you read though. Just keep a notebook nearby and jot down the things you don't quite get. Then spend some time each week looking back into these passages and using your resources to understand them.
So that is my goal this year....to start in on "knowing the bible". I think I can be entirely through Matthew, Mark, Luke, John by the end of this year. My hope is that my faith and knowledge will grow as I spend increasing time in the bible and become a good friend to the Word. My hope is that I will know our Father in heaven better, that I will take his Word into my heart, and that He will continue the good work he started in me!!!!
