Romans 6:5-11

Today I memorized:

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:1-4

Today I began chapter 6!  If this were Ephesians I would be in the home stretch but I still have 10 chapters to go! By God's grace, I will make it. Today, I just chipped away with 4 verses memorized.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

My Little Tough Guy

I have the most amazing In-Laws. Rick and Joanie treat me like a daughter and Mikey really is like a brother (that makes three brothers for me - and still no sisters!) They adore our children and volunteer to babysit for them often - at least once a month, sometimes more than that. Rick and Joanie have made their home like a second home for our family, especially Chloe and Jake. The kids have bedrooms and playrooms and almost as many toys there as here! They would do anything for those kiddos. 

This weekend was one of those weekends. Rick picked the kids up on Friday afternoon. On Saturday, he took them to visit Uncle Mikey's very cool, very old house. (Mike is Kevin's younger brother by only 20 months.) While the kids were playing around, Jake took off running for a nearby door. He ran smack into it and banged on it with both hands - only the door wasn't latched so it flew open. That door leads to the retro-fitted basement stairs - too steep and slatted, leading to concrete floor below. To Rick's horror, Jake went head-long down those stairs. He tumbled all the way to the bottom. Rick ran after him and was at the bottom about the time Jake was, hitting his head on the floor above (you have to duck to miss it). Let me tell you something about my father-in-law. He is a tough guy. He was a fighter-fighter for many years and would give you the shirt off of his back. I am sure that he would have flung his own body down those stairs to prevent Jake from going if he could have. It just happened too fast. No one could have prevented it.  

Rick picked a scared and crying little boy up off of the floor and held him. It was only moments before Jake was over it and ready to play again! Rick said he was amazed at how little Jake cried. Rick looked him over carefully: checked his eyes, head, bones, reaction time, responsiveness, etc. Jake was fine. Nothing broken. He does have a HUGE knot on the right side of his forehead and a smaller one on the other side. Plus his nose is scraped up, his lip is cut and there is a pretty good scrape on The Big Knot. He has some other bruises and scrapes, but other than those relatively minor things, he is fine. Here are some pictures from Sunday morning:

if you look hard, you can make out the shape of The Big Knot

Poor little guy!

This one is really dark, but it shows more of the redness on

 his nose than the other pictures. He looked like Rudolph! You 

can also almost see The Big Knot - or the shadow of it!

When Rick told me what happened, my stomach turned over and over. Even today, if I imagine his tiny body going down those stairs, my stomach turns again. I'm grateful I wasn't there to see it. I think I would be unable to forget it. I have thanked God over and over again for protecting Jake that day. He could have been seriously injured. God mercifully kept his body safe. Thank you, Father, for your protection over my little tough guy. Really he is Your little guy, isn't he?

When I called my parents to let them know what happened and that Jake was fine, my dad said something that gave me cause for more thanksgiving. Dad told me that everyday he prays that God will protect my family and keep us safe. So, Saturday morning, he prayed that prayer, and Saturday afternoon, God responded by protecting Jacob from serious injury. He could have kept him from going down those stairs in the first place. (I wonder how many times he does.) But that was not his will. He could have allowed Jake to break bones, injure his brain, or worse. Would God still have been good and merciful and loving? Yes! God's character does not change with our circumstances. 

He is good because he IS good. 

His goodness is sure and true and steadfast.

Even so, I am grateful that I got to keep my little guy with all of his bones intact.

You're Crazy!

If one year ago, you had told me that I would memorize books of the Bible, I would have thought you were speaking to someone else (or that you were crazy). I didn't not consider it possible - not for me anyway. I had never memorized anything longer than just a few verses together. However, memorizing things comes easily for me. Kevin noticed it first (much to his amusement) in that I know all of the lyrics to a ridiculous number of soft rock songs from the early 90s... and to almost any song I have ever heard a few times. Next, and more significantly, I memorized many of the books I read to Chloe repeatedly. I wasn't trying, it just happened over time. My husband, wise man that he is, encouraged me to put that skill to work in more beneficial ways. 

The first longer passage of Scripture I memorized was Colossians 3 (which I have nearly forgotten now - not even a year later). I was inspired to do so when I came to chapter 8, How to Wield the Word in the Fight for Joy, in When I Don't Desire God. I utilized the method John Piper shares in that chapter (pg. 122).  I memorized one verse per day. I was amazed at the benefit I gained from having the whole chapter, rather than smaller portions. However, I did not, at the time, have a plan for retention. 

Months later, I was rearranging some things when I found An Approach to the Extended Memorization of  Scripture, by Andrew Davis, the pastor of FBC in Durham, NC.  I read through the little booklet quickly. (It was the very booklet Piper referenced in his book.) It seemed easy enough. I really liked that he addressed how to retain what you have already memorized. I decided that I could, perhaps, memorize an entire book. After all, Colossians is only 4 chapters and I had already memorized one of them. It wouldn't be too difficult to memorize the rest. I began to pray about it, something Andrew Davis recommended (seems obvious, doesn't it?). I sought Kevin's counsel (good move!). He recommended Ephesians for a number of reasons. One of those reasons was the up-coming series the pastors were preparing for our church. I prayed some more and felt God leading me to tackle Ephesians (a whopping 155 verses!). Suddenly, it didn't seem so easy. 

In his kindness, God did not allow me to start with the easiest thing. He brought me to a place of utter dependance on him. I realized that God wanted to stretch me. So, I set a goal for completion (September 6, 2008) and began memorizing 3 verses per day, six days per week. Even now, it seems crazy. By God's grace, I finished it on September 6th!

I was afraid to "move on" from Ephesians because I didn't want to lose it. I recited the entire book of Ephesians almost every day for 50 days after I finished memorizing it. Now, I recite it a couple times a week to retain it. Amazingly, I have it down better now than I did when I first memorized it. 

Tomorrow, I will tell you what I am doing now. (I bet you already know!)

Sleep and Refreshment

I was struck by the truth of this statement:

Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there in a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. (Spurgeon; quoted in Knowing God by JI Packer)

Sleep will not rest us as well as time with our Lord and Savior. Sleep will not refresh us like time studying God in his word. In our times of suffering, sleep alone will not bring healing.

I share this not as one who runs well on little sleep. I NEED sleep. I love sleep. My family can testify that I have loved sleep from early childhood. My mom says that I would regularly leave playtime to go into my room, crawl into bed and take a nap. She would find me fast asleep only moments after last checking on me playing. 

I run best on about 10 hours of sleep. I learned this in college when I tested as clinically sleep-deprived. I have fallen asleep while driving more than once. The Lord has preserved my life more than once as well. I used to cry when I was woken up in the night or when I couldn't go to sleep - even as an adult. Ask Kevin. I say all of this to share my clear weakness and humanity - I am worthless without sleep.

Then Chloe was born! I didn't know I could function on such little sleep! As a mom, I regularly function on approximately 6 hours of sleep. I am regularly woken up at all hours of the night. The amazing part is that God sustains me! He gives grace! He has used my sleep deprivation to reveal much sin that was lurking in my heart. It is much harder to hide sin when you can barely stay awake! Lacking sleep has been good for my soul. Difficult at times. But good.

In our recent heartache, I was tempted at times to just sleep when I was hurting. I found, however, that memorizing God's word was much more refreshing. Sleep is absolutely necessary to our bodies - a constant reminder that we are the creature rather than the Creator - but it does not refresh the soul.