My Bible

Latish last year I bought something I have grown to treasure immensely.

There are many reasons why I love this Bible so very much. First of all, it's God's personal letter to me! Wow. I don't grasp the truth of that statement the way I want to, but I hope that God will help me to, in time. The translation is English Standard Version, and I have to say I plan on raising my kids with the ESV.
I do appreciate the King James Version, and up to the past year it is the version I have used my whole life. I checked out the ESV online before I bought a hard copy. Alex and Brett Harris from the Rebelution used the ESV, so I figured it was worth checking out. I fell in love with it! I can understand it so much quicker than I can understand the King James. I love how poetic "thee" and "thou" and etc. sound, but when it comes down to every day life I am thrilled to have a version I can trust that says "you" instead. I know what the fancy words mean, but when I'm reading to myself having my Bible in language I regularly speak makes it so much easier for me to comprehend and apply it to my life.
In so many ways I can understand and comprehend what I am reading in the ESV sooner than I do reading it in the KJV. The content is exactly the same, just using slightly different words/wording.
For example, take Romans 6:22 in KJV
22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Now in ESV
22  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Wow. Reading it in the ESV brings it to life - makes it real for me.

I read a verse in James that confused me when I first read it.  James 3:1 (KJV)
1  My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
Then I read it in the ESV and said, "Duh!'
1  Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Just a couple of examples.

Another reason I LOVE my Bible so much is the style. It's small, flexible, the text is a great size, and it has a great concordance in the back! It has footnotes at the bottom, too. It's also terribly pretty. It's a beautiful cranberry red. I love cranberry red. There is only one color I love almost as much as blue, and that is red. However, I am very picky about my shades of red, and this Bible is a beautiful shade. And the filigree design on it is just gorgeous.

The reason I love my Bible that inspired me to write this post today is this: it is laid out in paragraph form with small numbers noting the different verse numbers INSTEAD of each new verse starting on a new line. I can follow the train of thought so much better this way.

So, for today, I am so grateful for my Bible. Thank you Lord for letting me live in a country where I have such easy access to a Bible, and the freedom to read it wherever I please!

Beautiful Savior

Jesus is such a beautiful savior. Our God is so almighty and the earth is truly filled with his glory. Even though the world glorifies Satan and sin, the beauty of creation will always glorify God.
I took my brother to school today, and had time to kill before choir practice. I spent a blissful hour and a half sitting on the back of my car directly facing the setting sun, drinking it in. I pulled out my CIT book of notes and started reading them aloud. I realized today that it is very important for me to read things aloud. Speaking it and hearing it while I am reading it give me such a better level of comprehension. So, I read aloud. I was so very convicted of how I've spent the last few months pretending to be close to God. I read a statement I had written, "That I may know Him - this is the greatest goal of my life.", and realized that I have not been true to that goal. I have spent more time pursuing friends than my sweet savior. How could I? But I did. And I will again in the future. No matter, what's done is done, I will strive to do better, and with the help of my dear savior, each time I fall he will help me back up and further on down this narrow path he is leading me on. It was such a beautiful time. I am so grateful for Jesus...for everything about him.

=)

I am SO GRATEFUL for sunshine!!! It's a beautiful thing. It has been raining today, and that makes me kinda sad. Sunshine makes me so very happy. I thrive on sunshine. Sunshine makes life happy! It casts such a cheeriness over the world. With sunshine, the sky is a beautiful, deep blue. It's just happy.

=)

In other news the bathroom is finally painted, and the bedroom is beginning to get into some order. Slowly but surely it will be accomplished.
<3

=D

So, I have a VERY good excuse for forgetting Monday and not posting until midnight Tuesday.

I was very, very tired and slept a lot of Monday. Today I took my brother to school, painted my bathroom and one wall of my bedroom, and went to church to pray for an hour with some friends.

Monday I am thankful for a family who understands and lets me rest when I am devoid of energy. So kind of them!

Today I am thankful for the Holy Spirit who prompts me to pray for friends, and be understanding to their situations.

I am beat. <3

btw, next week is the meteor shower!

Thankfulness

I missed a couple days, I know!
So, I have three things to be thankful for today.


For Thursday I'm thankful for life. Just the ability to live, and be, and do. I got a lot accomplished in the bathroom, and then we went to church. I really do enjoy my life, with all of its craziness.

For Friday I'm thankful for travel. We took our trip a week early, and my mom came. I love driving and going places. It was fun.

For today I'm thankful for relationships. I spent a lot of time with my cousin, Allie, yesterday. I babysat her and we had a great time. Also my friend, Sarah, came over and we went to the mall and walked around with coffee. Then we came and sat in the grass and talked for quite awhile. It was good fellowship.

I know I'm not going to get around to blogging tomorrow, so I'm just going to say thankful for church, and the opportunity to serve. It is such a blessing to be involved in ministry. =) God is good!

Room Makeovers!

Today's "grateful" of the day is a little hard to put into one word.
I am so grateful that I have the means to make this room better. There was a leak from the toilet upstairs, and my daddy fixed it. I'm about to coat the carpet in baking soda and leave it for a few days. (Yes, it is that bad.)
Hopefully  I can find the air fresheners, because it's really smelly. I'm about to pain the bathroom, and hopefully the bedroom as well. Soon I hope to get a nice-ish rug for the bathroom. Once the ceiling dries up from the leak (it may be dry already), and I finish painting, we can put Emmie's bed where it belongs and get all the furniture in place.

I've been listening to The Three Musketeers on cd lately. I'm on disc 6 out of 20. Heh. This dude reads SO SLOW and I can figure out a way to make him play faster. :(

My Christmas lights are up, and cheerful!

<3

Today I am Thankful for Good Surprises

I walked into the family area by our kitchen today with lunch and my mom asked me if I wanted to drive my two younger sisters out-of-state for a cousin's birthday party at a theme park! It's about an 8-9 hour drive, and I'll be going down next Thursday (early) and coming back on Saturday(afternoon). =D I'm so excited! I thought I was done with trips for 2009. I've been on quite a few. Ski trip in February, vacation in April, camp in June, camp twice in July/August, trip to a friends wedding in October, and a trip to a small retreat just last week (October).
I have confirmed my suspicion this year that I LOVE traveling! =D It's the best. I love driving, and I have been wanting to spend some time with my little sisters. This is going to be a blast.
I am so thankful for good surprises. Yesterday was really tough, so this is great. =)
God is good!
Shout out to J.G. - I hope you're doing well, and I said a prayer for you today.