... and remembering how fun it is to be nine years old...

(Wow, has it been that long since I... sigh... oh well...)

Nine years old. No responsibilities. Period. Well, that is if you don't count getting out of bed, feeding her fish and watching whatever she has recorded on our DVR this week. Hmmm... do I watch the SpongeBob movie again, for the 100th time? Or that episode of Hannah Montana that I missed this week because I was swimming at the pool with my friends. Like I said, no responsibilities. Whatsoever. There's my youngest daughter's week last week... (the adjacent picture is just so representative of the young one...)

I remember being nine. It was 1972. I awoke to each morning with new ideas of how my friends and I could play with our G.I. Joes. Or what trail we were going to race our bikes (yes, complete with banana seats!) in the open spaces near our outlying subdivision (basically the center of town now). What fun. I didn't watch much TV; I was outside until dark everyday during that summer. The two "most-fun" times though were going on vacation to the North and fishing with my dad (always a great memory), and being with my 20 year old brother who lived at home while at college. Seeing his ever-changing facial hair; hanging out with him playing pinball at the arcade. No video games yet, just old-school pinball. He was the pinball master. Still has one in his basement at age 54!

OK, to the point: This next week marks a week that my nine year old has looked forward to since last year when we did the same thing. Older brother and sister and Mom are going to Mexico on a mission trip with our youth group. That leaves nine year old with dad for nine days. Don't get me wrong, this is fun for me too! This year, she has a list. A list of things to do. I won't share them with you. You can only imagine...

I had to make one suggestion when she was coming up with the list: there had to be some free (or relatively inexpensive) things on this to balance out the others. She asked for examples, I gave her a few and then she came up with some on her own. I'll let you all in on some of our excursions after next week. Should be fun, though. It's supposed to hot enough for us to go swimming in our neighborhood pool and not freeze like last year. That may be the only thing we do if it gets too hot! It's just fun being with a nine year old. Especially one that likes being with her old dad. At least that's what I think she's thinking and what I am going to go on believing!

Eat This Book 3

The post today is going to be a little on the short side but maybe some of this stuff about reading Scripture in a new way takes a little while to sink in...

Just picking up on a little bit of a theme from yesterday, I want to suggest a few things.

1. Read with purpose.

2. Do some background study on setting, criticisms, commentaries already out there...

3. Take notes.

4. Ask questions.

5. Ask more questions.

*6. Let the passage work on you for a few days then read it again.

* 7. Pray. Before reading. After reading. Pray.

See if some of these suggestions jumpstart your Bible reading...

Tomorrow, I will suggest some helpful resources to have or consult regarding what you are reading.

Eat This Book 2

Today I want to focus on resources for daily Bible reading that are out there: As you can see below, here are just a few. Do a Google search on your own and find one you like. The important thing to remember is that there are a ton of great references online. There are also some that are not very helpful. Use discernment!

http://www.bibleplan.org/

http://www.oneyearbibleblog.com/

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/readingplans/

http://www.heartlight.org/devotionals/reading_plans/

http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.html

http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.html

http://bible.crosswalk.com/?OVRAW=Bible%20Reading%20plans&OVKEY=bible%20reading%20plan&OVMTC=standard

Another approach that Richard Foster talks about in his book, Celebration of Discipline is to “take a smaller book like Ephesians or 1 John and read it through each day for a month. More than any single effort this will put the structure of the book into your mind. Read it through without trying to fit it into established categories. Expect to hear things in new ways. Keep a journal of your findings.”

I like what Eugene Peterson said about reading Scripture, “We open this book and find that page after page it takes us off guard, surprises us, and draws us into its reality, pulls us into participation with God on HIS terms.”

Have a great day reading the Bible!

Eat This Book 1

(OK, let's get this out of the way: it's been a month since my last post, forgive me. Also, credit for my titles this week goes to Eugene Peterson's wonderful book of the same title taken from the passage in Revelation 10.)

“The important thing is to begin”

These words came from a website designed to help people get moving, to get exercising. It was designed to help those who had not been active at all in their lives (because of weight or other health issues) and now they wanted to start. I got thinking…

This could apply to those of us that need a jump start in the discipline of Bible reading or Bible study. I am going to use this blog this week to offer help in getting started, recommitting to, or digging deeper in our studying of the Bible. This comes from my sermon from two weeks ago. Eastside readers you have a head-start on where I am coming from and where I’m headed with all of this.

Part one, today, is designed for those of us who are “getting started” (see bottom of this post). I am going to get us into the habit. Experts in the field of time management seem to agree (for the most part) that it takes 20-30 days to create a habit. One resource I found answered questions about forming a habit. The best question was the one that asked, “Why does it take 21 days to create a habit and only one to fall back into old patterns?” Unfortunately, there is some truth to that when it comes to the Spiritual disciplines. So, let’s get started; begin; read Scripture for all it’s worth (and more).

In tomorrow’s Part two, I am going to flood you with Bible reading plans from all over, plus a story from my life with scripture. Actually it’s my mother’s story but really her story with the Bible is my story.

On Wednesday, Part Three emphasizes reading with purpose. Take notes; ask questions.

In Part Four on Thursday I will list some helpful resources to have while studying and we’ll look at the discernment needed to use them. Remember, God has given scholarly gifts to other people too (and a lot of them are a whole lot smarter than you or I).

Finally, Part Five on Friday will deal with this question, “What kind of glasses are you wearing?” Don’t know what I mean? Well, you’ll have to wait until Friday!

Here’s something today to get us into (or back into) the Bible reading habit. It's called 20/20. It’s not original with me; I just can’t remember where I picked it up along the way (I think it was Reg Cox – seems like a good reference even if it wasn’t him). 20/20 basically means reading 20 minutes per day for 20 days, thus creating a habit. I’m even going to give you the bible verses to read. Some days it might not last the full 20 minutes. My recommendation here is to pray for the rest of your time about what you just read. Here goes, read on friends:

Day 1: Genesis 1 – 3
Day 2: Gen. 12:1-3, Exodus 20:1-21, Deut. 6:4-9
Day 3: Ruth
Day 4: Psalms 23, 51, 148
Day 5: Psalm 78:1-7, 86:1-13, 139
Day 6: Proverbs 3 & 4
Day 7: Isaiah 40 & 53
Day 8: Matthew 5 & 6
Day 9: Matthew 7 & 13
Day 10: John 14 & 15
Day 11: John 16 & 17
Day 12: Luke 22-24
Day 13: Acts 1-4
Day 14: Romans 1-3
Day 15: Romans 4-6
Day 16: Romans 7 & 8
Day 17: Philippians
Day 18: Hebrews 11
Day 19: James
Day 20: 1 Peter

... and minding my own business... and then- TAGGED!

For those of you among my plethora of readers that don't know what being tagged is, let me explain. I guess the easiest way to explain it is to say it is like the blog-world's equivalent of being Double-Dog Dared! Usually it involves sharing something in a list. Longtime friend and grad school roommate, Danny Sims was tagged to share "5 things people might not know about himself" and then he promptly tagged me. I don't think I've lived such an exciting life, but here goes, my 5 things people might not know about me:

1. I went to boarding school in Canada for high school. I know it sounds crazy in our day and age, but it's true. It wasn't an uppity-up type of school. It was a very poor school (the food was wretched - I had to rely on my brother and sister-in-law living in town to feed me sometimes). Although it wouldn't be an option for my kids, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It was so much fun and I had good memories there.

2. I play Badminton. Before you think outdoor-in-the-backyard badminton, let me set the record straight: it's a great sport! Watch the Olympics sometime! In high school (see above) I played in competitive tournaments (it's a British sport, so Canada latched onto it as well). I played a little in college with some professors at ACU. I have played a little here in the Springs since we moved here, but I don't play as much as I would like because of schedule conflicts. Really, if you are still laughing, believe me, it is a great sport.

3. I am a Classic Rock Trivia buff - go on, try me. I know a lot about that whole time in our western history (the 60's & 70's). This is a by-product of having older brothers. One went to college in the town where we lived and I was in elementary school. He used to bring home the Doors, The Who, Yes, and Pink Floyd records when they came out, and that became a part of my upbringing.

4. I almost drowned on my honeymoon. One word: Riptide. I had never been in that kind of situation before (we were in Cancun). Before I could think, I had two lungs full of salt water and was being pulled out into the Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, the little local lifeguards pulled me in. Very scary. I would have left a very young widow.

5. I performed a wedding on a boat on Lake Travis in Texas. I was right out of grad school. I was doing part-time campus ministry in Austin, and we had a "walk-in" to our church one day wanting to know if a minister could do their wedding (it was a second marriage for both and they wanted something out of the ordinary). I was the only one with availability so I did it. It was a comedy of errors. The grooms mother was late (makes a sunset wedding difficult when it gets dark!). The boat was small with no guard rails on the upper deck: just chairs and - -off you go (come to think of it, this relates to number 4 above, because Laurie thought ew were going to die again!). Back the wedding. Anyone who is familiar with that area of Texas knows that when the sun goes down the wind picks up. Waves crashing into the boat, almost falling off the top, horrific singing, it was a definite memory for my first wedding. Every other wedding after that was downhill!

*** Bonus: I am in the credits of a movie. I'll tell you personally about that one if you want to know...

Hey, I get to tag people now - Livonia Theme: Rob, Dale, Brian, Kari, Phelps - If you see your name there, consider yourself tagged.

... what you call a planet that is no longer a planet?

I know that this happened a little while ago. But you have to hate being a planet on the scale of other planets (even though your orbit was wacky), and then getting everything pulled out from underneath you! Now, just now, demoted planet Pluto is finally getting some respect.

According to a Jan. 7 Associated Press story, it may be off the official list of planets in our solar system, but "plutoed" has been named the 2006 Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society.

The story continues: "To 'pluto' is 'to demote or devalue someone or something,' which is exactly what happened to the former planet last year when the IAU (the International Astronomical Union) decided Pluto didn't meet the proper definition of a planet."

"Plutoed" won in a runoff against:

- "climate canary," defined as "an organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon."
- "murse" (man's purse)
- "flog" (a fake blog that promotes products).

Oh well, I guess there's some redemption in that. Recognized for something that happened TO you as opposed to WHO YOU ARE. But somehow it falls short. It's like complementing someone after you just made a crack about how they look.

I just received my National Geographic and the map inside (I always look at that map first) is one of our galaxy. Pluto is not found in the place it occupied when I built the solar system thingy in third grade. You know, I think I want Pluto back as a planet!

Besides, this means teachers have to come up with a new jingle in order for their students to learn our Solar System!