A Pattern

We've already mentioned the overall structure of Psalm 119......an acrostic poem with 22 stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  We've noticed that each stanza has 8 lines (or verses) and have noted that in Hebrew, each line of the stanza begins with the corresponding letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  We also pointed out that a number of synonyms are used to refer to God's Word.  These are law, testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, ordinances (also sometimes translated judgments), word and way.  In case you are interested, the corresponding Hebrew words are torah, edah, piqqud, choq, mitsvah, mishpat, imrah, and derek.  I give you that information in case you want to get a Bible dictionary, Hebrew lexicon or other word study tool and dig out the differences.  The pattern I really want you to see is that at least one of those words is used in every line of this Psalm.  (Remember that I am using the NASB; if you are using a different translation, the English word may be different but the Hebrew word is the same.)  Every line of this Psalm gives us some information or insight about the value of the Word of God!  How exciting and awesome is that?!!

In the first stanza, the psalmist focused on the blessing of following God's way.  The next stanza (verses 9-16) begins with a question....how?  How do we live a life that follows God's way?  How do we live a life of purity?  That's the question.  Then he answers his own question......by living according to God's Word.  And as we saw in yesterday's lesson, the way we know how to live according to God's Word is by spending time in that Word, by getting to know it for ourselves, by taking time to know what God's Word says about how we are to live and then applying that knowledge......living our lives in line with what we've learned!

Read the beth stanza again and consider the following questions:

• What does this stanza tell us about God's Word (commandments, statutes, ordinances, testimonies, precepts)?
• Is any of this relevant today?  In what way?  How do we apply these truths in 21st century America?
• Look at verse 10..."with all my heart I have sought You."  This is the 3rd time the word "heart" has been used so far in this Psalm.  What do we learn from the "heart" references?  What does it mean to seek God with all your heart?  What does that "look like" in real life?
• Similarly, look at verse 16....."I shall delight in Your statutes".  What does it mean to "delight" in God's Word?  Again, what does that "look like" in real life?
• And finally, look at verses 10 and 16 again, at what we might call the negative aspect (seeking with a whole heart and delighting in God's Word are the positives).  The psalmist talks about "wandering" from God's commandments and "forgetting".  Do you ever wander?  Do you ever forget?  Be specific.  How do we avoid "wandering" and "forgetting"?

That's quite a lot to think about for today, isn't it?  If you have insights you're willing to share, please live a comment.

"For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it."  (Ezra 7:10)

How Blessed - Part II

As we continue through Psalm 119, we're pausing one more day in the aleph stanza, verses 1-8.  Today I'd like us to look at two verses in particular.....the first verse, "How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord," and the eighth verse, "I shall keep Thy statutes; do not forsake me utterly."

Let's begin at the beginning, in the first verse.  What does that mean?  I asked you to consider more closely two of the words in that verse, blessed and blameless.  Let's focus on them.

Here's some of what I discovered about the word "blessed", translated from the Hebrew word eser.   This word is always used to refer to people and never refers to God.  It means a state of bliss, and is frequently connected with wisdom or used to describe a person or nation who enjoys a relationship with God.

The word "blameless" is a translation of the Hebrew word tamiym, meaning blameless, complete.  In some of its occurrences in Scripture (in Exodus and Leviticus, for example) it is used to describe an animal to be sacrificed to the Lord.  It is also used in a moral sense, as linked with truth, virtue, righteousness, and used to describe one's relationship with God.  The Hebrew Lexicon defines it as complete, whole, entire, innocent, having integrity.

So, let's put all that together.  How blessed......what a state of bliss, relationship with God......are those whose way is blameless.....righteous, complete, whole, entire, having integrity.  Looking further into the text, who does the psalmist say are blessed? 
      v.1  those who walk in the law of the Lord
      v.2  those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart
      v.3  those who do no unrighteousness, who walk in His ways
      v.4  those who keep His precepts diligently

OK.....now that we know all that, should we just pat ourselves on the back because we looked up the definition of a Hebrew word and made a list and have gained some knowledge?  I think not.  Rather, I think we need to check to see where we each line up against that list.  And I don't mean checking to see where your friend/neighbor/co-worker lines up!  This is time for self-examination!

The psalmist has told us there are blessings that come when I follow God's way.  How do I know what that way is?  I know by spending TIME in God's word......not just reading what someone else has written, or hearing what someone has to say about it, but by spending time in His word.  We need to be more like the Berean Christians about whom we read in the New Testament....."examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so."  (Acts 17:11)

If you have time, you might want to do some further research to see who in Scripture is described as blameless.  Here's a hint....look at the life of Noah, or the life of Abraham.  Being blameless, following God's way, is not just about keeping the law, keeping a set of rules.  Both Noah and Abraham were around BEFORE the law was given. 

Finally, let's look briefly at that last verse in the stanza......"do not forsake me utterly".  What????  Doesn't Hebrews tell us that God will never leave or forsake us??  So what does this mean??  To fully understand the phrase, I think it is helpful to have  some background in Old Testament studies or to have studied Covenant.  If you don't have that, let me try to break it down for you.  The psalmist, a Jew, would have understood God's covenant relationship with His people Israel.  He would have known that covenant is a solemn, binding agreement.  In "Sweeter Than Chocolate", Pam Gillaspie says, "The psalmist knew the Law.  He knew the covenant required obedience.  When the psalmist says, 'Do not forsake me utterly', he is asking God to keep His end of the covenant.  The psalmist plans to keep God's statutes, and when he does, God will not forsake him."  In other words, the psalmist is saying, "I will do my part...I will keep the Law...I will obey You.  I'm asking You, God, to keep Your part...to keep Your promises....to not forsake me."

What does all this have to do with you and me?  Look back through this stanza and see what the psalmist's prayers are, the requests he is making for himself.  And what promises or commitments is he making?  What about you?  As you have read and studied this portion of the Psalm, what requests and commitments are you making?

We're ready now to move ahead to the second stanza, the Beth stanza.  In the first eight verses, the psalmist has talked about keeping God's way so as not to be ashamed, which implies a contrast with those who don't keep God's way.  The second stanza opens with a question......how?  Read verses 9-16 and note any observations, repeated words, things you might not understand.  How does he answer the question how?

I would love to hear how your study is progressing, what insights you are gaining.  Please leave a comment!

"For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it."  (Ezra 7:10)

Psalm 119 - How Blessed

Welcome back to our journey through Psalm 119.  I'm so excited to be your tour guide!  When you're traveling  - whether on vacation or just out & about in your own town - do you find yourself seeing certain sights and thinking "Wow!"?  Maybe you had the opportunity to travel to the Grand Canyon or to see the Rocky Mountains, or maybe you have a beautiful view from your own front porch or watched the birds in your back yard, and found yourself having a "wow" moment.  I'm wondering what "wow" moments you have had so far on this journey.

As I think back over the entire Psalm, I'm finding myself amazed at how many different words the psalmist has used to refer to the Word of God.  I find myself praying along with the psalmist, "revive me according to your word," and "teach me Thy statutes," and "establish Thy word to Thy servant as that which produces reverence for Thee."  What about you?  What are your "wow" moments?  What has amazed you so far?  Are you praying along with the psalmist?  Are there questions you've jotted down....things you don't quite understand?

Today we move from looking at the whole Psalm to a closer look at each individual stanza, beginning today with the aleph stanza, verses 1-8.  Why not take a moment now to read those verses?  Here are a few questions to guide your study today:

What words did the psalmist use to refer to God's Word?  Why do you think he used so many different words?  Are there perhaps subtle differences in Hebrew that may not be so apparent in English?  This might be a good time to do some word study (more about that a little later) to see if we can find out more about each of these words.

The first verse of this stanza says, "How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord."  What does that mean?  What does it mean to be blessed?  And what does it mean to be blameless?  Is he talking about perfection, about never making a mistake, about keeping the law perfectly?
Another opportunity for word study.  (Remember that I'm studying from the NASB; your translation may use a different word.)

Another thing to think about today.  Did you notice a shift of emphasis in this stanza?  Look at the first four verses where the psalmist uses the pronouns those, they, we.  Then in verse 4, he shifts to personal pronouns my, I, me.  He begins with a general statement and then personalizes it.  How would you personalize this stanza?

One more thing to think about today.  Look at the last verse (verse 8) of the stanza:  "I shall keep your statutes; do not forsake me utterly."  What does that mean?  Does God forsake us?  Think about that.  Perhaps this is another good opportunity for some research!

If you have been in a panic ever since I mentioned word studies, you can stop worrying!  Here's step-by-step instruction!  You may have some word study books in your personal library.  If so, I'm assuming you know how to use them.  If you don't, you can find some good FREE resources on-line.  One of these resources is http://www.blueletterbible.org/.  If you have another on-line source that you prefer, feel free to use that.

Here's what to do:  Let's start with the word "blameless" in verse 1.  Go to the website.  Enter the reference (Psalm 119:1) along with the Bible version that you are using (remember that in your version, "blameless" may have been translated differently).  Click on the search button.  The next screen will show some letters next to the reference.  Click on "C" for concordance.  Click on the Strong's number (in this case 8549) which will link you to the original word in Hebrew and will give you a brief definition as well as a list of every place that particular word is used in the Old Testament.  You might want to check some of the other references.  This can help you have a greater understanding of what the word means, who are some of the people described as blameless. 

That's the basic procedure for doing word study.  The benefit of doing that research is to gain a better understanding of what the word meant in the original language (since the Bible was not written in American English!) and some insight into what the writer meant when he, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, chose that particular word.  Follow this same procedure for other words and phrases that you want to know more about or understand better as we go through this Psalm.

Study well, dear friend, and I'll meet you back here on Thursday to share our insights about the aleph stanza and then move ahead to beth.

"Be dligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the Word of truth."  (2 Timothy 2:15  NASB)

Psalm 119 - The Journey Continues

Welcome back! I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to continue studying Psalm 119! Whether you have commented, or are a "follower", or have sent me an e-mail, or responded via Facebook, or are participating anonymously......I'm glad you're here! And if this is your first time with us, welcome to you as well! I can't begin to explain how excited I am about studying with you! So, let's get started. I've been praying for you this morning and I'm continuing my prayer that God will show us wonderful things in His Word!

As we get started today, I'm wondering how many of you may have completed the optional assignment and created your own acrostic psalm? Would you be willing to share it with the rest of us, or at least share a portion of what you have written. That would be such a blessing and encouragement to the group!

Have you noticed yet how many times you have read this Psalm? One of the beautiful things about studying inductively is how much time we spend in the actual Scripture. This method allows us to slow down and read and read and read again the portion of the Word that we are studying. This differs from reading a portion of Scripture and then spending most of our time reading what someone else thinks about it. Another facet of the inductive method is that we become much like a reporter after a story, asking questions of the text to get answers. We refer to these as the 5Ws and an H......who, what, when, where, why, how. Who is speaking, to whom, what is he talking about, where is he, why did he say that, how is that to be accomplished, etc.

So, with all that as background, let's begin with a little bit of review. One of the things we did last week was to look for what we could learn about the psalmist and his circumstances from the text of this Psalm. As we looked for those clues, they not only help us get to know the writer of the Psalm a little better but might also provide points of application for our own lives. What did you learn about the psalmist? If you're willing to share some of your insights, please leave a comment. Here are some of the things I noticed (not my complete list):

v. 23 "princes sit and talk against me"

v. 53 "seized by burning indignation because of the wicked who forsake Thy law."

v. 67 "Before I was afflicted I went astray."

v. 86 "they have persecuted me with a lie."

Looking at this list, which is only a partial list, I'm drawn this morning to verse 53 and am struck by how much similiarity there seems to be between the culture in which the psalmist lived and our culture. Certainly there are many today who have forsaken the law of God. We don't have to look far to find that. But I wonder if we are, as the psalmist was, seized by burning indignation when God's law is forsaken, or do we just accept it as "that's the way it is." Something to think about........any comments?

As we journey through this Psalm we also have also been looking for words and synonyms that refer to the God's Word. Did you notice how many different words are used? Words like law, precepts, statutes, commandments. We'll look in more detail at the words and what they mean as we begin examining each individual stanza. For now, let's focus on what the psalmist says about the benefits of God's Word. As I have observed the different ways he refers to the Word and the requests/prayers he has made for himself concerning the Word, here are some of the things I observed:

v. 25 "Revive me according to your word."

v. 28 "strengthen me according to your word."

v. 38 "establish your word as that which produces reverence for Thee."

v. 105 "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."


Even as I look at this partial list, and if there were no other benefits or requests that I could discern from the Psalm, verse 38 really does it for me......this is the "bottom line" request for me, the reason for studying, the goal of spending time in the Word......to get to know God and His works and His ways better, and to grow in reverence for Him.

What about you? What benefits of the Word did you discover as you read this Psalm? What goals do you have as you dig deeper into this portion of God's Word? If you are willing to share, please leave a comment. Is there any way you have found these benefits to be true in your own life.

Having done an overview of the entire Psalm, it's time now to begin looking at it stanza by stanza. Your assignment today is to read the Aleph stanza (that's verses 1-8) and make a list of all the words used to refer to the Word. If you're a colored pencil kind of person, you might want to mark them in a distinctive way.Tomorrow we'll do some word studies on these words. Right now just notice what the words are. Also notice if you find anything interesting in the structure of the stanza. Is there any shift in emphasis? If so, where is it and how would you describe it?

Finally, let me give you a word of encouragement. The disadvantage of studying together this way is that we can't have "real-time" discussions together of what we're learning, and we can't see each other face to face and share in the joy of discovery together. The advantage is that we are able to study at a pace and with a schedule that works for us individually. Sometimes life is complicated and interferes with what we would like to accomplish in a given day. So if you find yourself getting a little behind or not having time one day to participate in the study, that's OK. You can pick it up tomorrow. If you just found us today, you can go back and catch up previous lessons. The benefit is that we can fit this into our individual schedules without feeling guilty if we're not available, for whatever reason, on Tuesday at 10 or Wednesday at 3. However you make this fit your schedule, I encourage you to stay the course......to persevere! I'm confident that there are great benefits in store for us as we commit time to study God's Word and that He has wonderful things to teach us!

See you tomorrow!

Psalm 119 - The Journey Begins

Good Morning! (or good evening, depending on what time of day you are reading this!) And welcome back to Bible Study! If this is your first time with us, we welcome you as well. I'm so excited you have decided to join me in this journey through Psalm 119. As we make our way through the Psalm, I'll be giving some assignments and asking some questions. You may want to keep a notebook or journal for your personal use. The Comments section will be our "discussion" place. We're not set up for live chat, so if you would like to give an answer to a question, ask a question, or make an observation about the Scripture we are studying, the Comments section will be the place to do that.

So, are you ready? I've been praying for us this morning, once again asking God to show us wonderful things in His Word. So let's get started.......

As you read through Psalm 119, did you notice anything interesting about the way it is structured? You may already be aware that this is the longest of the Psalms. One of the interesting things about it is that is is broken down into 22 paragraphs, or stanzas, of 8 verses each. In most Bibles, each stanza is labeled with a Hebrew word.......aleph, beth, gimel, etc. These are the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. So, there is one stanza for each of the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Another interesting feature is that this is an acrostic poem (in Hebrew, not in English) and each line (in English, that would be each verse) of each stanza begins with the corresponding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. For example, in verses 1-8, which is the aleph stanza, each line of the poem begins with the letter aleph.

If you're feeling particularly creative, you might want to create your own acrostic poem or song or psalm using the English alphabet. Rather than stanzas, you could just use one line per letter of the English alphabet. Or if you're very creative, do stanzas!! This is a purely optional assignment, but if you decide to try it, we would love for you to share!

I asked you yesterday to read through the entire Psalm and see what you could learn about the author. Do you know who the author is?

Many Psalms tell us who the author is with a heading at the beginning. You will see the Psalm number and under that you will see "a Psalm of David" or "a Psalm of Asaph", for example. This Psalm doesn't do that. Also, in many Psalms there will be some information in the form of a Scripture reference that you can find in the side or center column references, if your Bible has those, that will refer you back to another Scripture that will give you the context in which the Psalm was written. Look at Psalm 3 as an example. Just before the cross-references for the first verse, there is another reference....2 Samuel 15:13-17. This tells us what was going on in the Psalmist's life (in this case, David) when he wrote this Psalm. Again, Psalm 119 doesn't do this. So, do we know who the author is? The short answer is no. If you were to do some research you would find that many scholars believe it is David, although there are some different opinions as well. I'm not sure it really matters who wrote it as much as it matters what we can learn from the clues in the text about what was going on in his life when he wrote.

So, that's your first assignment. Read Psalm 119 again and note what you learn about the psalmist. Here's an example if you're stuck. Look at verse 86..."they have persecuted me with a lie." You may be wondering why this is important. Well, think about it this way as you make your list of facts you learn about the psalmist. As you see the circumstances of his life, in this case being lied about, compare that to your own life......have you ever been lied about? How did you respond? How did the psalmist respond? What can you learn from the psalmist's response that you can apply the next time you find yourself in that circumstance? Or how can you use that knowledge to help someone else?

One more assignment for today........as you read Psalm 119, did you see words or phrases being repeated? If you had to give a title or a theme for the Psalm, what would it be? Read it one more time and look for those repeated words and phrases. If you're a colored pencil kind of a person, you might want to mark the words (along with their synonyms) in a distinctive way. This will be helpful to our learning process as we go along.

As a starting point for this assignment, did you notice that the entire Psalm seems to talk a lot about God's Word......using a number of different synonyms to refer to the Word......the law of the Lord, statutes, and precepts are examples. This is a Psalm in the middle of God's Word that is about God's Word! How exciting is that? So, what I would like for you to do as you are looking for those repeated words and phrases is to make a list, particularly of the words that refer to the Word. And look for the benefits that come from God's Word. We'll dig deeper into that next time.

That's all for now. I'll be back on Monday to discuss what we've learned from this assignment as we are getting the big picture (or overview) of this Psalm. Then we'll start looking at it stanza by stanza.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave those in the comments section or send me an e-mail (susanssittingroom@hotmail.com). And if there are any prayer concerns that I can be praying with and for you about, feel free to leave those in the Comments section, or if they are too private to leave in such a public place, e-mail me about that as well.

I'm so excited that you are on this journey with me, and I can't wait to share with you all the wonderful things that God will be showing us in His Word!

Join Me for Bible Study!

For some time now I have been giving a lot of thought and prayer to the idea of finding a way to use technology (the internet, social media) as a way to draw a group of people together for the purpose of Bible Study. And since I am currently pretty much "homebound", due to recovery from ankle surgery as well as because of the weather, I'm even more drawn to the concept. Add to those limitations that I am a Precept Bible Studies Leader who currently has no group to lead, the concept has even more appeal. So, after much prayer, I believe the time is right to launch this venture!


I love the Psalms! For many years now it has been my practice to spend a little time in the Psalms every day....or nearly every day! What a wonderful book of worship as well as of comfort! And so the Psalms is where we will begin this journey......Psalm 119 to be specific.


The choice of this particular Psalm is inspired by a Bible study written by Pam Gillaspie, a sister Precept Leader and Bible teacher. Her study is titled "Sweeter Than Chocolate". Don't you love that title? It comes from the concept that just as chocolate is sweet, a delight to our physical taste buds, even more so the Word of God is "sweeter" to our souls, to our spiritual taste buds.

So, with thanks to Pam for writing that study and with apologies if I misquote her or misrepresent her study, we will begin in Psalm 119. While we may find many similarities between what we study and the workbook Pam has written......truth is, after all, truth.....it is not my intent that we complete "Sweeter Than Chocolate" together, that we exactly follow the study she has written, although I may refer to it from time to time. For one thing, she has written a 6-weeks study and it may take us longer than that. One of the advantages of studying together this way is that we are not bound to the same time structure.

All that having been said, I hope you will join me in this journey through Psalm 119. If so, will you please leave a comment and/or "follow" me on this blog? That way I, and others who decide to participate, will have at least some idea how many of us are taking this journey together.


Our study will be an inductive study. That means we will be studying the Bible itself, letting Scripture speak for and interpret Scripture. We will not be studying what someone has written about the Psalm or studying commentaries. We will be going directly to the Psalm itself. We may from time to time do some word studies, examining the words used in the original language (in this case Hebrew), but I'll give you plenty of "how-to" when we get there. Our purposes will be to read/observe the Scripture......what does it say; to interpret the Scripture......what does it mean; and then to apply it to our own lives.....how should our thinking, attitudes, behaviors, actions be affected by what we have learned. Application is putting into practice what we have learned.


So, if you're planning to take this journey with me, let's get started. First, leave a comment or "follow" the blog. If you have friends you think might be interested, invite them to join us! Then, get a good translation of the Scripture (I use the New American Standard Bible for study......I'll be happy to explain why if you want to know......but you can use any translation you are comfortable with. I would recommend that you get a good word-for-word literal translation and not a paraphrase) and read through Psalm 119. You might even want to consider reading it out loud. This usually works best if no one else is around to distract you.....or to think you've cracked up!! As you read, see what, if anything, you can learn from the text about who the author is and the historical context in which he is writing. Also, see if you notice anything interesting about the structure of the Psalm.


Meet me back here tomorrow as we take the next steps on our journey. I'll be praying for you as you begin this adventure, just as I hope you'll be praying for me and for others who will be joining us. And one more thing.....as you sit down to read the Psalm, and anytime you are ready to study the Scripture, I strongly recommend you begin with prayer, asking God, by His Spirit, to show you wonderful things in His Word. Then be prepared for Him to do exactly that!

Sick of Winter

I am officially sick of winter. OK, I've been sick of it for a while now. But my longing for warm weather is reaching epic proportions! And spring is yet a long way off.

It snowed last night....again. It seems that happens every day or two. Sometimes it snows in the daytime and sometimes overnight. But it snows.....and snows.....and snows. Which makes life pretty complicated. We live on a steep mountain road at an elevation of about 3600 feet. Yes, we chose to live here in this remote location. And in the four years we have lived here, we haven't really had a problem. But this year is far from normal. The snow started early and comes often. It hasn't melted away. The gravel road has been plowed so many times that there is no gravel left, which is a problem. No traction. Just ice on the packed down places.

Last Friday, after we had decided not to go to Columbia, Al decided he would go to town and get a few groceries since we (he) hadn't done any grocery shopping in anticipation of a weekend out of town. He made it about halfway down the hill in front of our house before he hit ice and ended up in the ditch. So he walked home, up a very steep hill, in the snow. He should get 4-wheel drive, you say. He has 4-wheel drive. It doesn't help.

I have rarely been off this mountain since mid-December. That is partly due to surgery and recovery. But it has a lot to do with the weather. Even if we could get the car down the mountain, there's always the possibility of getting stuck or ending up in the ditch. And in my current post-ankle-surgery state, I am not able to walk home, up a hill in the snow. So I stay home. And watch it snow. And wonder what's going on in the rest of the world.

In other cold weather climates where we have lived, specifically Minnesota and Colorado, the day after snow usually means bright blue sky. That is not the case here. Even on the rare days when we have seen sun, it's in a partly-cloudy (or partly-sunny, depending on your point of view) sky. And while I have been glad to see the sun on those few-and-far-between-days, it has never in all these weeks been for an entire day or in a cloud-free sky. Mostly what I see when I look out the window is gray. "Naked" trees (no leaves), nothing with any color at all, gray sky, fog, and snow-covered ground.

The snow-covered ground is pretty on the occasional moments when sun shines on it. And the view out my window occasionally reminds me of an Ansel Adams picture. But mostly I'm very tired of gray. Very tired of snow. Very tired of cold. Very tired of winter.

Yes, I know we chose to move here. We chose to live in this remote location. It was a conscious choice to leave Florida and move to the mountains. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Lately, I've really been questioning that decision. Maybe my attitude will change once spring comes, and I'm sure it will come......eventually.

But right now, I'm just sick of winter!

We had our weekend all planned out. This would be a good weekend for a trip to Columbia.....a visit with Al's parents, a chance to get away from the snow, my first trip anywhere since pre-surgery, a change of pace before life gets back to "normal" as I begin to resume some of my activities. We were particularly excited about the getting away from the snow part.

Then we found out that Al would need to go over to Hickory this morning for a meeting. That's about an hour and a half drive each way, plus the meeting time. So that delays our departure. Plus, we have to make a little trip to Johnson City, TN before we can go in the direction of Columbia, SC. More delay.

And now I find out that Columbia is expecting snow this evening! Columbia, where it almost never snows, is going to have snow on the one weekend we are planning a trip there. So much for getting away from the snow!

Sometimes life just doesn't make sense.

What I've Been Up To

How does time pass so quickly? How is it that I am still essentially a one-legged person, yet somehow manage to stay so busy that nothing gets done? Well, obviously some things get done....but there are so many things on my I-want-to-do list that don't get done! I can't really understand it. Of course, part of the not-getting-anything-done dilemma could have something to do with how much time I have been wasting on line.....specifically on Facebook, playing silly games like Farmville and FarmTown and Cafe World and Sorority Life. Colossal time wasters! Immediately post-surgery those were good things to pass the time while I was not able to get around well at all. They have since fulfilled that purpose and now serve absolutely no purpose at all!

Since I last posted, I have exchanged my pretty pink cast for an ugly, clunky black boot. The good news about the black boot is that I am now starting to walk again, although it's a very slow, awkward process right now. The boot is heavy, and because it makes one leg longer than the other, my balance is a little off. That probably also has something to do with not walking for about 6 weeks. But each day gets a little better. By the end of the day I am tired and my foot is swollen, but I'm thankful to be walking again. And I'm so very glad to be able to have "real" showers again! I still can't put any weight on my foot without the boot on, but that will come soon. And in spite of all the things I could find to complain about right now, the bottom line is that I'm not having any pain and that is a very good thing!

All my recovery time hasn't been wasted on Facebook. I've done a lot of reading. And I read something about a week ago that I can't get out of my mind. A devotional book I have been using had a reading based on the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians, the "love chapter".
1 Corinthians 13 is a beautiful description of what love is, but as the devotional writer pointed out, it's a description of love in general. What would happen if we made it personal? What if, instead of saying "love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy, love is not arrogant, love is not rude," we personalized that. So, I would then read the passage as "Susan is patient, Susant is kind, Susan does not envy, Susan is not arrogant, Susan is not rude, Susan does not insist on her own way, Susan is not irritable, Susan is not resentful......."

The reality is that I could not make those statements about myself. I am often irritable. I do often insist on my own way. I am not always kind. I am from time to time impatient or even rude. So I find myself really convicted by this passage of Scripture as this author has forced me to examine myself in its light. I'm sure it's no accident that I came across this particular reading, but that God is speaking to me through the convicting power of His Holy Spirit. I've become very aware of how often my thoughts and my words don't line up with what love is. Way more often that I really want to admit. So that's something I'm working on.

And that's what I've been up to.