The Journey Continues

I shared with you yesterday that twenty-five years ago, Al and I and our two sons moved halfway across the country. Life has never been the same since!

Today let me fill in a few details of our story. I grew up in Landrum, a small town in upstate South Carolina. Al grew up in West Columbia, a suburb of our state's capital city. We were introduced by a mutual friend when I was in college and he had just returned home after four years in the Air Force. A year later we were married.

As a young Christian couple starting married life, we quickly found a local church where we became very involved. We taught Sunday School. Sang in the choir. Worked with young people. Attended Bible studies. Became friends with other young Christian couples. That was our life.

For as long as I can remember I have loved the Bible. I attended lots of Bible studies. I memorized lots of verses. I even led lots of Bible studies. But until Precept Bible studies became a part of my life, I never realized what I had been missing. The Bible studies I attended usually involved a teacher who taught/lectured on a passage of Scripture. These studies typically had no homework, no preparation required other than to show up, listen, and then go apply what you learned. The studies I had been part of which did have homework were typically Scripture followed by fill-in-the-blank or multiple choice questions.

I wanted more. Precept Bible studies gave me that, in ways I am not sure I can ever fully explain. Through Precept studies I learned the skill of inductive study. I learned to study the Bible itself, not just to study books about the Bible. I learned to let Scripture interpret Scripture. I learned principles of correct interpretation. In short, I learned about Scripture, but I also learned the skill of studying Scripture.

Our journey began in South Carolina more than forty years ago. Twenty-five years ago, we moved to Colorado, but our journey didn't end there. Since then we have also lived in Connecticut, Minnesota, Florida, and now North Carolina. We have almost come full circle, since our North Carolina home is only about 100 miles from that small town where I grew up.

It has been an interesting journey. We've learned a lot of things. For example, we have learned that a buggy and a cart and a wagon and a trolley are really all the same thing: a shopping cart. We've acquired a taste for a variety of foods: buffalo and walleye and grouper and seafood pot pie. We've learned how to adjust to different climates and different accents. We've met interesting people and seen interesting places.

Through all these years, often way outside our comfort zone, we have experienced joys and sorrows, potholes along the way, hills and valleys. There have been mountaintop experiences and there have been pits. Through it all, God has been faithful to provide all we need and more. He has blessed us beyond measure.

As I've been traveling down memory lane, remembering the early years in Columbia and the twenty-five years since we left there, I am in awe of our great God and the ways He has worked in our lives.

When Al and I married, way back in 1972, I don't think either of us had any idea that our journey through life together would take us where it has.

The journey continues. And I'm excited to see what's next!

"He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6 ESV)