Good Morning...

A fine weekend was had by all. We took Delaney to a 'soft play' at the Royal Commonwealth Pool on Saturday. She saw some friends from school and they ran through the mazes, slides, and ball pits with squeals and screams. It was fun to watch.

Sunday was great as our Pastor preached on our church's verse for the year, Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth'. He did a fantastic job focusing the church on this as our focus for the coming year.

Today we launch back into the normal routine. But for some reason, I feel my spirits elevated. I am still wrestling with the same issues in the thesis, but they seem edifying today. All is well.

In the left hand side bar we keep track of what we are reading (more accurately, what we have finished reading). I decided just to list the books of the Bible that I complete there as well. Again, I do this as a little 'mind game of accountability' for myself. One of my resolutions was to read carefully through the NT twice this year and then immerse myself in a book on NT Theology (Probably George Ladd's). As of right now I finished Matthew and am in the middle of Mark. I forgot how good it is to just sit and read large portions of the Bible in one sitting. So many devotionals have just a few verses at a time (often divorced from their context), which have been frustrating for me in the past. I like to pretend that there are no chapter or verse divisions. I just read and pray for understanding.

It turns out that one of the most surprisingly beneficial gifts I received for Christmas is a small reading light that clips on to my books. At about 10pm, all the lights in the house are off. Krisy is asleep. Delaney is asleep. I am propped up in bed surrounded by a small circle of light. There is a fan running in our room. The net result is that as I read, all I can see are the pages in front of me and all I can hear is the rushing wind from the fan. Without visual or audible distractions I disappear into the pages in front of me. About midnight I just set the book to the side and fall asleep still thinking of the things I just read. I pray that this is a habit that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It only costs me one AAA battery every month or so.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great Monday. More updates to follow.