The Bible in a Year

First off, I would like to thank my dear friend Skye for my new blog design!  Didn't she do a great job???  It was a complete and total surprise to me, but I completely love it!  It's got the cool retro bowling alley look to it.  It's awesome!!!

Now for my title: The Bible in a Year.  My husband got this crazy idea a while ago from a fellow pastor friend: read the whole Bible in a year.  He asked me if I was interested in doing this with him- kind of an accountability partner thing.  I said, "Sure.  But do I have to read it from cover to cover?"  The answer: Yes.  As much as I have always wanted to read the whole Bible- really read it and know that I've read the whole thing, not just pretty sure that I did that in seminary- I have tried it and failed.  I usually stopped somewhere in Leviticus, which is truly thrilling stuff.

So, I reluctantly agreed.  Jared also told me that he was going to ask his colleagues who are going through the ordination process with him to join him in this effort.  That way, he would have double accountability- those he'll see a few times a year at various church related events, and the person he sees every night before bed and every morning when he wakes up.

And so we began on June 1st.  I will admit to you all that I haven't had the easiest time with this task.  You've read about my busy summer and you're familiar with my new commute; so finding the time to read 2-4 chapters of the Old Testament everyday has been pretty difficult.  As of this morning, I was more than 7 days behind.  I read a few chapters with my morning tea at home.  Then I read a few more here at the office.  I am caught up to today, but not through today. 

Every single day that I am at work/in the office first thing, I make time to read my chapters and I even journal-usually not about the readings, though.  But on weekends and/or my day off, it's incredibly difficult to 1) remember, 2) find time to read, and 3) actually sit down and do it.  This is how I get so far behind in just a couple of days.

We are currently in Judges.  I am supposed to read chapters 6 and 7 of Judges today.  I finished chapter 5 with very heavy eyelids and seriously contemplated a nap at 9:45am... I'm obviously struggling with reading the Bible in a year.

And I am not sure that this really is meant to be an easy task, no matter how much I want it to be.  It is very palatable- reading a few chapters a day for a year.  It almost sounds enticing, like an infomercial or something: "For just 20 minutes every day, you can improve your biblical knowledge and spiritual growth."  And I thought, "Well that's totally manageable!"  But the fine print says, "You may have to give up: extra snooze button touch, time with your spouse, your morning walk, getting to work on time, staying awake at your job, spending time with loved ones, etc."

God never promises that discipleship will be easy.  I know of no where in the Bible that it says, "Follow me, it will be the easiest thing you ever do!"  Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book called The Cost of Discipleship; if that doesn't make it clear I don't know what does!

And, yet, I am bothered by how much time and effort is required of me to complete this simple task-reading a few chapters a day.  It's not easy, but it is simple.  Study is one of the spiritual disciplines.  It's something that we are encouraged to do and do well.  We pray to "hear... read, mark, learn and inwardly digest" the Scriptures (Book of Common Prayer, 236).  I'm not even doing that; I am just reading.  I am not really studying what I am reading.

My hope in admitting this to you is that I will take this task more seriously.  Perhaps it will take a year or two of reading the Bible everyday to get to the point of inward digestion; perhaps it will take longer.  But I know that this is something I want to do and I hope to do everyday.

Trips to the Lanes...

... for the past 2 1/2 months!  That's right, friends, I have scores dating from May 26th.  So, here we go!

May 26, 2011
Circle Bowl
Baton Rouge LA

ASW- 155
JRW- 130

ASW- 133
JRW- 160

ASW- 126
JRW- 139

ASW- 159
JRW- 168

ASW- 149
JRW- 140

June 3, 2011
Island Strikz Lanes
Biloxi MS

JRW- 173
ASW- 124

JRW- 120
ASW 116

JRW- 150
ASW- 180

JRW- 145
ASW- 159

June 24, 2011
Circle Bowl
Baton Rouge LA

ASW- 134
JRW- 136

ASW- 122
JRW- 162

ASW- 179
JRW- 173

ASW- 135
JRW- 184

ASW- 114
JRW- 131

July 7, 2011
AMF Star Lanes
Asheville NC

ASW- 151
JRW- 116

ASW- 154
JRW- 150

ASW- 107
JRW- 159

ASW- 115
JRW- 130

ASW- 131
JRW- 164

July 15, 2011
Circle Bowl
Baton Rouge LA

ASW- 105
JRW- 123

ASW- 190
JRW- 152

ASW- 175
JRW- 130

ASW- 149
JRW- 132

July 29, 2011
Circle Bowl
Baton Rouge LA

JRW- 123
ASW- 158

JRW- 140
ASW- 97  (This was rather painful, and I'd like never to discuss it.)

JRW- 155
ASW- 88 (Please see previous game's comment.)

JRW- 135
ASW- 131

And now we are up to speed.  Today's scores are listed below, as are some photos from our trip to Circle Bowl.

August 5, 2011
Circle Bowl
Baton Rouge LA

ASW- 103
JRW- 184

ASW- 166
JRW- 157

ASW- 138
JRW- 144

ASW- 150
JRW- 179

This are the best idea ever: The first time we came to Circle Bowl, we bought the purple one.  You purchase the "pin" for around $6, then every time you get a refill it's only $1.  Say, if you bowl every week or so at the same lanes, then you just bring your pin in and get close to 40 oz. of your favorite beverage for only $1.  OR, you can fill it with water, like I do (mine's the blue one)!

We got a lot of spares today...

So many, in fact that I think we got to see the entire repertoire of graphics for the spares.

Did I mention, a LOT of spares?

Bowling in Asheville NC

The week of July 4th, Jared and I traveled to Cashiers, North Carolina, where my mom and stepdad have a house in the mountains.  It is lovely there.  The weather was nice- about 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and in the 60s at night.  We golfed a little bit- we are not very good at golf, but we are learning!  We also had the opportunity to bowl in Asheville one day, when my stepdad took the car into the dealership.  We tried to encourage him to roll with us, but he had conveniently scheduled a conference call during that time, since cell service is very unreliable near their house.

And so, we bowled...

And then we went to dinner with my parents.

It was a really nice time in North Carolina!

Possum Kingdom

Not just the name of a Toadies song from the 90s.  It's an actual lake in Texas.  A lake that I have spent many summer days on.  It's beautiful, even with some wildfire damage. 

We went on vacation with some friends from grad school last week, and it was glorious!  I was kind of not wanting to go at first, only due to the fact that I had only spent about 14 nights in my new house since we moved in mid-June.  But I am so glad that I went and got to spend so much time with friends!

We had a great time, mostly just relaxing.  We went out on the boat and floated.  We stayed in during the hot afternoons, napped, read, and watched movies.  And we played games at night.

We ended the week with a trip "to town" to see Harry Potter 7, Part II (Is there a movie theater in Graham?).  It was very entertaining.  Plus, before the movie, we went and had Mexican food and accidentally celebrated Jon's birthday, again!

10 pounds

That's right; that's how much I have gained in the last two months.  It sucks.  My pants are getting tight, and I can visually tell that I have gained weight.  With moving, work stress, traveling, mission tripping, and vacation, I haven't done a very good job of just maintaining my normal eating habits and exercise routine.

Thankfully, our vacation in North Carolina (more to come on this later, including bowling scores) was very restful and very active.  We played a little golf, we bowled, we walked in the mountains, we went to the gym, and we played with our niece and nephew!  It was wonderful. 

One of the things that Jared and I realized, though, is that we do pretty well on vacation (when our vacation is longer than just a couple of days); but we haven't quite figured out our new routine since we have moved.  It's hard to do when you're never in town, of course.  But that's our biggest stressor at this point: no routine.  (We also still have some boxes in the house which is driving me nuts!)

I am a creature of habit, and I LOVE having a plan!  So, for the last couple of months (since we started packing to move), our routine has been way off.  We haven't been running consistently, we haven't been eating regular meals that are an appropriate portion size.  The folks at Jared's new church have been giving us tons of food, which is awesome, but it's TONS of food!  (They gave us a "pounding"- again, more on that later.)

And to top it all off, we are only in town for a week.  We are here this week, and we leave again on Sunday for a week.  Thankfully, though, next week we will be with friends at my parents' lake house.  Ergo, we will be cooking all our meals and there's a really challenging road that we can walk/jog.  Not to mention: sleep!  We will be able to sleep in!

So, my hopes/goals for this week is to get some things done at work, to try to find a routine that will work for us, and to unpack a box or two a day- that's really all I have time for. 

And then when we return from the lake house I will focus on finishing unpacking.  Goals, goals, goals!!!

Goal Update for this Week

Well, friends, here's the update for my goals for this week!  You'll recall from earlier this week that I wanted to publicly set a few goals in order to help myself stay accountable before I leave for a couple of weeks!Check out my "New Digs" post. (SKYE: you still have to teach me how to do links!)

1. I haven't quite stopped eating like a horse and gotten back on track. I am down a smidge on the scale from earlier this week, but still up about 6 pounds in general. And I am about 9 pounds away from my ideal weight. This is a weight that is healthy for me, where I feel good and look good. It's nothing too drastic, but it sure is hard to get there!

2. I have been to the gym only once this week. I am planning to go today after work. I am realizing/remembering how difficult it is for me to work out after work. I am way more of a morning person, especially in the working out department. I am not the crazy morning person type- you know, those people who are just so happy and perky? I am NOT one of those, but I tend to get a lot more accomplished in the morning, than I do in the afternoon. I had my gym bag all packed yesterday morning to go after work yesterday afternoon. But a sudden and fierce wave of sleepiness came over me; so I went home instead. Today will be day 2 of working out, though.

3. We will be bowling tomorrow!!! We didn't go last week, because of the move, but we are going tomorrow. I actually have a much needed massage scheduled for tomorrow at 10am; so we will head to the lanes after that. I am so looking forward to both: massage and bowling. I am also sure that we'll do some other stuff while we are here in town.

4. The dining room is almost completely unpacked!!!  I have one box left; it is full of some antique salt and pepper shakers that used to belong to my grandmother, Lois.  There are a few other things in there, which is why I need to unpack the box, but because it is mostly S/P shakers, I haven't touched it. Otherwise, the "bar" is unpacked (This is really just a chest that we use to hold our wine glasses and koozies, but it's more fun to call it the "bar."); the china is put away. The napkins, place mats, and table cloths have found their place!

5. Haven't touched the A/C unit. Although I really can't be blamed for this... It has been raining off and on (mostly on) for the past few days here. While I would normally find this very annoying, we are currently experiencing a drought in SE LA, so I can't complain. We haven't had rain like this for months. So, the A/C window unit not getting in hasn't been the worst thing in the world. Although, I would really love to help Jared get that done before I leave... Perhaps the rain will hold off a little today!

That's it for now. I will post our scores tomorrow, hopefully! And then you won't here from me for a week!

Salt

I would love to say that this post is about something very deep and wonderful, like the passage from Matthew's sermon on the mount about being salt and light, or even talking about how I think people from the Midwest are the salt of the earth, but it's not.

It's not even remotely related to salt in a metaphorical way.  It's not complicated; it's not terribly unique.  It's not even that interesting, but it's something I love.

I LOVE SALTY SNACKS!

I much prefer salty and savory foods to sweet things.  When I get stressed out or tired or emotional, I reach for salty snacks, not sweet ones.  I love tortilla chips with a passion!  I love popcorn, particularly cooked on the stove in some oil.  I love the combination of crunchy and salty.  It can't be beat!

Today is a day where I am a little stressed.  The unpacking is going well, but I have that whole mission trip thing that is going on at work... and that's what's stressing me out.  I feel like Jessie Spano in the "Saved By the Bell" episode where she's hooked on the caffeine pills and she says, "There's never enough time!"  But I am not hooked on caffeine pills; I'm hooked on salt.  Delicious salt.

Anyway, I just thought I'd post a quick note on salt.  I think this would have been too long for Facebook...