{forty} days

40 days

40 is a familiar time frame throughout the Bible, included in various ways and throughout various stories. One of the first to come to mind is the Exodus, where God so sovereignly and powerfully delivered His people out of the hands of the Egyptians and then led them into the dessert for 40 years as he established a new nation.

The wilderness - a time of searching the heart of God - a time where there aren't a lot of answers. A period marked by many questions and even grumbling on behalf of God's chosen. I can relate to that at certain times in my life, can't you? Even though it's easy to look at the story and wonder how the Israelites could have ever questioned the very one who made their freedom possible, I do the same thing. Grumble. Question.

Well, the number 40 has come up recently in the Sullivan family. Back at the end of 2010, David began to feel like the Lord was leading him to a place of focused prayer and complete dependence. He felt like there were areas in his life that needed more discipline (don't we all!?) and some major things that needed to be laid before the Lord regularly - such as direction for our family, education for our children, and direction for his career. He and our pastor, JR, decided to do a 40 day juice fast together - each for their own reasons - back in January/February.

40 days.

40.Forty.

That's a long time, let me tell you. Not 40 years, but still.

The Lord was so faithful during David's fast. It was a fruitful time for our family overall, but there were definite times of grumbling for me and definite times of overriding selfishness that crept up and just sadness. Sad we weren't sharing meals together. Sad I wasn't able to join or connect with him more through this journey, but my role was equally as important. I was support. I was

encouragement. I was helper. Believe me - I was not all of those things all of the time, but I prayed that the Spirit would give me the ability to support, encourage, help.

I am so proud of my husband. Of his desire to let go of earthly comforts and declare that the Lord is his daily bread. So grateful that the Lord sustained him and revealed areas in both of our lives that need to be released.

Here are some pics from our "break fast" party at the Vassars.

Even now, that 40 number comes up again in our lives as we move into the Lenten season. A season of repentance and redirection. A season marked by reflection and a reorientation closer to God. The question I have been asking myself lately and really praying through is what has gained mastery over my life and is taking up the space where the Lord desires to be fully occupied in its place. There are many areas and I won't share them all here, but one area that keeps coming to mind is my time in the evenings.

I don't know if you can relate, but I see the evenings as MY time. The kids are in bed (hopefully), the dinner has been made and cleaned up, the husband is either engaging in his activity of choice or we are engaging in conversation together. Those hours seem to always last long into the evening and I find that in the morning - after NOT a full night's rest - I am still exhausted. Then I start the cycle over again. I'm tired of being tired. Can I hear an "Amen"!?

In Paul Miller's "The Praying Life", he talks about how what we do in the evening shapes the morning. He refers to Genesis 1 and says, "If you want to pray in the morning, then plan your evening so you don't stay up too late. The evening and morning are connected."

So for Lent, I am making a focused effort to go to bed earlier. To not view the evenings as only my time, but rather as time that I can honor the Lord with by going to bed earlier (by 10pm for me!)and therefore being more alert in the mornings. Sigh. That's tough, but I'm praying the Lord would help me do it over these 40 days and hopefully establish a pattern going forward.

P.S. If this whole talk of the Lenten season is new for you or if you are interested in walking through 40 days of prayer, our church is sending out an email every day to those who subscribe here. It's never too late to join.

Back to the Basics

First of all, let me say how excited I am that some of you are joining me on this journey through the Bible this year. My prayer is that more of you, who are still thinking about it, would just jump in and join us, knowing we will all be moving at our own pace. No pressure - just encouragement and accountability. I have found that I am needing to get back to the "basics" and fine tune them in my spiritual walk. 

As such, I thought I would recap a few of my thoughts from (my) last week's readings and a few things to think about this week.  I literally could make each of these a blog, but there is so much more to write. So, bear with me and please feel free to add your own thoughts - even if you aren't reading along right now!

1. Do you know how many times "be fruitful and multiply" appears in Genesis? Too many for me to count while Kate is napping, that's for sure. Seriously, God emphasized that phrase so much and I think it's something we should pay attention to and ponder for a second. Of course, the goal in the beginning was to populate the earth, so not sure what that means for us now...but we can definitely focus on the "fruitful" part. Several of you have written or asked about growing in your spiritual lives this year and how to measure it. I think that's a good answer. Is there fruit in your lives? If yes, then you are growing. It ties in to Matthew 3 & 4 when John is speaking to the Pharisees about having fruitful lives so that our lives now should look different than our past. A good reminder.

2. In reading Matthew, I love knowing that he was an "eyewitness" to what he is writing about; it is so powerful, especially as I get into the "red section" this week. I also love how Matthew points out the fulfillment of prophesies over and over again with excerpts from the OT. Don't miss that. 

3. Noah's wife. Hmmm....who ever thinks of her?! As I read the more familiar story of the ark, I can't help but think of her and what she must have been thinking as her husband was explaining the call on his life. Did she ever question it or did she just go with it. God must have given her the faith to support Noah through this whole deal. I have a feeling that if she wasn't willing to follow the calling, that Noah would have had a much harder time being obedient. What a great example for us wives. We must be sensitive to the calling on our husbands just as much, if not more, as the calling on our own lives. I was talking to David about this and asked him what it must have been like to hear from Noah that he was going to build a boat. He said..."think about when I came to you and said, 'What do you think about starting our lives in NYC?' and multiply that by tens of thousands and that's close to what she was feeling, probably." Ha. I got a big laugh. Yea...

4.  The blog that I'm reading along with during this year pointed out something interesting about the simplicity of John the Baptist (JTB). As David and I are focusing on simplicity in our own lives this new year, it hit me even more so. The first introduction to JTB is made in the third chapter of Matthew and yet it is simply this, " [he] wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey." Let's not forget - this is the man who baptizes the son of God. He is introduced in such a plain and simple manner. The focus was not on his clothes or the latest designer wear of the time, nor was it on his physical appearance or his new hair cut - it was on the message he was delivering. The kingdom of God is near. That's all that mattered. Wow. 

5.  Scripture memory is a must. I feel like I try and try in this area and never stick with it. I can tell you words or a "general idea" of many verses, but rarely can I say it word for word and give the location. Seriously. But, I can sing you any country song that has come out in the last decade from Garth or Carrie Underwood. What's wrong with this picture? We remember what we care about and are passionate about - right? It hit me even more when I read Jesus' responses after Satan comes to him with temptations. As you remember, Satan tempted Jesus three times and each time, Jesus says FIRST... "It is written, ..." and then answers him. Even Jesus quoted God's word. I need to follow His example. 

6. Obedience. A theme throughout the bible, I'm sure, but is already made clear in Genesis and in Matthew and is so convicting to David and I.  Look at Noah - enough said. Then in Matthew 2, there is this picture of Joseph hearing from God to wake up in the middle of the night and take his family to Egypt. So, he left immediately. Immediately. Not after contemplating the housing market, or how hard it would be to leave the kids school, or their friends or even their church, but immediately. That is tough. Then God came to him again and said move your family to Israel. Israel? But, didn't you just tell me to move my family to Egypt and now we have to move again? That's what I would be saying. Again...Joseph took his family and moved to Israel and in a town called Gallilee and then and only then was a prophesy fulfilled. Powerful. 

and I'll end with this one...

7. Can you name the 12 disciples? I think most of us can name the seven dwarfs or even Santa's reindeer, but couldn't for the life of us name all 12 of those Jesus walked with daily. David and I laughed last night as we tried and failed miserably. That's my goal this week...to name all twelve. :) Hint...the answer is in Matthew 10. 

Happy reading!

Join With Me

This year, I am working towards a lifetime goal of reading and really studying through the Bible. It may take me a little longer than one year, but my goal is to get through it from Genesis to Revelation. Of course...I will continue to study pieces deeper than others at different phases in my life, but it is time that I read the book that I live my life by and claim as Truth. Join with me!

I am reading out of the ESV, a translation that I find easy to read and as close to the literal translation (from what I know). Follow along here for a guide to what scripture to read each day. It gives a Psalm and a Proverb each day, which I love. 

I started reading through and then realized I needed a study guide or something to help me see what I really should be getting out of some of the passages - like the genealogy of Noah, for example. This blog is SO great and is very interesting as it provides additional insight of study for the passages. Join with me! 

Come on, I started over too, so that I could study more in depth and am just now at Jan 4th, but I'm getting so much out of it already. Start with me. I'll be blogging periodically from things God is teaching me in my time with Him in His Word and I would love to hear what He is teaching you as well. Plus, selfishly, I could definitely use the accountability! Let me know if you decide to join me. :) 

Praying the Psalms: "Lord, help me delight in your Word and in your law and to meditate on it day and night."