Day 24 - Just Sayin'

Have you ever picked up a book and read your own words before?  Someone who thought the same things, taught the same lessons, wrote the exact same thoughts, prayed the exact same style using the Word of God as a sword?  It's like God saying, "I told you!"  To which I reply, "Yes I know you did, Lord...but!....!" and He says, "Just sayin'!"  God and I have shared in this way in several conversations over the years, even tonight. 

When you were a kid were you ever asked what you want to be when you grow up?  I once asked someone at what age does one actually know what they want to be?  How can a child know anything?  I believe that anyone, at any age can aspire to do whatever it is they want to do.  I do believe it is possible if one's heart and mind are stayed on it.  I've shared with you before in my blogs that at an early age I was inspired by an 80 year old woman in my Shakespeare class, taking it solely because she wanted to.  That was amazing to me.  I don't know if I ever spoke to her personally, but she spoke to my heart. I do not think limits should be put on education and at age a person becomes too old to learn.  I think teachers need to challenge their own minds to be able to adapt to the differences in their students, in the styles in which a person is able to learn.  When I went to college I received my best grades in accelerated summer classes where visiting professors taught the classes.  I never enjoyed government or history until I had a college professor who intertwined history with literature. History came alive because he taught how historical concepts were interspersed in every facet of our life, how the literary greats set their tones, developed their characters based on historical significance, and how the thought enfolded into the drama of life on the written page.  It made more sense when it was written into a story, a poem. It also required more imagination, more creativity to try to understand the depth of what the writer was attempting to convey.  The Age of Reason, the Age of Romanticism, the Age of Realism...periods in our history.  I was fortunate to have such great instructors who introduced me about life on the written page, and I have been hooked on reading ever since.

What we read, what we listen to, what we watch is important, as it shapes your heart, mind, your life.  This is especially important when we are trying to hear from God.  In order to understand we need to know Him, by relationship, by His Word.  In reading, studying, en-grafting (memorizing), in times of battle, we have only to lift the sword from within, and like Jesus when He was challenged in the wilderness, we say "It is written...!"  What a defense!