Preparation

All this week I have made a commitment to myself and God to study more. It's amazing what you can do when you want to do it. My excuses pertaining to studying before sounded similar to these:

"I don't have enough time in the mornings before work." "I am too tired when I get home from work." "I have too many errands to run on my lunch break and I only get an hour." "The weekends are time for family."

Turns out, I have plenty of time before work if I don't watch TV. I have plenty of time on my lunch break when I don't procrastinate my weekly teacher work. I have TONS of time after work if I don't get carried away with crafts. I can honestly say that I have spent at least 2 hours each day studying. Normally when I would drive to work my 35 minute drive would be spent listening to morning talk shows and music in the afternoons. I found a collection of 10 minute devotions for women at Lifeway on CD and those have truly been a blessing in the mornings. I have also been using that time to listen to the Beth Moore sessions on Esther. I feel like I have learned more in the past week than I did throughout the entire study of Daniel. Most of that I feel is due to actually putting forth the effort to learn instead of rushing through 5 days worth of questions and then reciting them back to the women on Wednesday nights.

I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed yesterday. It went well, and I feel much better than expected, but I am still pretty weak from lack of food and soreness. This morning I was sick of laying in the bed watching TV so I came downstairs in my office and started to study. I am doing another study called "Espresso with Esther" in addition to the Beth Moore study. The introduction to Esther in that study begins with lots of history of Israel and the Jewish people. We always hear about how all of the minor and major prophets spent their lives witnessing and telling others of Christ and what he could do, was going to do, and what he had done. I don't claim to be a scholar of any sort, but I have always been able to remember facts and information regarding the Bible, but it's simply amazing what you can absorb when you really sit down to study. The book of Daniel had so much to do with the beginning of Esther. We will recap how Nebuchadnezzar captured the Jews and how items were stolen from the temple. We will talk about Jeremiah's prophesies coming true with king Cyrus of Persia issuing that the temple be rebuilt. Again, I can't express my excitement for this Bible study. I have enjoyed it so far and haven't even gotten to share it with anyone!

God Bless!