Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Let's start at the very beginning....


...a very good place to start!  (You all know you were singing that song)

We are starting a new series in our Jr. High youth group & its going to take us from Genesis to Revelation!  Will these kids be married with children of their own by the time we get to Revelation?  Nah... but we just started it, so this past Sunday, we got to start at Genesis 1:1.  Everyone was quick on that Bible race!

Something struck me really funny though as I started once again at the beginning of the Bible.  Well, you all know I love books - everything about reading - a great story... (which reminds me - one more day before the drawing of a free book - so go visit my "book blog").  I usually will finish a book & as I take the book to put on the shelf, I'm pulling off a new one to start right into it.  The thing with that - it gets sorta confusing when you jump from one book to the next because I'm all about the characters.  I'll start the next book & remember Jim from Texas & wonder how he fits in a vampire novel in the 1800's... I get characters mixed up so easily from book to book...

So, when I start a new book... I'm going to let you in another secret that I do that once again, yes, once again - confirms why I'm a nerd!  I will take a piece of paper & write down the characters as I start a new book.  Who they're related to - who's the main character - what the beginning details are.

I really have to pay attention to those beginning details because if I get a few chapters in & see a name & I dont know who it is, then I feel like I'm lost - I dont feel like I'm in the story or grasping it - so I'll have to go back & find out who that person is.  The little notes at the beginning of the book take care of that!  Especially when there are characters that have similar names - it REALLY helps!  (Dear Authors - there are millions of names - why have a charcter like Rilley & Rollie in the same book.... why??)

Its also neat to have that little note with basic character info in case I am reading two books at once - its a way to look & remember who is in this particular book... it works for me...

So we're starting in the beginning of the Bible & I thought - wow... how do we really need to pay attention to the beginning of THIS book!  This is the beginning of it all... how important are these details?  It made me really want to pay even more attention to the details, more then ever before...& even though there are hundreds of people in this book - the note taking would be INSANE - I am paying more attention... I'm ready to really let it set in one more time & see it with fresh eyes...

FYI - In the beginning, God said "let there be light"... but the sun wasn't created until day 4... hmmm... see, new details!

May we all start have fresh eyes to notice details of God's word....

15 comments:

  1. Oh, my nerdy bloggy friend, this is why I love you...

    Because I've finally found a friend who's nerdier than me! LOL

    Have you ever thought about how, before we accept Christ's redemptive work on the cross, we live in the dark? It's only after our souls have been touched by God that light enters our hearts.

    In the beginning...all was lost. And then there was light...

    Such powerful words.

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  2. It must be so awesome to teach the teen class. And the Bible is so great....I think everyone finds new and more beautiful things each time we read it.

    And the Sound of Music is one of my all time fav movies!!

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  3. Always my dear such an uplifting post! Thanks for always keeping me on track!

    I love that you do that with the books!

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  4. I love how you take notes about the characters when you read...I need to start doing that, too! I can always tell what an awesome connection you have with all the teenagers you work with. I admire so much the way you teach them God's word and how to look BEYOND.

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  5. Oh the wonderfulness that is RJ!! How completely cute is it that you take notes to remember the characters in your books, so you don't get them confused with the characters in the previous books, so you can keep all characters in their respectful books. Yep it is why we love you so. Me? Never would've thought of that in a gazillion years!!

    I LOVE the beginning............it is sooooooo amazing!!! I'm really looking forward to hearing more about this series. Your kids are in for a real treat!! There is nothing quite like starting "In the Beginning..."

    Have a Beautiful day,
    Dawn

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  6. Yeah that was a good point you brought up on Sunday. I never noticed that either.

    I can't wait to do the rest of the series either!!

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  7. I like to think of you as a cute bookworm with flowing red hair... so much cuter than a nerd.

    Love the creation story... so powerful!!! How can ANYONE not believe that God created this world... that it just happened??? CRAZY!!!!!

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  8. That's a smart strategy. I remember getting about 1/3 the way through Sense and Sensibility and thinking, "Wait, who's Margaret?" It was the 3rd sister, and I totally missed that there were 3! If I read anything Russian, I absolutely have to do that because there names are so similar.

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  9. Hi There! Thank you for visiting me yesterday to celebrate my SITS Day! U are deeply appreciated!

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  10. *raising hand* To this day I get every person in the bible mixed up.

    Who's related to who? Who did what to who? So-in-so did THAT?!?

    Perhaps writing down notes like you've suggested is a good idea!

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  11. Oh man, I had to write down all the characters when I read Pride and Prejudice. Phew, that was a tough one to get through for me!

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  12. Seriously, you never cease to challenge me!!!!

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  13. I love how you are so methodical. I tend to just jump in and then about page 30 or so realize I have no idea which character is related to which.

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  14. Thanks for stopping by on my big day...

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  15. I should take a lesson from you. I'm forever flipping back to figure out something I had read earlier on in the book!

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