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What Are the Rumble Strips in Your Life?

May 12, 2023 by Lauren 8 Comments

Have you ever dozed off at the wheel?  During college it happened to me with much more frequency than I like to admit, and it terrified me.  Not enough to miss a party and get more sleep (don’t get crazy), but enough to wake me up in the moment.  Sometimes rumble strips were my saving grace.  I tried to look up whether or not every state in the US employs rumble strips but had trouble nailing that down.  What I did find?  As of 2009, 35 states had installed them.  Hey, I am nothing if not current.

 

In case you don’t have rumble strips where you are, they are a series of raised strips running along the outside lanes on a road or highway that change the sound a vehicle’s tires make.  The noise alerts the driver if they drift off of the road and hopefully prevents accidents.  Whether one falls asleep or is simply not paying close attention, those rumble strips wake up a driver quickly.

 

What rumble strips to you have in your life?  Those people or things that help you stay on the right path and alert you to impending danger?

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It can be easy for me to fall asleep to God’s good plans and design – especially during times I let myself get too busy.  For parents of school-aged kids, May is a killer month.  I’m running to keep up with a hectic pace, so I’m so thankful for my rumble strips.  Here’s what keeps me between the lines:

 

1.  God’s Word

The holy scriptures are the plumb line I measure everything else by.  Maintaining the discipline of daily time in God’s guide book for us is definitely the number one way I stave off the drift.  Reading the bible, studying commentary and original language, praying the verses and listening to our church’s Sunday morning teaching are all ways I immerse myself in the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).   I still mess up daily, but I cannot imagine where I would be without God speaking to me through His Word.

 

2.  Accountability

Being accountable to another person – be it a spouse, friends, bible study group, a counselor or minister, or all of these – keeps me honest.  Sharing what I struggle with not only takes the power out of my secrets, but strengthens and deepens my community.  And knowing that someone I love and respect could check in with me on my “thing” at any time definitely plays into how I choose to engage or not engage that “thing”.

 

3.  Leaving Room for the Holy Spirit

John 14:26 tells us, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”  But how can the Spirit remind us of what we have learned in the scriptures if we aren’t listening?  As difficult as it may be in our culture, I have to slow down enough and have some quiet space to hear from God’s Holy Spirit.  Filling every minute with noise and activity will drown out His voice.  Our triune God is a gentleman and won’t force Himself on us.  We must intentionally invite Him with a hospitable heart and mind.

 

In addition, I shouldn’t grieve or quench the Holy Spirit.  Ephesians 4 gives us a list of things that do just that, including but not limited to, living like unbelievers, lying, stealing, unforgiveness and sexual immorality.  We all mess up.  It’s inevitable, but its living self-focused instead of God focused that steers us off course.  Continuing in unconfessed sin will muffle the guidance of the Holy Spirit more and more the longer it goes on.

 

Your Turn

 

The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to thank God for the rumble strips in your life.  And if you can’t think of any, establish some.  Borrow mine or pray and listen for the Holy Spirit’s guidance on what you should do to keep yourself on the right road.

 

By the way, after I started writing this I thought of how the newer makes and models of cars actually have built in alarms for when we veer out of our lane.  So rumble strips could become obsolete.  As I said earlier, I’m nothing if not current.  But we can choose to disable those alarms if we want.  That could be dangerous.  As it would be for me to drive through life without God’s Word, accountability and the Holy Spirit.

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

I thoroughly enjoyed Learning to Develop Regular Rhythms of Fasting by Sarah J. Callen.  I had never thought about fasting as a discipline that could be practiced in community, but now I can’t stop thinking about it!

 

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

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Verse Mapping Joy!

March 17, 2023 by Lauren 12 Comments

Last month I shared with you the 13 verses on joy that I am attempting to memorize/focus on this year.  (Joy is my word for 2023.)  I am also verse mapping all 13 verses to help me continue to engage my word, and to bring deeper understanding or new insight into the scriptures.

 

I wrote about verse mapping a couple of years ago when I reviewed Kristy Cambron’s NIV Verse Mapping Bible and Verse Mapping Bible Study Journal.  The journal, in particular, is an extremely helpful tool for me to dig deeper into verses or passages of scripture.  So I decided to share my map for one of my “joy” scriptures and explain the processes so that you can verse map too, whether you buy the journal or not.

 

First of all, I’m going to share pictures of my journal pages so you can see what it looks like.  But because I don’t expect you to read my messy, yet colorful scribble, I’ll break it down for you as well.

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Step One

 

Look up and record the verse or passage in multiple translations.  I usually aim for four different ones, and not necessarily the same ones every time.  Biblegateway.org is a quick and easy way to pick out some different versions.  Then note (underline, circle, box, whatever) the key phrases or words that are consistent across translations.  I chose to mark these in different colors.  And I have actually combined step one and step two for my purposes.  No one says I have to follow the instructions exactly!

 

On this day I analyzed Psalm 5:11 “But rejoice, all who take refuge in You, sing for joy forever!  And may You shelter them, that those who love your name may rejoice in You.”  

 

Step Two

 

Look up the Hebrew (for Old Testament) or Greek (for New Testament) meaning for the underlined words or phrases.  My favorite tool for this is Blue Letter Bible.  You can access it via the link I shared on desk top or by the app.  I don’t write down every single possible definition.  I would quickly run out of paper.  Instead, I look for the most appropriate or sometimes the most surprising meanings for the verse.  Then I go through and underline the possible meanings that are interesting (read different) to me.

 

For “rejoice/ be glad” I underlined the phrase “to brighten up”.  For “who take refuge”, the idea of putting trust in God or “to confide in” stood out to me.  And one of the meanings of “sing for joy” was “to creak”!  Now that I can relate to.  “May you shelter” took on new meaning with “defendest” and “shut up”.  “Your name” can be translated “renown, fame, or reputation”.  And finally, I love the picture of triumph and jumping for joy when we “rejoice/exult”.  

 

Step Three

 

Look at the verse or passage in context.  What is happening in the story?  I sometimes use a commentary in addition to reading the passage.  Straight from my page I wrote:  A flute accompanied Psalm of David and prayer for protection from the wicked.  An imprecatory Psalm (a spoken curse).  David was in the wilderness when Absalom’s forces sought to destroy him.  

 

Step 4

 

Applying what I’ve learned.  For this I have chosen to rewrite the passage using some of the alternate words or phrases found in the original language definitions.  I feel this gives me a fresh perspective and, at times, deeper insight into the verses.

 

We can be glad glad (I almost forgot to mention that the “But” and “rejoice” at the beginning of the verse come from the same Hebrew word.  That’s double emphasis!) when we put our trust and confidence in You.  You brighten up our lives.  I am overcome by You and sing for joy, which sounds like creaks in my case.  You defend us and shut up our enemies.  We jump for joy at your renown and glory.  

 

There are many, many ways to study the bible.  Verse mapping is a method I’m enjoying right now.  I hope you found this helpful or at least interesting!  If you decide to give it a try, I would love to hear how it went for you.  And if you have a study method that is giving you life right now, share it in the comments with us.

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

I couldn’t choose just one post this week, so I’m breaking the rules.  I love poetry and was so charmed by Lory’s Advent/Lent:  A Poem.  And I loved Grace and Truth’s own Maree Dee’s The Best Thing to Do When Life is Difficult.  She gave us a strategy that you won’t want to miss.  I’m adopting it immediately.

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

 

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About Me

I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
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  • May Had No Margin!
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  • What Are the Rumble Strips in Your Life?
  • First Friday Prayers: Words for the Graduates
  • Up Up and Away, April

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