I have stepped out of my comfort zone throughout my life without hesitation.  This blog was the exception.  I knew two years in advance that I would be writing a blog documenting my story.  Jesus gave me some time to adjust to the idea of disclosing my spiritual journey to the world. 

There were so many reasons I was disappointed regarding my assignment.  First, I had to adjust to understanding that my business career would be forever changed by posting on social media and blogging.  It was a mourning period for what was a very fun, exciting, and lucrative business career. 

Two, I would be exposing something very private, something I rarely choose to talk about in public, and would make me very vulnerable.  All of which I have avoided all my life.

Third, my faith is unstoppable, but my knowledge is raw.  I never made studying The Bible a priority because for me true faith was enough.  I was wrong about that, by the way.  My lack of spiritual understanding never weakened my faith.  However, a stronger foundation of knowledge would have made my journey much easier. 

I have written before regarding my reasons for avoiding reading The Bible.  The biggest obstacle has always been my lack of understanding of the word.  It is written too complex for my brain to decipher and comprehend the information.  And to be honest I have a hard time staying awake to read straight through the book.

I read passages in The Bible and can comprehend and gain knowledge from those, but reading The Bible straight through has been an unwelcome challenge for me.  Since exposing my faith I have felt the need to strengthen that knowledge. 

This past year I have spent time daily reading through the books in order.  Honestly, I cheat.  I read the study notes and additional information so that I grasp the main ideas.  Although I have yet to achieve my goal, I am very close to the finish line! 

As I prayed for direction on this week’s topic I found myself thinking about what has been the most important change that I have made since the start of this blog.  I believe it is that I am taking the time to read and allowing myself to learn from The Bible.  This blog was meant to highlight something that has been monumental in my journey.  Enhancing my true faith with Biblical knowledge has been an unexpected and appreciated component of my journey.

On January 1st, I saw an encouraging post from a friend on Facebook highlighting her year with the Daily Audio Bible (DAB).  The person was very honest regarding her frustrations with reading The Bible.  I clearly share her frustrations and I don’t think the two of us are alone on those issues.  She challenged herself to stay on track with the DAB. The post that I read was confirmation that she achieved her goal for 2022 and completed the audiobook! 

I am not much of a podcast person and have some degree of difficulty concentrating on audiobooks.  However, I have made a commitment to see if the DAB is something that would complement my knowledge base and strengthen my foundation.  I am three days into the commitment and hope that my year-end news is as encouraging as my friends on Facebook.      

I wanted to thank each one of you for joining me throughout this 5-year journey.  Although I started off thinking the blog would be a difficult challenge, 5 years later I can honestly say that it has been a very welcome learning experience and an important part of my week.  Much appreciation for your support and thank you Jesus for blessing our journeys.   

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