Before we begin, I would like to announce the winners of Karen Ehman’s new book, Let.It.Go: How to Stop Running the Show and Start Walking in Faith.
Congratulations to Judy who was comment number 26 and Kerry Prodorutti, who was comment number 13! I will be in touch with you for your mailing addresses and the book will be on its way.
I so very much loved reading your comments and I wished I had 31 copies to give away…I’m also thankful for the new friends I met through this giveaway – thanks for visiting! If you are new here, I look forward to getting to know you.
It’s hard to believe we only have two more weeks left in this session of (in)courage groups. It has gone so very quickly and I have enjoyed walking this path with each of you.
Today we continue with the remainder of Psalm 139, verses 13 through 24.
“What are bellybuttons for, mama?” he asks right as I’m tucking him in, exhausted from the past 15 hours of mothering.
“It’s where you were once connected to me, Bud,” I answer, eager to crawl into my own bed.
We proceed to discuss the umbilical cord and have an interesting conversation about breast feeding.
Just as I was about to end the discussion of my once cracked nipples (I kid you not – this actually came up), he questions further.
“So God made me right in your body, mama?” and just like that, I’m not so tired anymore.
Out of the mouths of babes.
Why, yes, middle child. He did.
To think of the miracles we truly are, to really understand how He wove us together, literally takes my breath away. (Don’t miss tomorrow – I’m posting a wonderful, short clip on this exact topic).
So let’s do some Lectio Davina, shall we? (By the way, I’m reading a fabulous book entitled A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband “Master”
Please pick a translation (and yes, if you want to do both translations, go ahead!) and work through the steps of Lectio. Begin by praying that God will search your heart and open your mind to new teachings you are ready to learn. To review, the steps of Lectio Davina are:
First Reading: (Lectio) – Read the passage. What word or phrase stands out to me?
Second Reading: (Meditatio) – Read again. What in the text touches my life or relates to it in some way?
Third Reading: (Oratio) – Read again. What is God inviting me to do or be? How is He asking me to respond?
Fourth Reading: (Contemplatio) Read again and rest in God’s loving presence.
New International Version, 1984:
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious tome are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
13 For you shaped me, inside and out.
You knitted me together in my mother’s
womb long before I took my first breath.
14 I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am
Your unique creation, filled with wonder
and awe. You have approached even the smallest
details with excellence; Your works are wonderful.
15 You see all things; nothing about me was hidden from You
As I took shape in secret,
carefully crated in the heart of the earth
before I was born from its womb.
16 You see all things;
You saw me growing and changing in my mother’s womb;
Every detail of my life was already written in Your book;
You established the length of my life before
I ever tasted the sweetness of it.
17 Your thoughts and plans are treasures to me, O God!
I cherish each and every one of them!
How grand in scope! How many in number!
18 If I could count each of them, they would
be more than all the grains of sand on
earth. Their number is inconceivable!
Even when I wake up, I am still near to You.
19 I wish You would destroy all the wicked, O God.
So keep away from me, those who are thirsty for blood!
20 For they say such horrible things about You,
and those who are against You abuse Your good name.
21 Is it not true that I hate all who hate You, Eternal One?
Is it not true that I despise all who come against You?
22 Deep hatred boils within me toward them;
I am Your friend, and they are my enemies.
23 Explore me, O God, and know the real me.
Dig deeply and discover who I am.
Put me to the test and watch how I handle the strain.
24 Examine me to see if there is an evil bone in me,
and guide me down Your path forever.
Doesn’t it just take your breath away how much you are truly known and loved by the One who created the very essence of who you are?
Please add your thoughts and reflections in the comment section below – we won’t have another session this week due to Thanksgiving.
