We READS the Bible

Whether ya’ll realize it or not, WE are journeying through the Bible together this year.  As I read more, I have more questions.  I have more thoughts.  I’m intrigued.  I decided to do a chronological Bible plan, so we are going to bounce around through these books.  It’s not a straight shot from Genesis to Revelation.  Did ya’ll get some snacks for this journey?  A good trip always has great snacks.  We’re going to get through this thing together whether you like it or not.  Honestly honey, whether I like it or not.

Before I go further, I’m going to tell ya’ll a quick story.  When I first started working as a Speech-Language Pathologist, I had a job with a travel therapy company.  I would take an assignment with them for nine months and then spend the summers at home in Arkansas with my family.  I decided that I would pick up some contract work while I was back home.  Nothing full time or even part time.  I just wanted to make a little extra money.

My friends back home in Arkansas gave me a few possible job leads.  None of them panned out.  While still in Houston, I found an advertisement online for  a summer position in Arkansas.  I reached out to the lady, and she told me to contact her when I made it in town. 

After speaking with the lady, I applied for a license to practice my profession in the state of Arkansas.  Since I hadn’t worked in Arkansas, I didn’t need a license previously.  My job paid for my license in each state that I worked in.  I didn’t want to come out of pocket if it wasn’t necessary.  I had a great feeling about this job though.  Even if I only worked a couple of hours that summer, it would at least cover the cost of the license.

My assignment ended in Houston.  I placed my life in storage there and traveled back home to Arkansas for the summer.  I contacted the lady, and she made plans for me to come to her facility that week.  When I arrived, she greeted me enthusiastically.  She whisked me through the facility and out back to the house where speech therapy was usually conducted.  She showed me all of the evaluations and testing protocols.  And then she told me to wait right there.

The longer I sat there, the more uneasy I became.  I had time to observe the activities in the facility.  I was able to hear the way that she spoke to the teachers.  I heard the way that she spoke to the children AND the way that she spoke to employees on the phone.  Side note: My hearing is pretty great.  It has been honed into a finely tuned skill over the years because of my natural nosiness.  My college roommate would tell me that I had the TV volume turned to whisper.  It didn’t have to be that loud.  I could hear it just fine.  Back to my story though. 

The point is that I didn’t like the way that she was talking to people.  I didn’t address my concerns in front of everyone.  I spoke to her in her office about my thoughts.  She responded very LOUDLY that “We reads the Bible around here.”  Ummmmm….okay…..I never said that you didn’t.  But I definitely knew that I wouldn’t be spending any parts of my summer in that environment.  If that was the atmosphere created as a result of the reading the Bible, I wanted no parts of it.  I didn’t work at all that summer.  I just enjoyed my time with my family.

Now it’s a running joke with me and Bible Study Cousin.  Honey, we reads the Bible around here.  It doesn’t mean that I’m going to get it right all the time, but it definitely means that I’m striving.  So, we’re all going to read the Bible around here.  We’re going to ask the questions that need to be asked.  We’re going to discover parts of the Bible that we never knew existed, and we’re going to have fun doing it.  #22 on my birthday list is in action.  #wepreach