Sigh...I had such high hopes for the weekend. I did stay current on Friday and Saturday. On Saturday I spent the morning at a local day spa. When I returned to work after medical leave, a VERY good friend stayed with me for about 6 weeks to help me keep up with life (walking the dog, cleaning my house, laundry, remembering to eat...) because work so wore me out that I needed to hit the hay by 6pm each night. As a thank you, I gave her gift certificates for some serious pampering at the local spa. Usually it's a good time to catch up on People, InStyle and the like. Saturday, I was reading my Bible.

Yesterday was a total loss on the reading front. Last weekend, I had a busy weekend (a very good weekend, but busy nonetheless), and I didn't do a good job making up for it during the week. After my positive report from the neurologist, I guess I forgot that he said I was ALMOST recovered, not fully. So Sunday I crashed. Most of the day. I did get laundry done in between naps, took a long walk to try to wake up, and talked with a friend. But other than that, I slept. I caved and called the pharmacist to renew the prescription I'm trying to wean off (drug free = full recovery!). Since the drugs help jump start my brain, maybe I'll try again to wean off after The Challenge. Sigh...I hate not being at my best...15 months is long time to be off your game.

At least one thing is clear from my reading. God loves people when they're down. He won't give up on us, even when we're tempted to give up on ourselves. Today, I take encouragement in that truth. On a more inspiring note, I'm going to post a testimony from a colleague who took the challenge last year when Zondervan was considering this product. I was inspired last year flying with her on trips and seeing her read her Bible at every chance.

Here's what she shared:

There are 2 things I hope you clearly hear me say in my brief testimony this morning.

Zondervan is a great place to work!

Our God is an awesome God!

My story begins last fall when a man named Ted Cooper came to Zondervan to pitch a new product idea to our editorial and marketing groups. He told us his story about how he came to faith in God. It’s a great story that you should really hear from him but here’s the reader’s digest condensed version.

Ted’s Story

Even though Ted didn’t attend church and didn’t consider himself a Christian, one day he had a compelling urge to read the Bible. After careful search he found just the right Bible. He could read just 12 pages a day and get through the entire Bible in 90 days. During his 90 days of reading he became a Christian!

I found Ted’s story so compelling that after the meeting I told my best friend about it. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s been a goal of mine to read through the entire Bible and I’d never done it up to this point. I thought to myself, just 12 pages a day? I can do that! After talking with my girlfriend she said she’d like to do it as well and so we started reading in late December. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, and there were a few times I got behind in my reading. It was probably the first time I was grateful for a business trip that took me to the West Coast. A couple long plane rides and layovers in the airport helped me catch up on my reading.

It wasn’t easy for my girl friend either. She is a stay-at-home Mom with 4 children under the age of 5 plus she started home schooling her oldest! But I’m pleased to report that in late March we finished reading the entire Bible and did it in 90 days!

So here’s the 2 things I’d like you to hear from this testimony of mine:

First, Zondervan is really a great place to work! In how many jobs is it part of your day to day activities to hear someone’s testimony of faith as well as be challenged in your own faith walk? To think we get paid to do this!

Second, our God is truly an Awesome God! Reading the Bible in this way provided a great chance to see some of the overarching themes in Scripture. The pace of reading forced us to not get caught up in the details but look for the big picture. Some of the things I learned while reading the Bible in 90 days are: God is in control! He is faithful and uses ordinary people like you and me to further His work here on Earth. He is concerned about the details of our daily lives. A big thing for me while reading the Old Testament was how seeing the past through God’s eyes helped me see the present through His eyes. An example of this was a weekend of little trials that I had.

On Saturday morning I found out my Dad was having kidney problems. On Saturday night I got a flat tire. Then on Sunday morning my computer died. At first I felt like, “why God?” Then my thoughts quickly turned to how God cared for me during these little trials. The day I got the flat tire I had been driving all over town by myself without my cell phone. When I got the flat tire I was with my sister-in-law and had my cell phone. My computer died on Sunday of that weekend. On Friday night I had finished my taxes, submitted them to the feds, and was up to date on all my financials. Plus once I got my refund I would have enough to buy a new computer! Being reminded of how God was caring for me in the small details provided me comfort that God was also caring for my Dad through his illness.

While reading the New Testament I fell more and more in love with Jesus. And also fell in love with reading the Bible. I’ve always found Bible reading to be a chore but for the first time I found a joy and delight in reading the Bible. I finished reading the Bible on a Sunday right before church. During the church service I had this profound sense of how much God loves me. It’s something I’ve always known and sung about since a child in Sunday school. But this was deeper than ever before.

You’ve probably heard the song, “Lord, you are more precious than silver.” The church I was attending sang the song in a way I’ve never heard before. The words started: “We say: Lord, you are more precious than silver. Lord, you are more costly than gold. Lord, you are more beautiful than diamonds, and nothing I desire compares with you. God says: Child, you are more precious than silver. Child, you are more costly than gold. Child, you are more beautiful than diamonds, and nothing I desire compares with you.” While singing the song I realized this was God speaking to me, clearly saying, thank you for showing me how much you love me by reading my word.

I hope you’re encouraged by my story. Don’t take your work here at Zondervan for granted. It’s a great place to be. And there are benefits that go way beyond the reports we receive from HR. And Our God is an awesome God. He loves each one of you very much.

So, stay tuned. You can bet once we have our Bible and reference materials ready, I’ll be back to remind you of my story and encourage you to take The 90 Day Challenge!