by Ka­tha­ri­na von Schle­gel

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

In introducing us to his "highlighter technique" for studying and applying the Bible, David Powlison had us take some time to look at two great old hymns, Crown Him with Many Crowns and Be Still, My Soul. How often do I sing the words, but don't really consider what they mean or how they apply to me?
It was great taking time to study these old hymns and then sing these words of faith together.

I didn't realize that there were so many great resources for learning and growth right here in my "neighborhood." The Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation is located in nearby Glenside, PA.

A friend of mine has attended their annual conference and has used their curriculum in Sunday School. She told me about a one-day seminar that was being held and helped make a way for me to attend.

I was so blessed today!

The seminar was led by David Powlison on Bible Reading for Personal Application and I appreciated his teaching so much.

In brief, just SOME of the things I'll have to think some more about and apply somehow...

1 - he showed us some of his own personal techniques of looking at Scripture using colored highlighters. I love all kinds of office supplies so on a very silly level I really enjoyed learning his technique.
But, what I saw in his technique is a very clear way to observe the structure of passages of Scripture and the focus of it as well. If you're curious, he would use this color scheme in studying different passages:

GREEN - descriptions of turning to God, expressions of faith
ORANGE - human predicament -- suffering
PINK - human predicament -- sin
BLUE - God - what is remembered, what is seen, what He says about Himself

2 - "STOP. LOOK. LISTEN. THINK ABOUT IT." On the most simplistic level, I was reminded today that in order to read and apply the Word, we have to take time to actually look at it. He made note that so much of the Word is poetic in nature. Poetry tends to roar past you. You need to slow it down. It doesn't do well with skim reading. It's highly condensed, carefully constructed -- it's meant to engage you and take you somewhere.

"Not like a fast food meal that is a completely forgettable experience, we want what we do in the Word to be MEMORABLE."

I want to... I need to ... spend more time in the Word.

3 - The Bible's essential subject matter is the LORD, NOT ME. This was probably the thing that struck me the most. hmmmm...

4 - "Real application is when the passage and your life are fused. Truth (God's Truth) and honesty (about who I am, struggles, sin, etc.) got in the same room together."

5 - "Real application always leads to relationship. It leads you out of yourself and into relationship with God Himself and also with others."

There was a lot more, but those are some of the big things I want to process from today.

It was fun getting to go to this with my friend, Jenn and her roommate Jurica. I'm thankful for today!

Random side note -- we ate lunch at a place called Faties - ha!! They had the best Cajun Fries!

I'm no longer a FLORIDA resident.

Included on my "Things-to-Do" list was to take care of a bunch of stuff like my car registration, insurance, and other things like that. Today, my car was turned over to my parents and I was issued a Pennsylvania Driver's License.

I have to say that getting my PA license this time was much easier than my first time. As a high schooler, I had to take the driving test TWICE before I passed!

While I'm glad I've gotten these things taken care of, it is a bit sad. I love Florida and I've loved living in Florida. In a way, changing over my license makes it "official." I don't live in Florida anymore.

SIGH.

Next on things-to-do: get records and exams to apply for visa!!