Proverbs 365 - Top Three of Month One

February 1st, 2010

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Do you remember that whole thing about February being an ideal month for a four-week trial period?  Well, perhaps you might be interested to consider a four-week trial period "subscription" to my Proverbs 365 project -- now starting its second month of publication and picking up steam as it goes... I've been getting so much out of this study already, and I seriously feel like it's getting better and better as time goes on.

I thought it might be interesting to highlight three of my personal favorites from the first month of the project -- just to give you the chance to get a taste of what it's like.

Perhaps my personal favorite up to this point has been Proverbs 16:32, which I wrote about in my post P1632 - Tribal Chant for Patience.  The verse itself says, "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city." But this verse took on a much greater significance when I happened to be meditating about it on a trans-Atlantic flight, being the sole adult guardian of two of my children for a very, very long day of long lines and frustrating circumstances!  This was basically the scenario:  "One of them spills an entire cup of apple juice over herself and then sits there crying and shivering in the cold.  You've made the world's dumbest wardrobe choice for an 8-hour trans-continental flight while seated between two small children:  a white, long-sleeved shirt.  Still, you take off the shirt and drape your daughter in it so she can warm up again -- only to see it become flecked and drizzled with barbecue sauce and strawberry jam during lunch.  A horrible head-ache sets in.  And there are still 10 hours of travel-time ahead of you... " It was quite the day.  But this Proverb proved to be a life-saver (not just for me, but for my two oldest children as well!).  Click on the link above or below to read the rest of the story...

A second personal favorite can be found on my post from the 15th of the month:  P1513 - Can You Find your Happy Heart? I was reflecting on Proverbs 15:13, where it says, "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit," and it reminded me of a recurring question that I've often considered for myself, for my family, and for people from my church.  Basically, it comes down to the realization that  "Our attitudes are not as objective or automatic as we often think them to be.  They have a lot to do with what we make of them." I had some really pathetic pity-parties for myself last month, and this Proverb really helped me to reset my thinking patterns.  And this post in particular also came in handy when I was put on the spot at a recent story-telling event at the Mezrab Art Cage, here in Amsterdam. :-)  Anyway, click on one of the links to read more about this particular Proverb...

Thirdly and finally, I might recommend P2313 - To Withhold or to Provide as a third sample of the first month of Proverbs 365.  I'm always happy to hear other people remark about how pleasant and polite our children can be -- yet, while I certainly agree that they're pretty special kids, I know better than to think that they're naturally predisposed to kindness and obedience.  Truth is:  they're sinners, just like the rest of us.  Through the years, Marci and I have had to learn and apply the truth of Proverbs 23:13-14:  "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.  Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death." And for any other parents out there, I might suggest that this verse is pivotal for establishing a healthy understanding of child discipline.  How can one do this, in a societal context where a physical rod is considered brutal, abusive, and even illegal?  You'll have to read the post to find out some of my thoughts on this question...

For a more comprehensive listing of the first month's content, here are the titles of the first 31 entries, along with direct links to the rest of the contact:

And that's just January!  I've been working one month ahead of schedule in order to allow for regular posting of the devotional thoughts, currently set for publication at around 8:00 in the morning (Amsterdam time) each day -- and I seriously feel like February is even better than January (and pretty significantly better, actually!).  So I would encourage you to join with me, in studying through the Proverbs, during this perfect four-week trial period that we call "February 2010."  In addition to continuing to find fresh inspiration from the Proverbs every day, I've decided that I'm also going to memorize 3 individual Proverbs (i.e. a single verse or small cluster of verses containing a single thought) per week -- at least for the month of February (thus 12 Proverbs in all).  I'm excited to see what will come of that discipline, as well.  There's a lot of amazing stuff to be learned from marinating in the Proverbs...

Please let me know if you have any thoughts about how to make the Proverbs 365 experience even more valuable -- or even if you just want to let me know that you're also following along.  You can find all the latest updates at http://proverbs365.ericasp.com.

This entry is filed under The Bible, Reading the Bible.

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