Check-in (from Liz Caswell)

hi, all!

i can't believe it is the 15th already. i made more progress in the first month than i did in the second or third, but i am plugging away. i am in judges now, and feel so darn frustrated with those israelites...their obedience is so tightly correlated with God bestowing blessings on them...don't they get it?!? why do they continue to worship idols? why do they break the laws for decades at a time? and then i think of my own life. hmmm! like the israelites, i often know when i stray from God's will, and yet i sometimes do so anyway. i can see the correlation of God's blessings with my willingness to submit to his will, and yet i often don't submit. thank you, God, for the grace of the new testament!

so many have expressed frustration/confusion/anger with the old testament and with God's ways in the old testament. as my mom once said, the new testament is what makes the old testament palatable; maybe it would be worth it to move to the new testament for a wonderful, blessed dose of the grace of Jesus, and then come back to the old testament after that.

on another note, when i was a sophomore in college, i had a communications professor who shared this story: he (bruce) had been drinking quite a bit in his early 30's, and was concerned his own drinking was going to get out of control. he asked a dear friend to hold him accountable to stopping...cold turkey. She loyally agreed to hold him accountable. After a few successful weeks of no drinking, bruce found out he had the opportunity to go on an all-expenses-paid (including alcohol!) trip to hawaii! he called his friend and explained about the trip. "so," he said toward the end of the conversation, "i'm going to take a two-week hiatus from my 'no-drinking pledge' and i'll pick up where i left off when i return." there was a silence on the other line. "bruce," she finally said, "you asked me to hold you accountable, and that is what i must do to be a good friend to you. i understand the temptation, but i cannot tell you it's okay to go to hawaii to drink. i have to hold you accountable, so that you can be true to your word." needless to say, bruce went the full two weeks without so much as a sip of alcohol.

since we all agreed to hold each other accountable, i have to admit i was a little disappointed at how few people checked in last month. i hope that doesn't mean people have quit the journey, but rather that they just forgot to post a message! this is such a neat thing to be doing as a group, and i appreciate that we are all undertaking this together. thanks for bringing us together, amee!

thanks for hanging in there with me through a looong email! have a blessed week.

peace,
liz caswell