Hiding God's Word in My Heart

Let me introduce myself, I am Shawna. I'm kind of the "middle child" of the group. I'm not the oldest and not the youngest. I have been married for 15 years to my best friend in life and I have 2 daughters, ages 9 and 11. I grew up in church, but didn't really commit my life to Christ until my late teens, early twenties. Since then, it has been an ever growing process of maturing in my faith. I admit, I am far from perfect and don't spend enough time each day in prayer and study. I have found, though, that when I'm consistently in God's Word and committing scripture to memory, the more I learn to live with purpose and unbelievable joy! Somehow, it seems that Janet and Christina secretly voted me as the unofficial leader of the group by leading us in prayer and TRYING to keep us on task of reviewing the scripture we're on.

Write now we are studying my absolute favorite author from the new testament, the Apostle Paul. I have studied Paul's letters several times and I'm always amazed how I learn new things every time that I didn't catch before. This past Wednesday we focused on Colossians chapter 1. Paul reminds us in this chapter that our focus needs to be on advancing the kingdom of God and not getting caught up in the Old Testament Laws. When Christ came, He broke the chains that bound us to the old laws and instead, offered us salvation through relationship with Him. This all ties into something I often share with people: I am NOT a "religious" person, rather, I'm a follower of Christ. There are many religious people out there that know the law backwards and forwards, but don't have a relationship with Christ and know Him as their personal Savior. I urge you to really think and pray about this. If you are going through the motions of going to church and putting in your time, that is not enough. God wants a personal, intimate relationship with you. Please take the time to pray about what God wants for you.

Now, a quick statement about this past week's coffee shop, The Coffee Klatch in San Dimas. The shop is tastefully decorated and very intimate and comfortable. The coffee and treats are delicious, you have to try the carrot cake. My only complaint, it's small. They only have one table that 4 people can sit at and spread out their "stuff." Overall, I really liked it and want to go back.