Dear God,
I thank you for the way that You speak to me through Joshua 3. Through the story of the path You created through the Jordan River, You spoke perfectly as I approached a day when I sort of gave up on this blog. I don’t have a stone from the Jordan River (details later in this post), but I celebrate Your perfect blessings by sharing You here after you inspired me to return to writing.
Lord, You make a way when there seems to be no way. No obstacle is too great. The Jordan River separated the Israelites from the Promised Land, but having already parted the Red Sea for their ancestors, You again commanded the water to make a dry path. The instructions to Joshua were followed. The priests carried the Ark of the Covenant, and as they took a few steps into the water, it pulled away and allowed everyone to cross.
As You commanded, stones were taken by a leader of each of the twelve tribes to be placed as memorials to Your faithfulness. Joshua also piled twelve stones in the river where the priests had held the Ark.
https://bible.com/bible/116/jos.3.6-17.NLT
If I had a stone for every obstacle you’ve removed, every act that required my trust, I could build a stone house in Your honor. I could add another stone for the blessing of direction I received at just the right time.
I had gotten discouraged last year by the infrequency of visits to this blog and the Likes that were few. I realized then that worrying about statistics was evidence of a misplaced purpose and a sort of validation for myself. I turned off my statistics. You had also led me toward substitute teaching, which I love doing at the elementary school, so I got focused on preparing for it and then teaching.
I failed to have any desire to write—to have ideas and words that once nagged me until I wrote them out. So I just stopped.
I was going to let my premium plan expire. On the last day, I went to the app and saw the daily prompt about quotes, so I simply posted Proverbs 3:5-6. The number of Likes gave me such joy! (Thank you to those readers.) I checked the stats, too, and they are enough to encourage me as a sign to write again, though they are not a focus or deterrent. I write for You, God.
I renewed my blog plan on the very last day before the expiration date! I immediately got an idea for a different approach, too, to simply share how reading in the Bible is relevant to daily life. And I love writing directly to You, but I feel you leading me back to a standard format. I pray that You will impact readers through me.
I love you, Lord.
Truth in my Travels 