Know & Tell Friday Meme

Today I am participating in a meme from To Know Him entitled "Know and Tell". The idea of the meme is for bloggers to get to know each other a little better. So each week, she asks three questions for us bloggers to answer. Most bloggers are leaving comments on her page; so check them out. As for me, I had nothing better write about. Hence, my answers here on the blog.

So, here goes...

1. Have you ever been bitten by an animal? (let's only say yes if the bite was a serious one.) If yes, tell about it and what happened.

I have never required medical attention for an animal bite. However, I have been pecked (rather ferociously) behind the knee by a rooster in my Granddaddy's corn patch. While no stitches were required, it was quite the traumatic childhood experience. To this day, I am terrified of most birds, and I feel a small sense of satisfaction when boiling a whole chicken.

2. When are you at your best? Morning, noon or night?

I used to absolutely love the nighttime, and I still do most of my best creative thinking after 10pm. But I find I have more energy for the every-day stuff (cooking, cleaning, playing with Chloe Jane) in the late morning, around 10am-noon. Earlier than that, and I am more zombie than mommy. But by noon, nap time has come upon us, and I am ready to take advantage of it with my own little snoozer.

3. How is your Quiet Time at this present season in your life? (Quiet Time refers to the time you spend alone with God through prayer and reading of His word...Q.T. could have other elements, but prayer and Bible reading are the main focus) If you can give us a little example of when and where you do your Q.T. If you are struggling with having a Q.T. what can you do to develop a Q.T.?

Right now my QT is a bit sporadic. As I've mentioned in previous posts, adding a second child into the mix has seriously challenged my time management skills (or lack thereof). So I basically try to squeeze in some "God 'n' me" time whenever - if ever - the house is quiet. Often, I do my QT in my bed because the bedside table in my room is the one place where I know my Bible, journal, highlighter, pen, and whatever book I'm reading, can reside without being disturbed or strewn about the house.

For me, QT looks different during different seasons of life. When life is really crazy difficult, I usually just end up sitting silently with some worship music playing. I know this seems a bit superficial since there is no "in depth" studying or "hard core" intercession going on. But when life is that hard, I can find no better solution than to readjust my focus - to remind myself (through worship) that though my problems are big, my God is infinitely bigger. He is sovereign. He is good. And no matter what storm rages around me, He is in control. Worship helps put all that into perspective.

But recently, my QT has been focused in the book of Hebrews. For some reason, the subject of suffering and Grace have been constant themes in my "conversations" with the Lord over the past couple months. I am finding that the book of Hebrews is absolutely amazing in showing how those two concepts (I am convinced) often come hand-in-hand in a Christian's life.

I am also finding a new meaning to the word "meditation" when it comes to scripture. Here in our Korean church, there is a lot of focus on quiet, humble piety - on really digesting the Word and really considering every word before one is spoken in prayer. Any time a scripture is read in the service, it is always followed by a brief moment of collective silent reflection. So, learning from this new way of "doing church," I am taking more time to really focus and reflect on what I'm reading. Sometimes that means taking a couple weeks to work through a chapter - rereading it, picking out the important ideas/phrases/words. And you know what? Hebrews has really come alive to me. I have read it before, a couple times, in one of those "read the Bible in a year" deals. I'm not knocking that... there's something to be said for getting the big picture by reading the whole thing in a novel-like fashion. But this is different. I find things there I have never seen before. Phrases that I used to graze past because they didn't make sense, suddenly jump off the page and offer answers. It really is an amazing new way (at least, new to me) to study God's Word. And I'm really loving it.

My prayer time recently has been admittedly selfish. "How can I help Chloe during these transitions?" "How can I manage my time better in my home?" "Heal me, Lord." "Give me patience to endure, Lord." While I really enjoy our conversations, I also realize there is a greater need for me to pray for others as well. This is something that I am working on. However, I am finding that, since there are so few moments of quiet in our home, my "official"' QT is better spent in the Word. So I am trying to learn to pray for others and bask in God's presence while completing the every-day mundane tasks (a la Brother Lawrence).

So that's it. I could go on an on, but I won't - mainly because I'm not sure you readers would be very interested, but also because Maple Anne just woke up.

Stay tuned for more memes...