I write in my Bible.  My Life Group teacher told us last night that some people consider this disrespectful--but I am one of "those." One of the things I like to do next to a passage of particular significance is to write the date and a quick notation about the situation that the passage addresses in my life.

You should see Isaiah 43:18-19.  It is dated July 2001 during my post partum depression.  Under that is a note about the spring of 2007 when I was overwhelmed with God's call to quit my little business.  Then, again, in the fall of 2010, as we prepared for a family mission trip to India--for which God closed, or should I SLAMMED, the door shut.  And, again, in the spring of this year as I sought God's healing for migraines, my neck fiasco and related health issues.

All that to say that you'd think I'd be well familiar with this passage.  You'd think I'd have gleaned all the nuggets of truth and wisdom from it that it has to offer.  You'd think that I could recite it, having taken to heart every ounce of meaning it had to offer.  Yeah, you'd think.  But, you'd be wrong.  Because, you see--I can be a little slow to learn....

I was just recently reading this passage again, and BAM, one particular line stood out to me.  It was that context part that totally changed the meaning.  Imagine how startled I was--considering how many seasons of my life that I had stood on this promise--yet never noticed this one particular facet.  Check it out.