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Isn't it funny...?

I don't intend for this post to offend anyone, but there are some things that just seem to happen at the right time. I am a Christian, I am proud to call myself a Christian, and I read my bible. I also read it with a critical eye, and I am interested in the inconsistencies that I find when I read it - and I make a note of it. I also note how relevant things are to the way we live our lives - both in the Old Testament, but especially in the New Testament. I love reading passages, and seeing how many hymns and worship songs have come directly from the psalms and other books. It is also interesting to see how different translations interpret the words - some of the hymns we sing come directly from a particular version of the bible.

Back in 2003, I was reading 2 daily devotional booklets - The Word For Today, and Our Daily Bread. At that time, the words I was reading in the daily passages seemed to be speaking directly to me - about taking a leap of faith, and about doing something to make someone happy. As a result of this, I thought again about an invitation I had received, and then went on my first date with Keith. 15 years on, we've been married for 13 years (come August). Coincidence? I don't know - when is a coincidence more than just a coincidence?

In the past couple of days, the daily passages have been titled: Stop blaming others and accept responsibility. These passages have been particularly relevant in our lives at the moment, due to what is going on for someone in our household - and it also applies to other people in our extended family. One passage (the one from Friday 11th May) seems to 'know' what we've been going through, and what we learned at a training session the week before - where we were encouraged to do an exercise called "Fast forward the DVD of your life"; just as I write this, I did a google search for The Word For Today - and as I looked at the search results, under the heading of Archive came up with the title of the reading for Friday 11th May...spooky? Coincidence? Or are we being watched?? No, no, no, no, no - I'm not going down that path; no, I don't think we are all being watched. Yes, I realise that there are algorithms programmed into computers and webpages, so that when we search for something, we can find it easily, due to what we've already been looking at. Anyway - here is a link to the passage in question: Stop blaming others and accept responsibility (1)

There are some who would think that it is odd, crazy, or destined that such coincidences occur like this. There are others who will dismiss it all as people being paranoid. I look at it in this way: the devotionals have been printed in advance, so how can it be that the passage for a day suddenly becomes relevant? Rather, the actions that take place in our lives could perhaps, possibly be happening due to the reading that we are about to encounter. Or rather - the situations we come across everyday are going to be similar for many people. Each of us will have things bothering us, worrying us - and the words in the devotional are there to prompt deeper thought and reflection.

However it comes about - and I don't claim to know - I am glad it has come about in the way it has. I have been able to use these passages to reflect on my life, on my behaviour, and they have given me help with things I've been struggling with. They help me to put my mind at rest, to not dwell on things, to move on, move forward - and really, that is what we all want in life; however we manage to achieve this, whatever method we use, we should embrace it, because it works for us.


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