Fasting to Remember

I am fasting right now and have resolved not to eat until I recover all of my lost memorized Scripture, probably excluding the chapters in Acts I once had, because those will be almost like starting from scratch.  A secondary goal is to prepare spiritually for our trip to Haiti in October.  The following chart with chronicle my progress, as well as lessons God is teaching me along the away. 
God is truly amazing!

Day/Date            Scripture                  Notes__                         ____

(start)                   Romans-2 Thess.     

     -Had these recovered before starting the fast

1. (8/13)               I Timothy

2. (8/14)               II Tim. / Titus        

     -powerful day of prayer

3. (8/15)               Philemon/Heb. 1-7

     -started the day by writing song from Psalm 34
     -powerful day of prayer & fasting

4. (8/16)               Heb. 7-10               

     -Great day...didn't have a lot of time for Bible...
     -Spent 9 hours writing original praise music!

5. (8/17)               Heb. 11-13             

     -Very challenging day.  Did not sleep well the day before, so add
       tired to hungry.  It is helping me imagine a normal day for many
       Haitians. Learning to look to God to meet my needs...

6. (8/18)               James/ I Pet.             

     -Slept deeply last night and was reinvigorated for this pursuit. 
       It was a good and restful day, though my thoughts were
       scattered.  Good family time...I appreciate each of them!

7. (8/19)               (review)                    

     -Probably won't get new stuff done today...Trying to review
       everything above... Definitely some attacks of Satan today,
       trying to cause division in our family.

8. (8/20)               (review)                   

     -Getting a bit bogged down reviewing some of Paul's letters. 
       Probably my brain is not hitting on all cylinders.  Pressing on! 
       Ended up having a really good day...worked on music, and took
       the kids to the water park. 

9.  (8/21)              (review)                 

     -Could not sleep last night!  Caffeine!  Need to make some
      progress on Scripture today.  It has been a good day.  The
      hunger comes and goes at all times.  The lesson is to seek God
      for all needs and learn to be content/at peace/focused even when
      suffering.  Hard for us Americans!  Nice rain this afternoon...

10.  (8/22)            (review)

11.  (8/23)        *Ended my fast about half-way through this day, unsuccessful in my pledge to recapture the missing verses, books, etc...  I just got to the point where I wasn't sleep and had to drink several glasses of water every 90 minutes or so (all night).  I was concerned for my health!  But it was a great experience and much prayer time was utilized. 

Thanks, Lord!

Reclaiming the Treasure

It has been a long time!

To my knowledge no one reads this blog yet, but nevertheless it has been a long time since I posted.  This is because for a period of almost 20 months I allowed my discipline of Bible memorization to be almost completely neglected.  How sad.  I took the treasure given me by God and cast it aside.  In my defense, our family did go through an incredibly challenging season in ministry and life, and due to that trauma and stress I found it difficult to concentrate long enough to tie my shoes, much less recite the book of Revelation, etc...  Nevertheless, I take full responsibility for my lack of perseverance and readily admit that in the time when I could have benefited most from God's Words in my heart, I turned away and wallowed in self-pity.

But God's grace is enough, and He has reinvigorated me for this calling once again!

So I am now reclaiming the treasure and finding that the jewels have not sunk too deeply into the sand.  The books are coming back to me quite easily at a pace of 4-5 chapters per day, and so my plan is to just leave the stats to the right for now until I get everything back.  Then, by God's grace, I will continue to advance and add to that list day by day.  Then, sometime in the future, as the Holy Spirit leads, I will share this blog with whoever desires to die daily through the blessed calling of Bible memorization. 

Amazing!  Awesome!  Thanks, Lord!
-Cory