The older I am getting (I know I am not that old), the more I appreciate how much things change for the good or bad as time passes. For instance, in the category of “bad” I have gained a lot of weight and become somewhat lazy. However, in the “good” category I have grown and matured in many different ways. I thought I would share the things I can see in my life (especially spiritually) that have changed for the good and consider how I could have done better. I hope this article to be an encouragement to you.
Relationships. The more I have matured as an individual the better my relationships have become, especially with my family. I have developed a lot my patience (I have to admit that I am not a very patient person) and patience really does go a long way in having good relationships. I still have a lot of work to go in developing my patience, but I can definitely see improvement in my life.
Bible. While I could have studied more, I do feel like I have really improved on my knowledge of the Bible. I have learned more through discussions I have had with other individuals. Sometimes I agreed with them, sometimes I did not. I learned a great deal about the Bible from my studies that stemmed from discussions in the Families.com forums. I am thankful for that Families.com provides a place for such discussion. I have also learned more about the Bible from writing these blogs. Writing has given me the increased incentive to study the Bible, for which I am very thankful. The more I learn about the Bible, the greater my desire is to learn more. There is such a wealth of knowledge laid up in that wonderful Book, and I hope to continue to have a devotion to studying God’s Word.
Teaching. I have been teaching the children’s Bible class on Sunday mornings since about March this past year. While I have taught children’s Bible classes before, this situation has taught me many things. I have learned to teach children with all kinds of personalities. I have learned to prepare my own Bible class lessons (from scratch) to best suit the needs of my students, who, although they know little about the Bible, are really interested in learning more. I have also learned more about patience and endurance.