Stuck

Last fall, my sister and I spent a few days in New Hampshire.  It was a much needed escape from responsibilities, a chance for uninterrupted quilting, and take in a little shopping and a few short hikes.  While we were there, we decided to take on a challenge of memorizing the book of Colossians and reconvene a year later to recite the whole book.  I had found the challenge here ~ two verses a week with built in times of review.  Seemed very do-able.  Well, I do not want to admit defeat yet but I have a lot of ground to cover to catch up to my sister.  She is ahead of the game and should be all done mid-September as she had already committed a few portions to memory over the years.  I keep letting life get in the way.  Ok, I admit it.....I am TERRIBLY UNDISCIPLINED!!!!  I am a poor manager of time!!!  (That's putting it mildly)  I desire to come up with a schedule and stick to it ~ there is plenty of available time that I just waste.  I need to set aside just a few moments a day to memorize, exercise, and work on some special projects ~ transcribing my grandmother's journals for one.

So, I find myself STUCK in chapter two!!  I should be nearing the end of Chapter three by now or even further.  The middle of Chapter two hit me hard and so I was just stuck there ruminating.  Now, I'm just stuck.

 Colossians 2:6-7 ⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Overflowing with thankfulness

It just hit me like a ton of bricks.  I arrived at this section just before graduation season and it was just perfect for my desire for high school graduates in particular.  So many young people who have professed a faith in Christ leave home and their church family and completely turn their backs on everything they know is right to experience what they think they are missing.  This is my desire for them that they would be strengthened in their faith and not be so weak as to walk away from it.  

But that last bit, overflowing with thankfulness.  How had I missed that??  Forty some-odd years and yet I guess I've just skimmed over that part, missed it completely!  So, I have been stuck this summer on "overflowing with thankfulness."  Rooted, grounded, strengthened in the faith, continuing to live in him all these years, YES!  But overflowing with thankfulness??  I must confess, I don't think my life reflects that at all.  So, here I find a challenge within a challenge.  While I need to get on with the memorizing and try to catch up with my sister so we can finish what we set out to do, I need to overflow with thankfulness!!