Psalm 107 and the Dead Sea Scroll Exhibit

So, my aunt and I drove down to Ft. Worth to the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary today to see the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit.  The trip was my birthday gift (kind of to myself).  My friend Jenny from college met us down there.  She has been to Israel on an archeological dig and made an excellent companion during our time going through the exhibit.  The exhibit was very well put together.  It's amazing to see how God has protected His Word through the years.  One of the fragments or pages that we got to see today was Psalm 107.  I read a little bit while we were there, and read the full chapter when I got home.  It's amazing how this chapter parallels with what I have been experiencing in my life and I wanted to offer a paraphrase as a testimony to what God has done in my life.  So here goes:

Psalm 107, a Diana paraphrase

 

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

His faithful love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord proclaim

that He has redeemed them from the hand of the foe

and has gathered them from the lands -

from the east and the west, and the north and the south.

 

I have wandered in the desolate wilderness,

not able to find my way to that place in my life where I was supposed to be.

I was spiritually hungry and thirsty, and my soul was dying within me.

I cried out to my Lord in the midst of my despair.

He rescued me and showed me the way to go.

He showed me the path I was meant to travel

I give thanks to the Lord,

for His faithful love and His wonderful works for me.

He quenched my hunger and thirst, and has given me good things.

 

I have sat in darkness and despair, a prisoner in chains of my own doing.

Because I rebelled against God, and did not heed His counsel.

My spirit was broken by labor, I fell, and there was no one to help me up.

I cried out to my God, He heard me.

He lit up my darkness, and broke my chains.

I give thanks to the Lord,

for His faithful love and His wonderful works for me.

For He has broken my chains.

 

I was a fool, suffering under affliction caused by myself.

Caused by my sin and my rebellious ways.

I loathed any "word from God" and walked down the path of death.

Then I cried out to God in my despair.

He sent His Word.  He healed me.  He rescued me from the pit.

I give thanks to the Lord,

for His faithful love and His wonderful works for me.

For He healed me and He loves me.

I will offer gifts of thanksgiving and tell others how He has saved me.

 

There is a lot more to the testimony, but I am waiting to share until the whole of it has come to pass.  Let me just say that I am truly blessed to be loved by my God who will never let me go.

 

 



New Bucket List

So, here is my bucket list of things to do by the time I hit age 40:

1. Get my stupid debt paid off (hopefully by my next birthday)
2. Visit Jane Austen's house
3. See Phantom of the Opera on Broadway
4. Take my niece to the ballet
5. Take my nephew to a ballgame or etc
6. Finish reading all of Jane Austen's books
7. Take a dance class
8. Find out more about Theresa Mueller
9. Learn some German
10. Smile more....

Another year, another dollar

So, I hit the big 35 yesterday.  It bothered me up until today.  This age was kind of a goal age for me.  If I wasn't married with kids by this age, I probably would never be:  all the rigmarole about having kids after 35 and the increased risk of birth defects, and other things added in.  I know, I know.  God's plans are bigger than my plans and I have know plenty of people that have had successful pregnancies after age 35.  It was just a milestone for me.  I have a feeling things in my life are going to change for the better in the next few months.  So who knows what will happen by my next birthday....