I can’t believe it. I’ve almost completed this 40-day blog writing challenge that I committed myself to a few short weeks ago. At first, I thought it would be easy – if I just stay focused. However, as the days went by, I knew it was definitely going to be a challenge.

If you recall (or have been keeping up with my blogs throughout this challenge), I initially decided to do this, because I felt God was directing me to do so for some reason or another. I know that the number 40 in the Bible is significant and generally involves a period of 40 something (days, weeks, years, etc.) that almost always ends with a blessing or promise.

I am also a person that has trouble completing “stuff”, because the perfectionist tendencies that I struggle with always find a way to make that “stuff” better, thereby causing things to never get finished. So, this challenge was also a way for me to show (to myself if nobody else) that I could FINISH something! I realize that I still have 3 more blog posts to write after this one in order to reach my goal, but I’m convinced that I can do it!

So, have I learned anything? Gotten any life altering revelations? Made any new commitments or life changes? Been blessed by God or been given a promise? What has happened as a result of this challenge? Well, I’m actually still figuring some of those things out, but for starters:

1. God has revealed to me that if I can do this for 40 days then NOTHING should get in the way of me spending quality time with Him each day.
2. He’s revealed to me the gifts I need to be using and part of the way these gifts need to be used (I’m still waiting for more of this to become a little clearer).
3. He’s given me an opportunity of a lifetime involving a place I hold near and dear to my heart: AFRICA. More on this at a later time too.

Friends, I think I’ve just scratched the surface of the work that He’s doing in my life, but I’m convinced that this challenge was a place for me to obey. Obey Him! God BLESSES obedience friends (read Deuteronomy 28)!

I don’t know what the blogging days bring yet in 2010, but I’m continuing on. Thanks for continuing the journey with me!

The year-long journey I began almost 365 days ago is complete. Last January 1, I embarked upon a scripture memorization challenge with Beth Moore and her “Siestas” to memorize 2 scripture verses a month. I’ve actually blogged about this twice before, so if you missed either one, you can click here to see the first blog post and click here for the second.

In my second posting, I listed the first 10 scriptures that I memorized to simply give you a taste of what I’ve been doing and what God has been showing me through this challenge. I’ll repeat those 10 scriptures again here but will also give you the remaining 14. It’s been such a great challenge to do this. Some sciptures were easier than others to remember, but I’ve been able to use ALL of them after I started memorizing them. That has been the amazing part! God has placed me in a situation in which each of these verses has come to mind, and I’ve been able to share them with others as encouragement or even repeat them to myself for assurance. He is so cool! What an awesome God we serve!

I can’t wait to begin this again in 2010 and already have my spiral of index cards ready to go. I use this to record my verses, and it keeps them all contained in one place for easier storage and portability. With January 1 still a few days away, I encourage you to think about and plan to do this along with me. If you need further help about how to get started or how to pick verses, etc…just email me (see Profile page) or post a comment, and I’ll be happy to help get you started! It’s been a huge blessing friends. I can’t stress that enough!

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11 (NIV)

Now – for the 24 verses I memorized in 2009 (with the Bible translation in parenthese):

1. 2 Samuel 22:31 (NIV)
2. Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NIV)
3. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
4. Isaiah 26:3-4 (NLT)
5. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
6. 1 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
7. Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)
8. Isaiah 61:1-4 (NIV)
9. James 1:27 (NIV)
10. Psalm 34:18 (NIV)
11. Acts 20:24 (NIV)
12. Romans 6:17-18 (NIV)
13. 1 John 2:5-6 (NASB)
14. Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)
15. Psalm 57:2 (NIV)
16. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
17. 2 Corinthians 7:1 (NASB)
18. Psalm 62:5 (NIV)
19. Colossians 3:23 (NIV)
20. Psalm 119:175 (The Msg)
21. Romans 1:16 (NIV)
22. John 14:13-14 (NIV)
23. Job 19:25 (NIV)
24. Romans 8:11 (NIV)