I recently had the opportunity to spend a week at the beach with my family and some friends.  It was a great time away from the daily routine and responsibilities that come with a full life.  As a person who recharges by spending time alone, I found myself reading a lot of the time.  Just sitting in a chair outside the office of the conference center, I had a great view of people coming and going on the main drag through town and the students coming and going to class at the college.  Time was crawling along while I sat there, just watching the world go by.  It was great!

One of the things that I like to do when I have down time like that is to read.  I read a lot of different stuff, but on one particular morning as I was reading my Bible, I found myself really encouraged by the text.  I read through the letter to the Galatians, straight through from beginning to end.  I read it as it was written.  I read it as a letter.  I wasn't involved in understanding the who, what, where, why, when or how of the text, but rather, soaked it in as it would have been received by the people of that time.  I read it as a letter from one person to another.  From God to His people.  One complete stream of thought.  Not broken up into small chunks, but as a complete unit.  Just like I would have read it if I had lived back then.

In my life, I have always found that when I have to attempt something new, the best way to do that is to jump right in.  When I was in the Air Force, I had to learn how to speak to large groups of people.  The challenge was that I was very introverted.  Learning how was not optional; I had to just jump in and do it.  When I taught my first Bible study, I was scared to death that everyone would know that I didn't really know what I was doing, but I just stepped out and led the group, and off we went.  

Now is one of those times in my life.  You see, I have to write a blog.  I’ve never done anything like this before, and I am not sure where to start.  I like the idea of writing a blog and sharing my thoughts with others.  Actually, I had previously thought about starting a blog, but never got my thoughts together enough to put anything to paper.