I love a good fairytale story.  My favorite stories are Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty.  I know God’s Word is not a fairy tale.  No matter what anyone tells me, I know God is real.  He knows the real me.  He knows every hurt and heartache I have experienced.  God is looking to expand my life in ways I never thought could happen.  If you had asked me 31 years ago if I would wait patiently for God to act in my life I would have laughed.  The journey of learning about God has been filled with fun, family, friends, and plenty of love.  It has also been many nights of tears, fears, and sadness.  God’s Word has remained consistent.  My experiences, the validity of God’s Word, and my faith are the totality of what forms my thoughts about God and His eternal existence. 

My experience with God comes from the foundation that was laid by my Mother and My Grandmother.  These women have poured into me a love for God’s Word and His truth.  My grandmother taught the Bible with only an 8th-grade education.  She taught me that God’s Word was true.  It was at her feet that I learned my life verse Psalm 37:25(KJV) “I have been young and now I am old: yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging bread.”  She taught her grandchildren to trust God no matter what came our way.  She challenged us to be the best at what we could be by putting God first in our lives.  Without ever explaining the actual word theology, my grandmother taught me Deuteronomy 6:4(KJV), “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one.”  She explained how God was God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.”  My grandmother was the first 8^th grade educated theologian I ever met. 

My mother became the second theologian who educated me.  She taught me to “earnestly contend for the faith” I had been given.  There is not a day that I do not find myself asking her questions about the bible.  She challenges my thinking and consistently keeps me sharpened.  As we watch the news, she makes sure I am filtering it through God’s Word.  I am challenged not to think with my emotions but to logically think about every belief system the world tries to present as truth above God’s Word.  It is a biblical education that is invaluable.  My faith is set in God’s Word being absolute truth.  Although my Mother and Grandmother do not have any theological degrees, I believe their love for God’s Word and imparting God’s wisdom is priceless

I realized that I can no longer just believe in the basic knowledge of the Bible.  I can not just believe because I have been taught to believe.  My faith has been set but it was my personal experience with God and His Word that set my faith in stone.  For me to grow as a believer and a disciple, I can not just stay in the same learning circle of family and friends.  I must choose to learn more.  I must be willing to be broken to be increased.  Any good teacher of God’s Word must break the stubbornness of the student so that they can learn.  I learned that I must come humbly to areas that I do not know.  I expect growth and a closer walk with my King and Savior.  I expect that I will be even more excited about the word of God than I am now.