journeys and lessons

Ever have one of those times where God is teaching you something and it seems that that thing just seems to appear over and over again?? For instance, the pastor preaches about it on Sunday, you meet a friend and they mention something similar, and your Bible study is going through the same exact thing. Or you even meet someone for the first time and then you realize you see them everywhere! There is actually a name for it. It is called the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, this is when you learn something for the first time and then you end up hearing about it or seeing it quite often after that. If you are learning this fun fact for the first time I bet you will hear it in conversation more frequently now. :) 
I have been reading through the Bible from cover to cover. I started in May hoping to finish at the end of the summer but I overestimated some of the books. Leviticus...was very long. But I am working my way through the prophets now and I have really enjoyed it. My goal now is to read through the entire Bible before the new year! I have loved reading the story of Israel. I have seen how much I identify with the people of Israel. God calls them out of a place of slavery and promises to love and protect them. They do okay for a bit but then they get a little self reliant believe that they could do things on their own. They start to fumble and forget God and then they get captured again or get scared that they would be killed and they cry out to God and ask for forgiveness. The amazing thing about this story is that our God is an amazing and gracious God who loves us and forgives us. I see myself in this story because I do that too. I see myself as a lost Israelite not sure where to go and scared and God comes in and saves me. I get comfortable there and start thinking that I am okay to be on my own. So, I try it. I try to do my own thing and I try to make my own plan but I sink. I forget that I need God in my life and when I go back to Him, He is gracious enough to welcome me back into His arms and forgives me. I know I will fumble and fail but knowing that God is on the other side ready to love me makes me believe I can get through anything!