All Your Very

Y’all.

I am exhausted. I was at school yesterday for twelve hours, working on a paper in which I had to do Greek word studies.

Umm, I don’t know any Greek.

Not knowing Greek makes Greek word studies less than enjoyable. And by “less than enjoyable,” I mean “worse than Satan’s breath after he wakes up and drinks a cup of coffee while munching Doritos.” I’m writing a paper on 1 Peter 3:1-7 and I’m supposed to get a bunch of opinions and then form my own about what Peter was talking about in relation to wives and submission and whether or not to wear weave and gold bling. I may blog about my findings at some point, but right now I will punch you if you talk to me about 1 Peter and its Greek. My head is tired.

OK, let’s be happy now.

Talking about Minnesota sports should make us happy, right? … No? Not so much?

Well, here is something lovely. Thanksgiving is next week! That means 1) a week off of school, 2) time with friends, 3) no school, 4) cornbread stuffing, 5) a break from classes, 6) cheap seasons of Friends at Target’s Black Friday sale, and 7) school is for suckers.

I love Kendi Everyday and her awesome style. But I have to admit that I was not a fan of her pleather pants last week. She looked cute in them because she’s so skinny, but all I could think of was when Ross wore those leather pants on Friends. The lotion and the powder made a paste, you guys.

So my small group has been discussing prayer lately. It’s something I want to be so natural in my heart — to turn to God for everything, to thank him right away, to petition him with my needs, to share with him like I do with my friends.

The Jewish people start and end each day by praying the Shema — Deuteronomy 6:4-9. These verses remind us to love God with all that we are, with everything that is in us. His commands are to be on our hearts; God’s words are to be so natural to us that we talk about them at home and on the road. They are the first things we think about when we wake up and the last thing to cross our mind when we lie down.

The Shema says to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. In the Hebrew, the word that we translate “strength” is actually “meod.” In Hebrew it means “very” or “muchness” or “abundance.” God wants us to love him with all our very, all our muchness, all our abundance. Every. All.

That is my prayer — the Shema. That loving God with all of me would be my biggest desire. That turning to the Lord wherever I am, whatever time of day, would be my first instinct. With all my heart, with all my soul, with all my very.

Isn’t Hebrew so much better than Greek? That’s right, Peter!

OK, I best be going, Pea Pods. (That is apparently my new nickname for you.)

Have a good day and love with very muchness!