It's just Me Abby

Here’s an interesting fact about my husband and me for any of you who don’t know…

We are a legit eHarmony couple. It’s true. I was mortified to tell anybody at first. I got talked into signing up for the online matchmaking program against my will. Whenever anyone asked how we met I dodged the bullet by saying we had a mutual friend, which happened to be true (thank you, Facebook). I didn’t fess up until on my wedding day; I had my new brother-in-law announce it to all the guest at our evening reception. A big shocker to my Floridian friends.

When I registered for an eHarmony account I had to fill out this long questionnaire in order for their search engines to find compatible matches for me. Once the questionnaire was completed I had to create a personal profile that all my matches could read by answering more questions. One of these questions was what are five things you can’t live without? I won’t bore you with what I wrote, but here are some answers I came across: God, prayer, the bible, friends, family, water, food, music, the gym, my dog, laughter, cheese, my car, exercise etc.

So you probably never created an eHarmony profile and needed to answer that question, but maybe you have amused yourself with, “If I were stuck on a deserted island and were only allowed three things, what would they be?” Obviously anything electronic is out of the question unless it’s solar powered (but who would chose to take a calculator?). So I’d have to say a suitcase full of my favorite books, my guitar, and a surfboard. Maybe.

My husband leads a Sunday evening bible study at our church. Last weekend he grouped us into threes or fours and gave us an exercise to do together. We had to create a top 10 list of bible verses for a new believer. I completely underestimated the difficulty in narrowing the roughly 31,273 verses in the bible to just 10. That activity not only went over very well with our little group, it’s been on the forefront of my mind since Sunday. Because of it, I feel compelled to create a new top 10 and share it here. I have tweaked it from being a top 10 for new believers to a top 10 for Abby. The ten verses below are in random order:

“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3

“There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing , but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'” Matthew 16:24

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.” John 14:16

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Ephesians 6:10-11

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” Romans 8:35

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

This is not an exhaustive list. I am, undoubtedly, missing some very important verses here. I just know at the core of my being the weaknesses I have and how great they are that these particular ten instruct me in a most specific yet very simple way. I sincerely hope to commit them to memory so that they may help me love God with all of my heart, all of my mind, all of my soul, and all my strength at a moment’s notice.

I challenge you, believer, to do the same. And I pray you are refreshed, encouraged, and strengthened with the Spirit’s might all the more.