It was Wednesday, November 21st, 2007, at 4:00 pm. I was hanging out at the library, as usual, talking to Susan, the odd Catholic lady that everyone in the area knows about and talks about from time to time. The lady that is full of wisdom and insight. The lady that can make you wonder about the simplest or most complex of things.
     "I love the library," I said to her. "I wish I could live here. It's so nice, there's no fighting. I hate going home, there's way too much fighting that goes on there."
     "Tell me, do you read your Bible," Susan asked.
     "Honestly? No, not really."
     "Never?"
     "Well, I do sometimes. I get these adrenaline- and Spirit-filled resolutions that I'm going to start reading my Bible every day and I do for a few days, but then I either forget or don't feel like opening my Bible back up."
     "So I suppose you close your Bible when you're done reading?"
     "Yeah."
     A sudden rush. BINGO! It hit me like a rocket and I was instantly filled with adrenaline and the Spirit right then and there. I smiled, then she smiled, her two eyes twinkling as though she saw through my soul and she could tell what I was thinking.
     "So, I think the problem lies there. Whenever you get done reading, don't close your Bible, let it stay open, unless you have one of those cheap paperback Bibles; then you might have to weight the pages down with something.
     Let your Bible breathe, it needs to breathe. Just like you and I need to breathe, the Word needs to breathe. It says in the Bible that in the beginning God created the Earth, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word is the Breath of Life. You can't let it suffocate by closing it. Let your Bible breathe.
     Then, from there, it will breathe into your home. Just by leaving it open, things will start getting better around your home. Reading it will just make things even better. Also, set it on a pedastal. Something that will always catch your eye and remind you of it's presence, and that will remind you of God's presence in your life.
     Make it so that you can't get in and out of the house without getting around it, and perhaps a few words will just catch your eye and you'll fall into His word. Let it consume you."

     The following night, at 11 pm, I lied in bed.
     I was thinking about my mom and brother, who were bitterly bickering earlier, and my brother boomed off, leaving the house.
     I arose and was chilling at my computer, and I compulsively remembered my conversation with Susan from the previous day.
     I ran around my room, rapidly searching for my Bible, feeling slightly guilty about not knowing where it was at.
     Instead, I found my old Bible that I got on my eighth birthday from my mom and biological dad. That was good enough. I grabbed the fold-up chair that was leaning against my wall and set my Bible on it. That was good enough for a pedastal for the time being.
     I opened my Bible to the middle as quick as I could, trying to get it to breathe as soon as possible. My eyes diverted directly down to Psalm 31:7-8,
     "I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction, and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not handed me over to the enemy, but have set my feet in a spacious place."
     "Wow," I wondered. "God really reveals himself when things get rough. But I have to take the first step."