The Great Adventure Bible Study
A few weeks ago we started one of Jeff Cavin’s Great Adventure Bible Studies with some of our friends. We’re doing the 24 week Bible Timeline: The Story of Salvation. The study will take us through the 14 narrative books of the bible to learn the story of salvation history and our role in it. In April we attended the one day workshop at St. John Neumann with Jeff Cavins. We were hooked and knew it was something we had to do and something we want to share with our children.
It’s fabulous! The timing of the study was perfect with our start of school because I have the children doing the Great Adventure for kids. Every week Adam and I are studying certain chapters, I read to the children the big stories and there are four coloring pages for each of the 12 time periods. It’s the first thing we do in school each morning after prayer and the kids LOVE it.
Tonight we finished the first time period, The Early World (Gen Ch. 1-11). Some things that resonated with me were:
- We were created on the same day as the beasts but we were set apart. The 7th day–the sabbath, a day of rest–was created for us. In this fast pace world with so much busy-ness, will we remain in the 6th day with the beasts or will we enter the 7th day as Sons and Daughters of God and use the sabbath as God had created it for us?
- God in his infinite mercy banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden so that they would NOT eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in their fallen state. Can you even imagine living in the state Adam and Eve were in after they disobeyed God? Oh wait, aren’t we in that state when we live a life of sin? I remember how miserable and empty my life was when I was separated the Church. And I remember how much peace and grace flowed into my soul when I returned and went to confession the first time as an adult. How grateful I am for the Sacrament of Reconciliation!
Fr. Thomas Zimmer passed away Saturday morning. Father was the pastor of my little hometown parish during my youth. I received my first Holy Eucharist from his hands and served at mass with him for many years. Ever summer he would load the altar servers in a bus and treat us to a game at Wrigley Field. Sundays I would receive catechesis from him. He never spoke down to us and always challenged our understanding. Father made it possible for me to attend World Youth Day in 1993. I never would have experienced this life changing event outside his generosity.