A journey back to faith: Reading the Bible

By Tyler Wolf
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 A few weeks ago, Mr. Martin, my journalism teacher, asked us students, “If there is anything you wanted to do in life, what would it be?”

We had the next four weeks from the start of Distance Learning to complete a project that finds meaning or a task you would like to do.  After going through many ideas (TikTok videos, drumming, and woodworking), I decided that I would read the Bible. 

 Not only can I do this project independently, but it is something that would be beneficial for me in my life.  Growing up in a Christian household, We read the bible a lot. We were so involved in our church, we read our Bibles regularly, at least four times a week. 

Everything was good until when I got to Middle School, I was lonely.  I did not have many friends.
                     
I felt like with the friend I had, I started to become a person I am not.  I thought the only way I was going to get friends, was to be funny.  

This is how I started to use vulgar language, thinking if I did that in conjunction with being funny would make me fit in (Before this, I had a sense of humor but it was appropriate and respectful).   

I was making the same poor choices throughout ninth, tenth and eleventh grade. This is especially true when I was in tenth grade.  Long story short I was trying to be funny, which led to hurting a lot of people's feelings.

It was not until recently that I felt it was important to get back to being more devoted to my roots and Christianity. I came back to the realization that if I live life as a Christian then my life would change.  I decided to be fully devoted again, as opposed to being halfway devoted.

I planned to read the Bible for at least ten minutes every day. I found that it was not too hard, however, I found that, without our standard school and life schedule, it was easy to lose track of time aspect .

The main reason why I forget the time is because I find myself in a work related state of mind, or I find myself too tired after a long day to do anything but watch a movie or go to bed. 

When I don’t read I feel this sense of non accomplishment, like the one big thing I want to change in my life and I forgot it again! That can be frustrating! What drives me to read at least ten minutes a day is the fulfillment of knowing my life will be more fantastic than it already is! 

I am planning on setting on time on reading the Bible, so I don’t lose track of time.

The big difference between reading the Bible now versus when I was a child is the fact that I am reading the actual version as opposed to a children’s book compiled with stories within the Bible instead of chapters.  

This is week two of my project and while I had some inconsistencies in days, I realized that all I can do is try my best and move forward in this process.  This has been a really gratifying experience to be able to have God more involved in my life. I feel like a more grateful, caring, helpful, thankful, respectful and most importantly happier than I felt in a long time. 

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