MY REFUGE I
have many childhood memories that include fun times with friends and family, playing outdoors, reading books that sparked my imagination, and being taught the necessities of life. Among my memories, one in particular comes to mind whenever challenges or troubles arise. It’s the memory of my mother teaching me Scripture. For a number of years my mother home-schooled my sister and me. Like most things in life, there were positives and negatives. A positive aspect of home schooling was that when we got our daily work done, we were free to enjoy other things. A negative was that we always seemed to be doing school. My mother wanted us to be well prepared for the world and what lay ahead. We studied all the regular subjects, including math, English, science and history. Our Bible class received special attention. My mother did her best to teach my sister and me the AUTHOR Natashia McVay importance of Jesus in our lives. She would ask us to memorize Bible verses. Often, my sister and I would pick the shortest passages in a bid to make it easier on ourselves. Occasionally, though, my mother would pick the passage or passages for us. She was never pushy but rather used the opportunity to press into our budding minds the words from Scripture.
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may/june 2020
Out of all the verses I memorized as a child, the passage I remember most is Psalm 91. Yes, the entire chapter. I remember it because I thought at the time it was impossible to memorize. It was too long, I complained often. My mother was unmoved, insisting my sister and I memorize that chapter. It wasn’t until years later that I came to truly appreciate her persistance. Today, when I’m faced with uncertainty, my mind goes back to this psalm:
