Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…

(Colossians 3:16)

The best part of grocery shopping with my mother was the coffee aisle. Millions of beans waited in a line of plastic dispensers, each with a distinct scent. As soon as the other shoppers had moved on, I’d drift from one end of the canisters to the other, nose up close to the spouts, taking in every smell along the way. (I was an odd child.) Mom would bag up her beans, take them home, and the air would smell like heaven a few minutes later.

Let’s jump in where we left off last week without dressing up the introduction too much, shall we?

The preparations are all finished. You’ve got a cozy little nook waiting for you, a chunk of time blocked out just for this, essential supplies at the ready, an alert mind, and a soft heart. Now what?

We took our time getting settled because I wanted the process of preliminaries to be as non-scary as possible. Now that we’ve arrived at the starting line, I’d like to offer a wide assortment of ideas to get your creative energy flowing.

The Wizard of Oz always fascinated me. Maybe it was the singing and the dancing or the pair of glittery heels with the power to change everything that impacted me so much. Or when reality shifted from greyscale to Technicolor and the world was new. I think, at the bottom, it was the characters. Remember the Tin Man? While the Scarecrow desired a brain and the Lion wanted courage, the Tin Man longed for a heart. How often have I found myself in those same metal shoes, not really feeling stupid and not really feeling afraid, but not really feeling much of anything because the heart is out of place?

Have you ever gone on a picnic, realizing too late you forgot the picnic basket (piled high with scrumptious bites and sips) on the table at home? I mean, that’s kind of a major part of the outing’s whole point, right? You could call that the picnic that wasn’t. In the same way, you can make all the preparations for studying Scripture and leave your brain behind. (Not speaking from experience or anything. Nope, nope, nope. Okay, fine. Maybe.)

You’ve claimed your space. Established a time. Now the fun part: hunting for the ideal set of tools! My heart goes into low-level mourning every September when I re-realize I’ve grown out of new school supplies—a shiny backpack, lined paper, glittery folders, sharp-pointed pencils that leave No. 2 lead on my hands. Pastel paper clips and pretty rulers, sticky notes in an assortment of colors.