Bible study & a few of my favorite things

I LOVE the Bible study I'm participating in on Monday nights.  It's called David: Seeking A Heart Like His, and it's by Beth Moore.  Can I just say that her studies speak to me more than any other kind of study by any other author?  I don't know if it's her writing or what, but she makes the Bible come alive for me.

Last night was no exception.  I love the verses we studied last night in the DVD session.  We studied Psalm nineteen, which is one of my most favorite passages of Scripture.  I memorized the fourteenth verse forever ago, back when my kids were a lot younger and required more patience.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."  

Not just my words, but the thoughts in my heart.

Last night's session was so wonderful that this morning I went ahead and completed day one of our homework for the week.  I can't help myself...it's so good!  The sessions that we watch on DVD are really good, but the homework is where the meat is.  It's in that quiet time that His word resonates deep within my soul.  This morning was no different.

There are few things (my Jesus, my man and my kids being who I do love more) that I love more than doting on some God~fearing women.  God has given me a love for all types of females, mainly teenagers and ladies whom I study His word with.  I love teenagers because they are so young and impressionable right now, and when I was younger, I didn't have great role models at church.  My Sunday school teachers were always male, and I never really connected with anyone at church.  It's important to me that I connect with the sweet girls in our youth.  It's part of what I prayed about over the Summer, and wouldn't you know it~only the Lord would have me dive right in.  I love them, and I wouldn't change one single thing.  In fact, in a couple of weeks, I'm going on a weekend retreat with them.  I can't wait!

I also love my precious lady friends!  I love studying God's word, and there is something so precious and powerful about worshiping and studying His word with other Godly ladies.  I love the relationships we've formed, and I love the whole accountability thing.  (Speaking of~hey ladies, are you doing your homework?!)  The good Lord knows I need it, so He has placed a burning love for His written word in my heart.  And the more I study it, the more deeply I fall in love with Him.  He draws me closer and closer to Him through studying...and I pray that He uses me to encourage others to do the same.

Only His word is life~changing, and I can tell you that it changed mine.  That is why I love Bible study.  The more I study His word, the less worldly I am.  I am a nicer wife and mom, I have more love for people, I have more patience with life in general, I am kinder, I have the peace that exceeds anything I can understand, I am more gentle and I have more self control.  But the way I got all those things is by studying His word!  Those are the fruits of His spirit, by the way.  He alone can give them.  And trust me when I say, it's all Him.  All I am is willing.

Back to last night~I try my best to make my home as welcoming and inviting as possible.  I want these precious ladies to feel totally at home here, and I love getting everything ready for this special time each week.

Oh yes.  These would be the most Heavenly coffee creamers in all of the world.  :)  I always try to have coffee and tea or lemonade for them.  Sometimes we have snacks, most times we don't.  My sweet friend Scottie brought cookies last night, but my kids ate them all.  HA!  Isn't that just like a boy?!  ;)

Our prayer request book.

The most favorite Bible I've ever owned, my workbook and my glasses.

Another favorite thing of mine is to memorize God's word.  As much as I love it, I don't always have my Bible with me.  Over the course of the last eight years, God has been prompting me to start committing His word to memory.  I told you that He's given me a burning love for His word, and with that came this passion in memorizing it as well.  It has also been life~changing.  I cannot tell you how many times I've used this in my life.  It might be when I'm talking to someone about a prayer request they might have~and I'm able to recall to mind a certain Scripture that helped me during a time I've faced something similar.  I always try to share these verses...and I pray that the Lord always uses me in doing this for His glory.

I might have used this during a time of fear.  A moment of panic.  One of my most favorite verses of all time is Philippians 4:6~7:

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He's done.  Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything you can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I say that one all the time~does that say something about me?

I've had a lot of people ask me how I do this.  How about I just show you?

That's my secret.  I write the verses I'm memorizing over and over in a notebook or in my journal.  Another place I write them is on note cards.  I punch holes in the note cards, then I keep them bound together by a silver ring.  I carry them with me almost everywhere I go, that way if I'm waiting or if I'm just sitting somewhere, I can do something productive.  I go over them again and again in my mind and out loud.  That's how I remember them.  The key to this is repetition.

It's not hard or difficult, and I'm not the first person to do this.  I actually got this idea from Beth Moore.  Back in the very first Bible study I ever did, on the book of Daniel eight years ago, she challenged us to memorize a portion of Daniel 3.  She told us to use this method, and I did.  And now, eight years, hundreds of note cards and countless passages of Scripture later, I'm still using that same method.

Most of these verses I've written.  Some of them in the picture above were given to me by a friend.  One year, my girlfriend Christa and I exchanged our favorite verses with one another for Christmas.  We bound them together and wrote encouraging notes to each other, and I still have mine that she gave me.  That is one of the best gifts I've ever given or received, by the way.  Hint, hint!  ;)

As I've been sitting here writing this, would you believe I've had my house all to myself?  Jonah and Noah are at a friend's house and Graham, Drew and their friend Will are at the park.  Do you know how rare that is?!  I'm not complaining, I'm just stating the facts.  Homeschooling moms NEVER get a break from the kids.  But you know what?  I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love this job that God has given me.  There is nothing that is more honorable (to me) than being a wife, a mom and a homeschool mom.

Which brings me to my last favorite thing of this post:

I have library books on my counter, but I decided to re-visit some of my favorite books of all time: the Sisterchick series of books by Robin Jones Gunn.  She is one of my favorite authors of all time, and these books are all lighthearted and fun and leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.  In honor of the amazing women God has placed in my life, I am re-reading these.  I grabbed this one because I remember it being one of my favorites in that series.  There are eight of these (I think), but it doesn't matter if you read them in order.

I'm going to go read it now.

I pray your day is going good, my friends.  This weather is amazing, is it not?!  It's 70 degrees as I write this.  Pure perfection.  Love to all!