First up is my age. People are confused when they hear how old I am and how long I've been married, or how old my kids are. We were nineteen when we got married, and turned twenty a couple months later. We were high school sweethearts, Todd and me, and we knew we wouldn't ever date anyone else, or were even interested in that. He asked, I accepted. We will be married for twenty three years on October fourth of this year. I'm forty two and my kids are twenty, nineteen and sixteen. We just started young, is all, and we don't regret that.
Most of our friends are older than us, or if they are our age, their kids are years younger than ours. That being said, we've always hung around people who were older because our kids were close.
I get asked about my bible that I use on a daily basis, if I post on Instagram about it.
It's the She Reads Truth bible, and I love it. I've had this one for about a year and a half, and will continue to read through it and mark it up and then I'll move on to start over on another one. I do this, and probably always will. I don't like to buy bibles unless I know I will love it, so I research ahead of time before settling. I like to write in them for my family. I have notes to them in the margins, or prayers I'll pray over them as I read something.
Side note: the same people who put out this bible now have one available for men, the He Reads Truth bible. It is beautiful! I texted our youth pastor when I saw this little tidbit of info, because he has always loved this bible and said he wished there was one like it for men.
In studying scripture, I use multiple bibles, though, and another one I recently received as a gift and love is the Hebrew-Greek Keyword Study bible. It has great commentary all throughout, and I need that sometimes, as I study in depth and verse by verse. I like to use different translations sometimes, too, to help give me better understanding.
About this one, I love wide margins, and I love additional information about particular passages that I read. This one has great information about each book and author.
I get asked about getting free books at least one time every single week. I wish I could pinpoint how and when this started, and it probably involved me reaching out to them somehow, but over the years, I've had publishing houses or authors (or both, recently) reach out to me about blogging for books. I will fill out a form, or read the email and respond, and I'll give them information about my blog, and then I'll forget about it until a free book shows up in a pretty package on the doorstep. It's like Christmas! Some books I pass on to others, most of them I keep. I am guessing is has to do with my blog, though, and I've had this little space here on Blogger for about thirteen years now, really since before blogging was even a "thing".
Another similar question is about how I get to picked to be on launch teams for books that haven't been released yet. Most authors, if they want to have a launch team, will put something out on social media about this, and I'll fill out an online form and wait to see if I was picked or passed over. About this, though and regarding social media: in order to be picked for this, it is better if my social media accounts are "public" instead of "private". This is also true, regarding this blog that I have and post about on social media outlets. My Facebook is still private, because it's a little creepier to me if it's not, but my Instagram account is a public account. People follow me that I don't know, but if there is something fishy or weird about them, I will block them. I also decline almost EVERY SINGLE MESSAGE request I receive, unless you are a woman of the faith reaching out to me. There are people who try to reach out to me there, but no thank you. Decline all, please.
*This is also a very good rule of thumb on protecting your marriage. I never speak (online or in private) with a man outside of my family by myself, even at church.
You have to be active on social media in order to be one picked for launch teams, and as much as I hate the term "followers", the more you have, the more likely you are to be picked. I have a modest number of that, but it is enough, I suppose, to usually get picked for launch teams.
I also follow publishing houses like Waterbrook Multnomah and Tyndale and will "like" and comment on posts of theirs. The more active you are, the better. (This is a strange world we live in, isn't it?) I will also say, about this, that it helps to have comments on an actual blog (not on Facebook), but it feels really weird to ever ask for that, so I don't do that.
I always get asked how I read so much, and my answer to that is simple: I make the time. It helps that I also read really fast, and if I'm sitting and concentrating, I can read a hundred or more pages an hour. That being said, it's easy for me to finish books in a few hours. I've read like this since I was very young, and honestly I don't remember ever not liking to read. My first grade teacher can be credited for this, but so can my mom. She loves to read as well, and we would often sit and do this together. We've shared books ever since I was in my teens.
If you want to love to read, pick up a book and read. I don't read books I don't love, and will quit them if they don't hold my attention. Life is too short to read if it's not pleasurable. I always say to everyone that they don't hate to read, they've just never found a book they LOVED. Keep trying! And always have a book with you, wherever you go. I'm taking two with me today, because I'm going to be gone almost all day, most likely, and I'm almost done with this one above that I got in the mail this week to read and review.
I'll end with this last one, and it's that I've been asked about how I have this kind of relationship with the Lord. I've been told that I seem to have direct access to God, so I get asked to pray for things all the time. I'm smiling as I write this, because this is nothing that is available for just me, and my prayers are no different than other people's prayers. There is nothing magical or special about how I pray, either. If someone says I pray "good", I quickly tell them I just consider Him a friend who I pour out my heart to. I talk to Him as if He were right beside me, and I pray His word back to Him.
About the "direct access to God comments", here is a newsflash: you, too, can have that! The bible is simple and clear: pray and believe. Say the prayers, and believe in your heart that God can and will answer. He always answers, maybe not just the way we want. And about that, God will always accomplish what His will is in our lives. He won't do what is not His will, so we need to pray and ask Him to do His will in our lives, and in the lives of our family.
In working with teenagers the past few years, I always heard it explained this way to them: imagine you have a best friend. You want to spend time with them. You want to go places with them. You want to talk to them and get to know them. If you don't do those things, you won't be best friends. Now, imagine that best friend is God. If you don't do those things with Him, you won't ever be close to Him. It takes time to do this, but it is essential for being in a relationship with Him. I pray all the time, I read His word all the time (almost every single day) and I am close to Him.
But that isn't just for me, you can have all that, if you want. It takes time, it takes commitment, and it is work. I'll never be done getting to know Him better, I'll constantly be getting closer and closer to Him. God wants us to long for Him, more than we long for food or water. We talked about this last night, in chronological bible study, the Lord wants us all to have this kind of relationship with Him. Our relationship with Him is pretty dependent on us, and how close we want to be with Him. I know many people who want this kind of relationship with Him, but don't put the time and effort into it themselves. There is no mystical formula that needs to happen, but we must put in the time and effort. The more we do that, the more we WANT to do that. It's interesting how that works.
Those are just a few things I've been asked in the past two weeks, either from friends I know in real life and meet with pretty often, or in a message on Facebook or Instagram, and some of them I don't know at all. I pray this last part, particularly, encourages you in your faith. You can have this kind of faith, if you want it, and if you're a believer. Just start today. Pick up your bible and just start reading a chapter a day, so it's not overwhelming. My pastor always encourages people to start in the book of John. I would start there. Read the chapter slowly, and maybe even out loud, to help you really focus. I always pray before I read, too, I never just jump in, even now. I always ask that God would give me understanding over what I'm reading, and that He would change me through the reading of His word. I am currently reading in the new testament, and am in Acts five today, and I use the HEAR method.
H- highlight a verse that jumps out.
E- explain the verse in context, meaning, what is going on before, during and after the verse? Sometimes the subtitles in your bible can help you understand this.
A- apply the verse to your life in a real way. What does this mean for you today? How can you be changed, after reading this verse and passage?
R- respond to God in prayer. Write it out to Him and pray it out loud.
Just jump in today, if you haven't already, and start reading. Ask God to grow your faith, and to help you long for Him, more than you long for food or water. I pray that all the time, friends, and He is always faithful to answer that particular cry of mine. Speaking of that, I need to go read today's chapter before I get dressed to leave for the day.
Thanks for reading! Love to all.
Oh Jen this tugged at my heart...so true when you said about wanting a relationship with God....you need to put in the time!!!
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