I was debating on whether to share the Week 4 Day 2 entry I'd written back on November 7, 2015. It's the first day Jen Hatmaker has us research the background of a book in the Bible before actually getting into the book itself. When I looked at day 2 I figured I was going to be expanding upon this specific day so I better include it so it makes better sense in the end. My hope is that maybe you might learn something like I did the day I did it. Thanks. Today is November 7, 2015 and I am in … [Read more...]
Where to Get the Ultimate Guide Book
(While the following post is much longer than normal at almost 2,000 words, please read the entire thing. I reveal some very person things going on in my life at the time. Thank you.) Today is November 6, 2015 and I am on week 4 day 1 of the study guide. During my quiet time, I talk about some very personal stuff but just how much God has been working in my life. When we think of the Bible, it's like the ultimate guide book. It shows us the kind of person we should strive to be. How to act … [Read more...]
Miraculous Breakthroughs (they really do happen)
I did week 3 day 5 of the study guide back on November 5, 2015. This was a huge break-through day for myself as I discovered some things God was showing me. I literally snapped out of a very depressive state. It was one of the greatest feelings I've been through and grateful the Holy Spirit worked through me the way He did that day. Now I'm going to share it with you what I wrote that day. We are asked to turn back to Psalm 68:5-10 for week 3 day 5, only we’re going to use another study … [Read more...]
How to Find Sincere Love
Today (week 3 day 3), Jen has us looking at Romans 12:9-21 again. She has us choose from a list of original phrases found in this set of verses and then has a cross-reference for a specific phrase for each one. I chose two of the nine she has listed on page 173. Original Phrase (NIV): Romans 12:9—“[sincere] love” Cross-Reference: 1 Timothy 1:5, which reads: “The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart (2 Timothy 2:22) and a good conscience and a sincere … [Read more...]
Are You a Good Host?
Wow, I had decided I would continue to post some of what I wrote when I first did Jen Hatmaker's study guide in the back of her book A Modern Girl's Guide to Bible Study. I was trying to find the post I'd started but the draft has disappeared for some reason. As I was scrolling through all my posts, I saw a bunch of drafts. So I decided to open them all up and saw that I'd already typed up about 5 days worth of quiet times from when I did it over a year and a half ago. I figured I might as well … [Read more...]
A 61 Day Bible Study Quiet Time Plan for going through Ephesians
(Since I originally wrote this post back on February 25, 2016, I started Ephesians, then made it through the third chapter, stopped for a while, started up again from the beginning last August then stopped again. When I started to have my quiet time again last month (April 2017), my desire to go through Ephesians had passed. I instead chose a short book, Jude, and went through it in about 14 days. I was debating on whether to post what I wrote below or not as I'm no longer going through it. Then … [Read more...]
How to Combat Overwhelming Sadness
I feel like I've been one of the most unmotivated people to write anything in the last year or so. It's like the zeal for it has all dried up. The hard part is I can't explain why. This makes me sad because when I do write I'm able to express myself in a way I can't do very well verbally. I think others get who I am better because they can see a piece of me with what I share. On April 11 I began to do my personal quiet time again after having had an extended absence away from it. The good … [Read more...]
5 Things to Find Happiness In
You might be thinking that the five things are going to be your stereotypical answers. Yet, the five things might shock you as the word "happy" rarely, if ever, is correlated to these five things: Our Weaknesses Insults Hard Times Suffering Calamities Who in their right might would think these five things can bring any sort of happiness? Certainly not me, at least in the world's view of happiness. However, as a believer, aren't we told to do just this? It says in 2 … [Read more...]
Life’s Too Short
As I sit here and look outside my upstairs window, the landscape is blanketed in a snowy winter wonderland. While we slept last night, snow fell, leaving about 3 inches on the ground. The trees are covered in the beautiful purity the snow brings. It’s December 1. Christmas is only days away now and we are in full-fledged shopping mode to get all the gifts for the ones we love. As this time of year always comes around, Mari is never too far from my mom. She never far from my thoughts, but, … [Read more...]
A Tip on Getting Distracted
To start off this new week in the study (week 3 day 1), Jen has us read chapter 6, “Tweezers, Velcro Rollers, and Other Tools for Girls (you just gotta love her chapter titles): Bible Study Tools You Have to Know About”. I didn’t take a lot of notes from the chapter as much as wrote down the tools Jen suggests we have while we are studying the Bible. However, I did highlight some very important things she mentions throughout it. Page 94, “Most of us don’t use our Bible helps either, but … [Read more...]
