Wow! 2020 is here. 2019 seemed to just fly by. I just looked back at the last post I did, and it was clear back on March 21, 2019. My desire to write has been non-existent. While I think about it quite often, I just never do it. I'm not sure why. After Mari died, I wrote all the time. It felt like I constantly had things I needed to jot down and write out to express how I was feeling. Now, Mari's been gone over 11 years. As a matter of fact, she would've turned 20 on December 29, just three … [Read more...]
Does God Have a Plan for Me? #ArmorOfGodStudy #ControlGirl
I haven’t felt compelled to write like this in quite some time. I’ve been having my daily Quiet Time (QT) with God each morning at 4am. Yup, you read that right: 4AM. Let me explain the significance here. I am a die-hard NIGHT OWL (you know - whoot whoot). So me and anything before the sun comes up is so not my thing. However, several months ago I felt God convicting me that in order to start my day off right, a consummate night owl needed to start her day bright and early (well, dark and … [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...]
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...]
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...]
The Ultimate Doubt Buster
It’s hard to believe I’m already at the end of week 2 (day 6). The time seems to have flown by but I’ve already learned so much. 1. I’m to look over the details of Isaiah 45:8-12 and read through my journal entry for week 2 day 5 to create a title out of the main idea. Title: The Doubt Buster Now Jen is having us look much closer at the details of these verses. She tells us to disconnect my mind from spitting out an easy answer and listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling me. a. Why … [Read more...]
Do you have a Doubt Buster in Your Life?
Today (week 2 day 5), she had us read Isaiah 45:8-12 for questions 1 (see the bottom of the post if you’d like to see the passage) and identify the main idea in the passage. a. What is the big picture here? What is God trying to say? Trusting God in all things. While we might question those things that go on around us, or even the world as a whole, we need to remember to never doubt God, who He is, or what He has done. It’s in the doubts that creep in that we can lose sight of the bigger … [Read more...]
What Does Love Mean to You?
Today, week 2 day 2, we're heading into a very well-known, and read, part of scripture: 1 Corinthians 13. I love that Jen takes us back there as it teaches us no matter how many times you read God's Word we can always find something new in it. What I've taken from this passage is that above all things, love matters most. Love is shown in what we do, how we are, where we go, why we act in a certain way. When we lack love, true love, something becomes missing in our lives. Things can tend to … [Read more...]
2 Steps to Start Studying the Bible (on your own)
While there wasn't any journaling given today (week 2 day 1), I plan to read the chapter and makes notes as I go along. We need to remember of everything we read in the Bible to ask, "What's the point?" On page 86, Jen says, "God is certainly in the details, but He's also definitely in the main idea." When reading God's Word for Bible study there are 2 simple steps to follow. STEP 1: Read the ENTIRE SECTION first, one time minimum through. "NO stops! NO notes! NO flipping around! Read … [Read more...]
