Scripture Memorization

One of my goals for this year is to memorize one Scripture passage (not necessarily just one verse) a week.  So far, so good.  Today, via Ann Voskamp, I found this great (and free) memory aide.  I tried it out and it is awesome!  Go take a look.  Try it out with John 3:16.  I've got a widget over to the right from there with my current Scripture.

Why memorize Scripture? 

Chuck Swindoll wrote, "I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture... No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified." (Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994], p. 61).

Dallas Willard says in a piece entitled Personal Soul Care, "This practice of memorizing the Scriptures is more important than a daily quiet time, for as we fill our minds with these great passages and have them available for our meditation, 'quiet time' takes over the entirety of our lives."

But the best reasons of all are found in the Scriptures themselves.  Here are only two of that multitude of reasons:

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."  Psalm 119:11

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."  Psalm 119:105

What Are Your Ultimate Concerns?

Are they reflected in how you spend your time?

“But, far too many of us confuse the Gospel of Christ with the American Dream. Instead of our highest and most motivating aims being serving God and conforming our lives to his will, we avidly pursue college credentials, lucrative career, large home, nice things, financial security and ease of life. In effect, academic and material possessions become our gods, as well as the measure by which we judge others. No, we don't bow down before them, but as much as these are what primarily motivate and interest us--and are our ultimate concerns in life--they take a dubious place beside the Lord Almighty.”

(Homeschooling or Discipleship? By Wendy Bush)

I’m not a homeschooler anymore, but this quote got me to thinking about our “gods”. The last part of the paragraph says, “but as much as these are what primarily motivate and interest us--and are our ultimate concerns in life--they take a dubious place beside the Lord Almighty.”

What primarily motivates and interests us in our daily lives? What are our ultimate concerns? When I was younger, I would imagine someone making a documentary of my life. Filming the road to my house. Showing the fun stuff I was involved in. Of course, I was always interesting. Probably more so in my imagination than in real life. However, it is an ingenious way to look at your life.


What if someone were to document your life in film, what would we see? I pray it wouldn’t bore us to pieces as we watched you watching television late into the night or sit at the computer day in and day out, or anger us as we watched you yell and belittle your children or your spouse, or hurt us when we saw you never paying attention to the beauty and love around you. What would it show were your primary interests and motivations? Would there be any “ultimate concerns” in life taking their place next to the throne of God? When we watched you spending your time, would we cheer or cry?

Why We Must Love Blogging

"Whatever is read with interest and delight and imagination, be it current events, poetry, biography, or soul's journey, brings kinship. There is as much varied subject matter as there are many ways of reading; all can be good. A common bond and a mutual participation set in a framework of sacred idleness are bound to result in joyful fellowship."

-- The Pace of a Hen by Josephine Moffett Benton, 1961

Smooth Lines

"...I think I'd miss you even if we never met."

"I'd rather fight with you than make love with anyone else."

The Wedding Date (2005)

How far feminists have come.....

"When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit."

~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American social activist and leading figure in the early women's movement

Formalities and Refinements

"...she is the kind of girl who lacks all the formalities and refinements of life, and we have to do a little extra to make her understand. You know formalities are good things sometimes. They are like fences to keep intruders out and hedges to keep in the sacred and beautiful things of life."

Re-Creations, by Grace Livingston Hill, 1924

Quip of the Day

Republican Sen. John McCain: “Taking in my opponent’s performances is a little like watching a big summer blockbuster, and an hour in, realizing that all the best scenes were in the trailer you saw last fall.”

4th of July

Happy Independence Day!

May God bless America!

(Picture was taken Memorial Day 2005.)

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." ---Erma Bombeck

Hope you have a fun day filled with great memories!

A Home Without a Woman!

"A home without a woman! What a place it was! It was almost worse than a home without a man, and Elsie had always thought that would be most stupid and dull. But a home without a woman was no home at all; she had seen that today. It was a shell with the spirit gone."


The Honor Girl, by Grace Livingston Hill, 1927

Principle of Chaos

"The principle of chaos is common to many stories of creation. Chaos is often the starting point and apparently a good beginning for an act of creation. It's a state of freedom and the possibilities are limitless. You can channel your longings and ideas in rearranging and recreating. In essence, you can make something from chaos, which reflects what is genuinely you, for now or the future." Chapter 8, page 122

Wife Dressing

"A chronic blight on the American home scene is sleepwear in the kitchen! Negligees, bathrobes and terry towels do NOT belong with food, pots and pans. The kitchen is your natural setting as a woman and you should look beautiful, not bedraggled, in it."

Wife Dressing: The Fine Art of Being a Well-Dressed Wife by Anne Forgarty, Chapter 4