Scripture Memorization

 Since September of last year I've been memorizing Bible Verses. I'm not the best at memorizing things and I remember when I was in school I hated having to do spelling test because that was nothing but memorizing. As I've grown as a Christian I have found a way that helps me memorize Scripture where it will stick with me.

The first thing I do is pray about what I am getting ready to memorize and that God will show me ways I can apply a verse to my everyday life. The second thing I do is pick out Scripture that I can relate to or I use the Bible verses in my devotional. Starting in September I used the Mandisa Word Warriors Scriptures. She had picked a verse for every month that went along with one of her songs on her album "Overcomer." I also used Bible verses on Twitter and in my everyday reading.

When I started the devotional Faithful One by Amy-Jo Girardier I would memorize the verse the devotional said to. In my latest Bible study, Stepping Up: a Journey through the Psalms of Ascent by Beth Moore, I am going to memorize a whole chapter in Psalms. I also use the verse of the month on the Karen Kingsbury 2015 Wall Calendar. 

What I use to help me memorize is a stack of colorful note cards to write the verse on and draw pictures to help me remember key words. I use a post-it note to put on my bathroom wall so I see it everyday. I set a goal to memorize it by. I write the verse down in a little notebook everyday. When I have the verse memorized I highlight it in my Bible, write a way it can apply to life, and put a colorful tab on it so I can quickly turn to it in my Bible when I need it or just want to read it.

Some verses I've memorized are:

• 1 Peter 1:8
• James 5:16
• Ephesians 6:20
• 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I hope this helps you as you set out to memorize Scripture.

The Adventure Has Been Great So Far

February 24, 2008 my life changed forever. I had been having a rough time for awhile. These rough times came from not agreeing with friends, a few bumps in the family road, and boy problems. It just so happened that the boy problems were what was going to open my eyes to God.

I was 13 years old, getting ready to turn 14 in a few months. I had my heartbroken over a guy on that February day. I honestly don't know what had happened between the guy and me, but it was the best thing that had ever happened.

My mom and I went to a Christian bookstore on February 24th and, as I was browsing the Bible shelves, a Bible caught my attention. It was an NIV True Image Bible and my mom bought it for me.

That night, as I was sitting in my room and looking through this new Bible, I found a page in the back labeled "Christianity 101." I was curious do I read it.

This peace came over me and I felt truly happy for the first time in a long time. I realized in that moment that God was with me even when no one else wasn't and Jesus is my True Prince Charming and He had someone planned for me!

I thought I had been saved about two or three times before that. But that night at 10pm, I KNEW 100% sure that I had started a relationship with God!

A lot of things hit my family all at once after that and it was a storm. Instead of questioning God about why these things were happening I clung to God as hard as I could! God knew that I needed Him at that time more than ever.

Now, seven years later there have been tons of hard times, but billions of amazingly happy times! I praise God that He never gave up on me and continued to pursue me and pursues me now. Life is hard, but a life with a relationship with God makes everything sweet and beautiful in the right time! By the way, God loves you and is pursuing you too!

 The Roman Road to Salvation 

The True Image Bible 

Protecting Love

 (picture from the movie One Night with the King. You can buy the movie here.)
Happy Valentine's Day!
 I have been doing a 13 day study on the book of Esther through She Reads Truth​ and I read something that got my attention and is perfect to share for Valentine's Day.
"The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden." ~Esther 7:7
Okay, I know you're probably wondering why I'm sharing this verse about a king being angry, but just hear me out. Esther had just reviled to the king that she was a Jew and that Haman was trying to kill her people. I believe the king was upset that Esther had kept her heritage from him for so long, but he was more upset that his right-hand man had used him and was trying to kill his wife and her people.
So what does this have to do with Valentine's Day and love? I believe the reason the king got up and went outside is because he loved Esther so much he wanted to guard her heart. I think he didn't want to scare her because she saw him get mad, maybe yell and throw a few things. I believe he didn't want her to think he would ever hurt her, emotionally or physically when he was angry. I believe he wanted her to know she could tell him anything, yes he might get mad, but after he cooled off he would be there for her. The king loved Esther enough that he didn't want her to see him as anything but the gently husband she needed. To me this is a big sign of true love and a sign of a godly man.
Also through this study, I think the feast in the end of Esther, Purim, happened on Valentine's Day! I did some research and the month of Adar is possibly in February. So, I've made Hamantaschen and Kreplach for Valentine's Day. Here's the recipes:
Hamantaschen Recipe
Kreplach Recipe
Finally, I want to share this music video because it fits my life on this Valentine's Day:

Again, Happy Valentine's Day!

Random Acts of Kindness

 

There are sad things going on in the world and people have bad days. But what if you could make things just a little bit brighter? February 9-15, 2015 is National Random Acts of Kindness Week. The idea is to do something that is nice for someone else to brighten their day.

Some ideas are to place uplifting sticky notes in public places for people to fined. You can also leave a dollar taped to a vending machine so someone else can get a drink or snack. A group of people can bake sweets and hand them out for free to people. You can take balloons to a hospital and ask the nurse at the front desk to deliver the balloons to someone who needs uplifting or doesn't get many visitors.

There are tons of ideas! Ideas that won't cost you a thing and ideas that a group of people can do together. Google ideas or look on pinterest and let's make this Random Acts of Kindness Week one people can't forget!

Bible studies of 2015

  Welcome to the "official" blog post of 2015! I wanted to share about some things to be looking for on the blog in the upcoming months. First of all I am doing something that is on my bucket list this year. I am taking a photo everyday for the whole year. I have an album titled "A Photo A Day" on my Facebook page. I am doing this to document the changes I will make over this year.
Next, I will probably be doing some posts on the Bible studies I will be doing this year. The first one I have started out with is Faithful One by Amy-Jo Girardier. It is an eight week study on the books of 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. You can buy it here. I use the 1st and 2nd Thessalonians journal, which you can buy here, to take notes and provide more study tools. I also use a "Wreck journal" to doodle  in and drive home key points with pictures. My Bible choice is my NIV Bible I use everyday and my Quick View Bible that has graphs and charts in it. 
I'm taking a different approach to studying God's Word this year. Instead of just reading the Bible cover to cover, I want to do different devotionals to dig dipper into the Word and maybe understand it more! It's going to be a great New Year!

Special New Year's post

New Year's Eve was great! My best friend, really sister, Courtney came over along with one of her friends and one of my friends. I decorated the house with blue and silver Christmas ornaments and gold beads. Court came over and helped me and then we ran to Walmart to get hats, confetti crackers, and pizza.

We stopped by her house and about got chased by an evil dog. We went back to the house and filled balloons with confetti and hung them up. Then we set all the food out and the sparkling grape juice, no alcohol! We wanted to have fun and still remember everything!

We laughed over having difficulty fixing pizza and we sat around and talked and watched Dick's Rocking Eve Party. At midnight we popped the balloons and confetti went everywhere! We popped the crackers and toasted with sparkling grape juice. We had our hats on and took the first pictures of 2015!

Everyone left, but Courtney stayed the night and we started cleaning up. It took us about an hour to get everything cleaned up and back to normal before the party. Court went to bed and I stayed up watching TV. I thought about what New Year's resolutions I wanted to make. Here's what I have:

• Be a better Christian. I can do a lot better and I do want to grow closer to God in 2015
• Do better in school. I was pretty slack this semester. I need to do better and I know I can
• Get more serious about my writing. I could be working on the thing I love if I just had more drive
• Relearn an old hobby. I'm going to focus on playing the guitar
• Eat heather and exercise more. I know a lot of people makes this resolution but I am very serious about this
• Live more in the present instead of the past. I have a hard time of forgetting things and living in the past. I want to change that because I know living in the past will hold me back.

I hope all of you have had a great New Year and 2015 is a great year for you!

Special Edition: Veterans Day

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” ~Exodus 14:14

Today is Veterans Day. I have always been thankful for the military and what the soldiers do so I have freedom. I spent Sunday night in the VA hospital, because of a family member, and I got the blessing of spending a couple of hours talking to a retired soldier. Hearing what he saw and some of the things he had to do made me appreciate the soldiers so much more! They are protecting strangers and risking their lives every day! When I was in Ohio for Spring Break last year, seeing the planes that were used in wars with the bullet holes was a real eye opener! So on this day, and every other day, pray for our soldiers and their families. And if you get the chance, thank a Veteran. They've done so much for us! Happy Veterans Day.

It's been a year!

One year ago today I sat in the back of my college math class, after class was over, and wrote the first post for A Traveler's Thoughts. At the time I didn't know if I was going to keep the blog or not. It was something I was just trying to see if people wanted to read about what I had to say.
Here we are a year later, thanks to all of you who read my posts! This blog wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you! A big thanks goes to Victoria over at Miss Tadoodles Corner for helping me with the set up of this blog.
Of course this blog would be nothing if it wasn't for God and my relationship with Him. He's given me a desire to share about Him and He is with me all the way!
I want to apologize for not posting regularly these past few weeks. I've been sick and school has been crazy. But, I'm back on schedule and next week we will be talking about Operation Christmas Child.
Again, thank you to everyone who reads these posts and likes my Facebook page and follows me on Twitter and Instagram! I can't wait to see what the next year looks like!
"The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer, my God, my Stronghold in whom I take refuge, my Shield, the glory of my salvation, and my High Tower." ~Psalm 18:2

Being God's Princess

I've been reading His Princess Love Letters from Your King by Sheri Rose Shepherd. She wrote this book as though God is writing a letter to us personally and a Bible Verse that goes with it. There are eighty-seven "letters" in it. This book has helped me so much. I want to take the first six "letters" I have read so far and focus on the Bible Verses.

"You didn't choose Me, I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using My Name." ~John 15:16. Think about this, GOD choose you! He wants a relationship with you and to hear about your day and your problems! He's NEVER too busy for you! He has a job for us. We are His hands and feet to bring forth the fruit "other Christians" and it'll be forever!
"Am I not trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." ~Galatians 1:10. We are not meant to fit in with the world. So, we can't win the approval of people who don't believe in God. But why would we want their approval over God's approval in the first place? A friend of mine once told me, that in one of their college classes the professor assigned a book full of foul language and inappropriate scenes and also talked about how God wasn't real. This friend felt condemned of reading this book. So they went and told the professor they could not read this book. The professor said they had the option of taking an F on the assignment or reading the book. My friend took the F. They chose God's approval over man's.
"'And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty." ~2Corinthians 6:18. God is our Dad. He created us. He wanted a relationship with us. He planned our lives. He watches over us. He cheers us on. He comforts us. He loves us. Therefore, we can call Him Father.
"The Lord said: 'It isn't too late. You can still return to Me with all your heart.'" ~Joel 2:12 (CEV). Anything you have done, no matter how bad, you can still have a relationship with God! He still loves you!
"You are the light of the world-like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all." ~Matthew5:14-15. Someone is always watching you. It could be a teacher, a student, a friend, or a complete stranger. But someone always sees how you act and what message you are sending. Also, you could be the only form of the Bible someone sees. So shine for God!
"Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win." ~1 Corinthians 9:24. The world is going to judge you on a lot of different things. People are going to expect too much out of you sometimes. You're going to put to much pressure on yourself. Stop. Breathe. Remember that you have already won if you have a relationship with Christ. You are Heaven bond!
Here is a link to Sheri Rose Shepherd's website and here's a link to the book I am reading on Amazon.