Take the Bible Reading Challenge!

GENESIS IN 15 days!!!

Take the challenge with me!

Do you need a little nudge to read your Bible everyday? Perhaps a little extra encouragement? I will be hosting accountability groups to read through the books of the bible. The first challenge will take a look at Genesis. When you take this challenge you will be part of an accountability group where you can share questions, struggles, and encouragement. I will also give you tools and resources to really understand Genesis. 

When will it start?

Well...That is undecided right now. It will be mid-late June. We are about to close on our new home (YAY...no more temporary lodging) and things will be a bit crazy with the move. I want to make sure I am totally dedicated when the challenge starts. Keep an eye out for a start date!

What will I have to do?

You won't have to do anything but read your bible. However, I will provide some studies and journaling techniques you can use. And interaction in the group is always welcomed and encouraged!

How often will I have to read?

The plan we will follow is a 5 day plan, that way you have 2 days you can continue with your own studies, get caught up, or of course, read ahead!

How long will I have to read?

Reading time will differ daily, anywhere from 10-20 minutes. You can read while cooking dinner, listen to it on your commute, read when you lay down at night, or...wake up 10 minutes early. C'mon..it's only 10 minutes!

Please pray and consider joining me in this challenge. I know you will be blessed by it! After the Genesis challenge we will have another book of the Bible challenge.

I am so excited and I can't wait!

Be sure to subscribe to get updates and posts straight to your email so you don't miss the latest info on the challenge. Use the 'Follow Me By Email' on the left-hand side of my page to sign up.  :)

Are you ready for the challenge...let me know and leave a comment. Please share your questions by comments or send me an email!

Finding Your Quiet Place: The Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

(My current quiet place in our hotel room. Notice the blow up mattress against the wall :)

Ok, I know…my current quiet place is not glamorous but it is the best I can do right now. We recently moved to our new duty station and until we can move in our new home we are staying in an extended stay hotel. My options are this chair, the shower, or the bed which doubles as my son’s play area.  And since I can’t bring my Bible in the shower…the chair it is.

So let’s take a look at the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of a quiet place.

Who...needs a quiet place and quiet time? Everyone! Even Jesus went to his quiet place in the garden before his crucifixion. It says in Matthew 14:23 that after Jesus calmed the storm, He went up on the mountainside by himself to pray.

What…is a quiet place? An area where you purposefully go to to spend time with the Lord, to read His word, to hear what He has to say, to talk to Him, to spend time in solitude. To make the most of your time, try to have your quiet place prepped before you go. That way you can avoid excuses to not go.

When…should you go to your quiet place? Daily! There are multiple scriptures that mention to have quiet time in the morning, when you rise. In 1 Samuel 1:19 it says, “They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord.” Mark 1:35 states, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” I have spent so many mornings arguing with myself why I don’t have time in the morning and that I would have my time in the evening after my son goes so sleep or during nap time. Well, that hardly ever works out. I make excuses then. Just do it in the morning and I promise, if you fill up with God in the morning you will be fully charged, ready to go for the whole day!

Where… should by quiet place be? A quiet place doesn’t have to be a garden or hilltop. It is simply a designated place where you can focus, distraction free, on the word of God and prayer. You make it a purpose to go to your quiet spot. It can be a breakfast table after the morning chaos is gone, a corner of your house with an oversized pillow, a picnic table in the sun, anything! As long as you can focus on God, it can be your quiet place.

Why… is it important to find your own quiet place? We go to our quiet place for a purpose. If you go into the bathroom you know you are going for a minimal number things. You are not going to make dinner, take a nap, or watch tv. Same goes for your quiet place. You go to your quiet place with a task in mind. It helps to detour you from distractions and helps you get the job done. "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is gone in secret will reward you." Matthew 6:6

Do You Believe In A Perfect God?

Has something ever not gone your way? Did things turn out for the worse instead of for the better? Did you try your best, your very best, only to get turned down? What did you think afterwards? Keep those thoughts in mind as we take a look at Eli...

Eli was a priest, a man of God. His sons, however, are described in 1 Samuel 2 as wicked. They “were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.” V12. Whoah…To be referred to as a scoundrel in the word of the Lord…Whoah! Eli had lived his life honoring God but his sons did not. In conjunction with their disregard for the Lord they were guilty of blaspheme. You can read for yourself here in 1 Samuel 2 all of their scoundrel deeds (it gets pretty juicy).

At this point you would think poor Eli right? He lived a life according to the law but his sons are not turning to the Lord. Does this sound familiar to anyone. So many parents drag their children to church throughout their childhood but once they leave the nest they have nothing to do with the church ever again.

Where we would read and think poor Eli, the Lord was not thinking the same thing. Not at all! A reoccurring theme all throughout Deuteronomy is to teach your children the way of the Lord, to teach them when we sit at home, when walking outside, when we go to bed, and when we rise. We need to be praying for our children constantly. It is part of our job as a parent, no matter our profession, even if you are a priest. God was not happy.

Must Read of 2015

So good even my toddler wants to read!

So here it is...Drumroll please.....The first ever (for me) must read of the year! I read Unstoppable at the start of this year and let me tell ya, life changer! We have all read Hebrews 12:1-2 right? "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with endurance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."

These verses have been my life motto since high school. I was a runner, and still run from time to time when I get the urge, from 5th grade through my freshman year of college until I blew my ankle.  I relate to running; it speaks to me. In a later post I will break these 2 verses down phrase and by phrase and we can explore together and learn the message behind them. 

Before reading this book I read the scriptures and looked at it as though I  had a race that I had to run. I  had to try my best and encourage others in their race. I needed to run as hard as possible to win, and upon crossing that finish line I would hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."Boy was I wrong.

The Waiting Game: Linking Military Life and Christianity

SrA Valencia and his wife Jessica at his 1st homecoming of their marriage.
(Photo curtesy of www.carlymoonimages.com)

What does a military spouse and a Christian have in common? We are both waiting for our bridegroom to return. I am about through my 7^th year of being a military spouse and if there is one thing I know, it is that my husband will be gone…a lot. For some of you it is your wife, brother, son, daughter. Whoever it is you have played the waiting game before. Waiting for a letter, phone call, expected return date, their actual return date, the 2^nd, 5^th, and 10^th first kiss. When my husband first leaves I put on my happy face and fake it. I fake it until I believe it. I am fine, don’t lose it right here in the BX, be strong for your son, don’t let your husband see how hard it is on you. I am not in anyway taking the credit for a deployment. The service member has to put on the same face. They don’t have a chance to lose it. They must hold it together and for that I give my husband and all else serving my utmost respect.

We are referred to as Jesus’s bride and he is our bridegroom. In the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25) they are waiting for the return of their bridegroom. Five turn out to be foolish and miss the wedding while the remaining 5 are wise and were able to attend the wedding feast. What an amazing visual for the military spouse! This is what we do all the time! We are waiting for our husbands to come, waiting to be reunited.

Here are some similarities of the military spouse and a Christian:

1.     Remain Faithful! Being faithful to your spouse is a must during deployment. It can be hard. Sadly, some spouses cannot endure this trial and waiting and they fill the missing gap with another where their spouse should be. There is temptation all around us to not stay faithful. We live in a culture where being monogamous in a marriage is not a top priority.

We are to have no other idols before our Lord God.  Until His return we are to remain faithful to Him and keep his commands. He loves us and deeply wants us to remain faithful. Remaining faithful to Jesus means to stay away from sin and temptation. If we do slip and break that trust we must come to our bridegroom and confess and ask for forgiveness. The amazing thing is that He will always forgive and welcome us back with open arms.

More Bible Study Tips!

Last week I shared with you a method I use to study the Bible by conducting a word study with a concordance. If you missed it, you can find it here. Below are the steps to conduct another successful word study. This study is excellent for any level of studier. If you are the person who spends time everyday reading and journaling or if you read one well-known verse a day, it's all right. This study tip can work for you! It can also spice up your studying and make it more fun! I noted 2 things in the previous study using the concordance:

-Not to worry about the numbers off to the side of the word you are looking up.
-There is a Greek and Hebrew dictionary in the book. 

Well, we are going to going back to those two points to understand scripture on a deeper level and gain knowledge of their true meaning. Keep in mind. All of this can be done online; a concordance book is not nessecary. There is just something I love about a book :) 

If the Bible has an English translation why do we need the Greek and Hebrew dictionary? Good Question! What do you call the white fluffy stuff that falls from the sky in winter? Snow, right? Well the Inuit tribe, loosely known as Eskimos, have over 200 words for snow. Snow is their life. Think about your experience with snow. Some have been good and some bad. There's the fantastic snow that packs well for snowmen and snowballs, the snow that turns to slush, the snow that is hard as ice, pretty snow, ugly snow, etc. The Inuits have a word for each type. The English language has lost so much of its vocabulary and meaning to its words. You say you love Starucks. You say you love someones outfit. Would you be willing to lay your life down for the Starbucks or outfit if someone was about to destroy it or throw it away? Of course not! Then why do we say we love those things if we love our spouse, family, children, God. We are putting our Frappe on the same level as God. 

When the original text of the Bible was translated, English words were lacking. Since we already looked at love, let's tackle that one. Where we would say we love a movie, friend, God, 'make love', etc., the Hebrews and Greeks would have a separate word to distinguish between them. 
Agape, Eros, Philia, Ahab, Hesed, and Raham, are all words for love that have different meanings. So when studying the Bible we need to look the meaning for the original words.

So how do I do that? Another good question. Let's look at the word glory. Glory is used a lot in the Bible (402 times actually, thank you concordance). A common theme in the Bible is when people would see the glory of God they would fall to the ground. Is out of reverence to the Lord or could there be more to it? Unless you already know the Hebrew and Greek for the word you are looking up this is where the internet would come in handy. Strong's dictionaries is listed alphabetically in their own language. 

There are two way to go about this. You can Google the word and find the needed corresponding number or you can use the concordance to find the number. The only problem with using Strong's is that it only indexes words from the King James version so depending on your version of the Bible, your word may not be in there. I will walk you through both ways, both very easy!

Before we get started let me show you the different parts of Strong's. It is quite large and can be quite intimidating the first (or even 5th) time you use it.

(The black tabs make it SO much easier to navigate)

Is Your Strength in The Lord?

Google the word strength or strong...now...do it now....What do you see? Images like these? Military men and women, flawless women lifting weights, a strongman competition, pictures of dumbbells and kettle bells being lifted.

Are you strong? Would you find yourself on a Wheaties box? Could you imagine conducting a Google search for “strong” and picture of your smiling face come up? Ya, me neither... (for myself, not youJ)

Let me tell you about Samson the Nazirite of the Old Testament (the Samson and Delilah story). He was of great strength and belonged to God. We are talking superman strength. Well, maybe not that strong but he had the strength to tear apart a lion with his hands, kill 30 men, break free of the ropes he was bound with and kill 1000 men with a donkey’s jaw bone, and push over the supporting pillars of the Philistines temple causing it to fall. Ok, pretty much superman!

Samson had long hair that he wore in braids and part of being a Nazirite was he was not to cut his hair, as his hair was the source of his strength. Samson's whole story can be read in Judges chapters 13-16. In the story (chapter 16), Delilah, the prostitute he ended up falling for, betrayed him by finding out where his strength came from and letting the Philistines know so they could rob him of it. When his hair was cut the Bible says in Judges 16:19, "...his STRENGTH LEFT him." After his hair was cut he awoke to fight and verse 20 says "...but he did not know that the LORD had LEFT him." There is a direct correlation!!! His STRENGTH left him and the LORD had left him.

               The Lord gives us strength because he IS strength. The LORD is STRENGTH.

LORD=STRENGTH

The psalmist David wrote, “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust Him with all of my heart. He helps me…” Psalm 28:7

 It is who he is! Let God be your strength. Want to know what I think of when I picture strength? I see a person weeping, on their knees in prayer, a tear stained Bible, a person serving others when they have so many needs of their own to be met, someone turning the other cheek and keeping their mouth shut when they have so many reasons to burst. That is a strong person. Let God be your strength, not advice from friends, chocolate, your bed, wine, Netflix, exercise, reading, etc. Let God be your strength...Say to yourself, “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust Him with all of my heart. He helps me and my heart is filled with joy.”

How do you let the Lord be your strength?

1.Read! When times are shaky, life gets you down, you could use a pick me up, open your Bible and read. Rely on the Word of God and it will be the best thing you have ever done.

Bible Study Tools

A few years ago I was not able to just read the Bible and study it. I had to have some sort of Bible study to follow, be it a book or on-line devotional. I didn't understand how people could just start reading the Bible on any given page and get something out of it. Once day I called a friend to chat and she told me that she had spent her morning just reading the Bible.What? How do you do that? How do you know where to start? How can it be that interesting to read for over an hour (or even 20 minutes)? I used to be one of those people who would only read a few verses and call it a day. Even though God would reveal Himself to me in those few verses, I still craved more, just didn't know how to get more. Still I read only a couple verses and chew on it for a while. There is nothing wrong with that. Hold on to your seats, I am about to show you a way to study the Bible using only ONE WORD (or maybe a phrase).

(A pretty pen always makes writing more fun right?)

Here is it is ladies and Gents... The Strong's Concordance with the Greek and Hebrew dictionary. Now, you don't have to have this 2,000+ page book to use a concordance but I like the paper version of everything. There are  sights online here and other brands. My Pastor and his wife gave this book to me as a going away gift when we left England.

A concordance shows alphabetically all of the words used in the Bible and their location. So you can look up the word turtle, ( yup that's in there...2 times) and it will show you what verses they are located in. So to use this to study you can find a word in the Bible that you want to know more about or a word that you hear a lot, confused about, find a pattern, etc. You may not think this will help you study the Bible much but believe me...if nothing, you will start to memorize where the books of the Bible are located. 

One of the word studies that I completed was on angel of the Lord.  I had been in a discussion of the angel of the Lord being the pre-incarnate Jesus. I was intrigued so instead of going to internet and get preconceived notions about it I decided to use my concordance. Below are the steps I took that you too can follow for any word study.

1.Find it! Pick out a word. Write down every time the word appears in the Bible. 'Angel of the Lord' was 77 times! I suggest leaving room to write some notes between each entry. I had to chicken scratch to fit my notes on the page.

(I talk about the other number here. Don't let the vastness of the book and all of the attributes intimidate you. It's easy to understand, I promise!)

Are You Still Being Potty Trained?...Spiritually Speaking Of Course

(Believe it or not this was not staged)

 Ugh!Yesterday I was talking with my husband and we thought we had did it, reached the ultimate parenting achievement, one parents of babies can only dream about... we potty trained our kiddo! No more spending money on diapers! No more playing 'nose-goes' when we smell a non-pleasing aroma. We had had 3 days of no accidents; not even a mad dash to the toilet because he couldn't hold it anymore. But today has been different. This kid will not shut off! He is having accident after accident. Thankfully the temporary house we are in has tile (we are in the beginning stages of another military move). For those who know military lingo, we PCS'd about a month ago and are still in TLF :). He is acting like he has no clue what a potty is even used for. While cleaning up his 3rd oopsie of the day, I had a little talk with God. I asked Him to please speak to me through this; to entertain me with his reasoning for this. And let me tell you...He didn't disappoint. This is what He revealed...

Are you still being potty trained... Spiritually? What do you mean by that, Amanda? Hear me out.

But wait, consider yourself warned. This post may not be for those who have never dealt with potty training before. Unless you know my struggle you may think I am crazy and that there is no way God is talking to me through pee pants. But hang with me and if nothing else...laugh! To all you mommies and daddies, caregivers, day care teachers, aunties, brothers and sisters, and all else who have had to clean up someones pee or poo...

Some of us are still being spiritually potty trained. Let's look at the life a potty trainee:

1. They do not know what to do. Some kids, when being trained, do not yet understand why these crazy things are happening, why the are being held in a mad dash to the bathroom, why they are wearing these new sleek and less crinkly 'diapers', why this change is going on in their life or what to do. Is this you? Do you see the world changing around you but don't know how to keep up with it or how to fix it? Are you confused by the changes going on in your life and don't like it? Is your whole world being turned upside down and don't know why? Perhaps it's time to embrace the potty and become trained...spiritually! All of the answers to life are found in God and in His word, the Bible. All confusion and care and worries can be casted to Him and you will receive peace and understanding in return. The Psalm below describes it perfectly...


"The opening of Your Word gives light. It gives understanding to the child-like." Psalm 119:130

How to Avoid Disappointment... 2 Kings 5:1-13

Hi All! 
Nod your head if you would like to to go a week, or even a day, without the feeling of disappoinetment? How many of you have read the story of Naaman being healed from leprosy in 2 Kings 5 before? Well let me tell you...it is powerful! This passage holds the key to never being disappointed.

Please take 11 minutes to watch my video message on how to avoid disappointment. Below is a type-out of the message for those who can't watch the video.

Please let me know your thoughts and questions! Let's discuss them!

Where It All Began... How to Start Your Own Journey Through the Bible!

If this is your first time here...Welcome! I am glad you stopped by! I truly pray each person who reads a post will become encouraged or blessed in someway or another. We are all part of the body of Christ and we should be willing to lift one another up.

What sparked the idea of setting a goal to read through the whole Bible? Actually, the real question should be, What made me get serious this time about reading through the Bible? I have wanted to set a goal of reading through the Bible just about every January since about 2003 but I knew deep inside that I didn't have the discipline to actually do it. I may get through Genesis, possibly Exodus, but there was NO WAY I was going to make it through Leviticus. C'mon, who could possibly enjoy reading that book of the Bible. Well, it has been my favorite book to date! Who would have thunk it!

(My son wanted me to take a picture
with his truck instead of my book)

When my husband was stationed at a base in England I was part of the PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel), a group of ladies from various denominations who come together to worship, serve, learn and love one another through various Bible Studies. The study I chose was The Books of the Bible-Covenant History, the books of the bible, Genesis through 2 Kings, but with-out headlines, chapter or verse numbers. You are reading it as one long story. Each week you are to read a certain amount of pages, which was about and 45min a day for 5 days, and then discuss it with your group each week. I was sold! An accountability group to get through those first books of the Bible...Hallelujah! Before I began, I prayed, like a lot, that I would get through it and become hooked on reading the Bible, that I wouldn't want to stop. And God did just that for me! It was then I knew I was going to be serious about reading through the Bible this year. Now, I am not too set on the 'year' aspect of it. I don't want to become pressured and start reading for the wrong reason, to meet a goal and not for the knowledge, wisdom, and growing closer to God through His living word.

My challenge for you...

1.Review! If you have not yet set this goal for yourself, figure out why. Really look deep and find out why. More than likely it will be a poor excuse. Mine always were. No excuse is good enough to put God on the back burner. It is not about us, it is about God. Pray that God will change your heart and put in the desire to read and grow closer to Him.

(I am using the 'Reading Plan' App to track
my progress. There are many different plans
to choose from)

2.Create a plan! There are so many apps, books, websites, etc, that are created to help you with just this. Search for them and see which one works for you. You can read it in certain sections, chronologically, how it was written, etc. There are so many way. See which one works for you.

3.Create a checklist! If not a checklist then something visual where you can see your progress. You can go by each chapter or book. However the pattern, make one! I promise you...seeing your progress will help to keep you on track.

4.Start reading! Keep a journal and as your read write down questions, verses that stuck out to you, something that amazed you, something that really confused you. If you can't think of what to write then write a prayer, a list of blessings you are thankful for, anything!

5.Keep going! Some days I read 5 chapters while others I only read a chapter or even a few verses. Some days I cannot wait to read my Bible while others it takes discipline. You will be blessed either way!

Please let me know what plan you use and share with others.

"For the Lord gives wisdom, from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding." 

Proverbs 2:6