BEST Bible Journaling
Biblical Womanhood · Christian growth · Godly Character Traits

BEST Bible Journaling

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Recently when I was using a feature on my iPhone, the person with me said, “There are probably so many features on my phone that I don’t even know to use! This is what they had just heard me say ~

Siri, add ketchup and baking soda to my shopping list.

Alright, it’s added!

It’s so helpful to just speak and add a note to my ongoing shopping list! I need that list when I get to the store because I’ll remember things like milk or chicken, but forget things like ketchup and baking soda!

There’s another “list” that I make as I go through my week that is even more helpful, and that’s what God is teaching me each morning as I read His Word. I keep this list, for the most part, in my journal. It’s written with pen and ink. Why do I do this? It’s truly all glory to the Lord as an answer to a prayer that I asked Him for. It came from this passage ~

Jeremiah 15:16

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

I realized at one point in my life that God’s Word needed to be a higher priority, that I needed to love it more. It was then that I began to ask the Lord to give me a greater desire for it. God will answer a prayer like that, and I’m so thankful! It’s been a blessed journey!

Are you realizing like I did that you need greater doses of God’s Word? How can you know? Well, ask yourself these questions:

The answer for all of these needs is found in God’s Word. Then when we get God’s answers, it’s so important that we do something with those answers…and that includes putting it into a journal – that ongoing “list” so we won’t forget!

Last week I posted about the importance of writing down what God says to us in our Quiet Time with Him. Today let’s talk about some ways to make it easy and fun to write what God is teaching you. There are lots of ideas out there, but this is what works BEST for me. (Note the acronym that will help you remember the tips)

  • Best method – Use the method that works for you. You could use a paper journal, but if you hate to write, then type it up on your lap top on a Google Document. Or as in my opening illustration, you could even speak your note into your phone. “Hey Siri, make a note in my Bible notes.” What do you want to add? “Joseph is a reflection of Christ.” Typically iPhone notes are tricky because of misunderstanding your words, but my point is, look for the option that works best for you.
  • Equipment – Use good tools that will help you. I keep this little pouch filled with colored pens, highlighters, a straight edge for underlining, and a pencil. I buy the tiniest tip of a marker that will not transfer through pages. I also like buying colored ink and a pretty journal to make it more interesting.
  • Simplify – Keep your writing simple. I like to make bulleted points most of the time, rather than writing lengthy paragraphs.
  • Together – Keep everything in a basket, bin or tote so you can pull it together quickly in the morning. Having to go look for your highlighter or your notebook will only serve to frustrate you instead of encourage you.

Take your time as you read; be still before the Lord. It’s not the amount of things you’ve written down, but what you’re learning that is the most important. As you faithfully listen and the note what you’ve learned, you will look in time to come and see that you have grown deeper in your walk with the Lord. You have God’s Word on that!

I Peter 2:2

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”

Did this post encourage you to begin journaling or to pick it up again? I pray so! Let’s keep growing until the day we go home to heaven!

refreshing others · refreshment at home · Winter

Perk Up An Afternoon With Winter Tea

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Rather than sharing a recipe today, I’m sharing an idea using food that might perk up your lingering winter months! February can be snowy and cold, so perhaps having a fun event in the afternoon will make it a little more enjoyable!

Last month I spent a good part of one week with my parents in Kentucky. I always love being with them in their home. It’s cozy, inviting, has sunny rooms and comfy places to sit. I was there to help out while my poor mom was dealing with Sciatic nerve pain. I had the fun of cooking and helping with some of the household chores while she rested. My dad does a great job of keeping the house cleaned up, so there wasn’t a whole lot to do when my mealtime work was ended.

But as many older couples have experienced since March, they’ve had few outings, for safety sake. Life can get very routine and drab in the wintertime, and especially so when someone is not well, so I thought it would be fun to do “Winter Tea” one afternoon. I’ve enjoyed that treat many times when I’ve visited them in the past, and I knew it would be something they would enjoy.

I didn’t do a full-fledged tea with cookies, cheese and all the sandwiches – I opted for just dessert. My sister had made a delicious sponge-like cake with raspberry filling for my dad’s Christmas Eve birthday and my mom had popped the leftovers in the freezer. It was perfect. Not only was it good, it also looked really pretty on the Country Roses dishes!

I set the table with the Country Roses dishes, got the hot water in the tea pot and put out flavored teas bags. Then I went to Amazon music and found a playlist of piano songs for an afternoon tea. It added a nice atmosphere for our “event.”

We had such a good time sipping tea, enjoying the cake and ice cream and just lingering at the table chatting. It was a fun way to spend an hour together.

Children would also enjoy a tea! You could use dishes that were a little less fragile, perhaps, but still make it special, pretty and delicious. It takes a little effort, but you could make a fun memory for a child, a group of friends…or your parents.

Why not refresh an afternoon with a lovely cup of tea and cake?

Celebrations · refreshing others

Birthdays and Blessings

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Last weekend was my husband’s birthday. It wasn’t one of those “monumental” numbers, but I believe every birthday should be the best day in the year for the one who’s celebrating. I asked my husband if we could go away for a couple nights. We had an even greater blessing of a quiet three night get away to a lovely lake cottage about an hour away.

The picture below is my favorite place to sit and have my Quiet Time in the morning. The first morning we woke up to a skiff of snow. How beautiful!

I took very simple foods with me for our meals, but we always say that even a peanut butter sandwich would taste like gourmet food at the lake! Breakfast on his birthday didn’t get pictured, but consisted of Eggs in a Basket with sour dough bread, Canadian Bacon, fresh fruit and coffee.

Even oatmeal with fresh fruit tasted heavenly! The view is always breathtaking.

For Birthday supper I made one of my husband’s favorites – Turkey Burgers. I picked up pretzel rolls that put them over the top! I served oven fries and Broccoli Salad to go along with the burgers.

Dale got triple Birthday desserts spread out over the week. We celebrated with our small group with brownies and ice cream and again with our family later in the weekend.

Then we met up with some special friends at Aubrey’s where they brought him a free Turtle Cake and Ice cream. Yum.

For a Non-monumental birthday, I’d say we did lots of celebrating! We are so grateful to the Lord for every day the Lord gives us and for the blessings from His hands.

What do you do to make birthdays special?

Refresh every day like it was a birthday!

One Thing We Can Do To Grow Spiritually This Year
Godly Character Traits · spiritual growth · Spiritual Refreshment

One Thing We Can Do To Grow Spiritually This Year

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We are a family of “Foodies.” We plan out our meals. We anticipate them. We enjoy them. We record them. When a new, “successful meal” is complete, I make sure I’ve marked that recipe for future use. I have a written copy of that recipe either on-line, in one of my cookbooks, or in my recipe box because I want to be able to go back and re-do that menu!

I make notes about how I may have tweaked the recipe, a substitution I made, or even what I learned I need to do the next time I make it. I love flipping through my recipes and bringing up old recipes I’d forgotten about! Without that written reminder, it would have been lost forever because we eat lots of meal in a year’s time!

But even more than my physical food, the greatest “food” I partake of each day is the manna of God’s Word – the Bible. It is a feast that is never complete. There’s always more. It’s rich, sweet, and nourishing. I need it. I look forward to it. I remember it.

For many of us, we enjoy the taking in of God’s Word, but we do little in regards to making a memory of what we’ve read or what we’ve learned. Simply put – we don’t write anything down after we’ve read the Scriptures.
Here are four reasons I’m choosing to journal when I read God’s Word this year ~

  • It helps me remember the Truth I just learned. There’s something about putting it in ink that just cements it better in my heart and mind. That leads to the next reason…
  • It helps me meditate on those Truths throughout the day. As I’m driving, I’m thinking about what I wrote down. I talk to the Lord and ask Him questions about the things that come to my mind as I ponder it.
  • It helps me dig deeper into those Truths and add notes – things from commentaries or quotes from other authors that are a blessing.
  • It helps me see my spiritual growth. Just like the physical growth of a child isn’t seen day by day, but you see it when you compare it to last year’s growth chart, neither is my spiritual growth seen daily. However, my journal serves as my “growth chart,” if you will. As I look back a month or a year later on what I’ve written, I see how the Lord has increased my faith, taught me lessons, and revealed more about Himself to me. It’s so encouraging!

I‘ve had seasons when I didn’t journal and I truly feel I didn’t grow like I should have. See if you resonate with my reasons for not doing so. I think there are four basic explanations as to why most women don’t journal ~

  1. I’m not a writer. I think that can mean two things – 1. I don’t enjoy using a pen…it’s just not my favorite thing to do the process of writing. It’s tiring. It’s messy 2. I’m not really good at expressing myself creatively.
  2. I used to, but I’ve just gotten away from it. I got tired of the habit.
  3. It takes more time and that’s one thing I don’t have!
  4. I really don’t feel like I need to do that. I’m good with just reading. I can remember it without writing it down.

As we think back to all the physical meals we’ve eaten this past year, there’s no way we could give a commentary on each one. How could we answer, “What was the best part? What did you enjoy most?” However, if we had each recipe card in front of us, we could be reminded and have something to share, right? Let’s make the analogy – As we think back to all the spiritual meals we’ve been exposed to in this past year, (preaching as well as personal devotions) could we share one truth we learned from each one? Only if we wrote something down.

Oh how much more value there is in God’s Word than our physical food! Job said it well in Job 23:12 ~

Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Could you and I really say that? It will show in how we value the Bible. Ask God to give you a greater love for His Word so that you will treasure it more than ever before!

Next Wednesday I’m going to share some practical answers to our four excuses and also share a guide in Bible journaling that can be simple, and effective!

Refresh your response to God’s Word,

dessert · Fast dessert · Lightened Up Recipe

One Pan (Light) Cake Brownies

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There are three outstanding things in the title of this post:

  1. Brownies!
  2. One pan
  3. Light

That means I can have one of my favorite quick desserts (brownies) made with fewer calories and fewer dishes to clean up! Yes indeed!

I’ve been making this recipe for years. This came from my Better Homes and Gardens Family Favorites Made Lighter Cookbook. When I decided this would be my husband’s birthday treat (with ice cream, of course!), I went looking on my blog recipe index and couldn’t believe I’ve never shared the recipe here! Well, let’s fix that today!

I love, love, love my Deep Dish Brownies, but they have ALL the fat and calories that most recipes like this would have. There’s no need to blow eating moderately healthy just because there’s a celebration! There are lots of great dessert recipes that have fewer calories and fat grams…and this is one of them!

All you need to pull out to mix it up is a medium-size sauce pan.

Everything gets mixed into this pan and then poured into a 9x9x2″ greased pan! Here’s the simple recipe:

Cake Brownies

  • 1/4 Cup Butter
  • 2/3 Cup Sugar
  • 1/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa powder
  • 1 Egg White
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla
  • 1/3 Cup low-fat Milk
  • 3/4 Cup Flour
  • 1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
  • 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 1/3 Cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts

In medium saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from the heat. Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder till combined.

Add egg white and vanilla to saucepan. Using a wooden spoon, lightly beat just till combined. Add flour, milk, baking powder and baking soda. Beat with the spoon till well combined. Stir in nuts. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 16 – 18 minutes or till a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Drizzle with Chocolate Powdered Sugar Icing. Let stand 1/2 hour or till icing is set. Cut into bars.

Chocolate Powdered Sugar Icing: In a small mixing bowl stir together 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1 Tbl. unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp vanilla and enough milk (1-2 Tbl) to make drizzling consistency.

In about 30 minutes you will have brownies cooling on your counter! And since these are lighter than most recipes, you can feel good about adding that scoop of ice cream to your square!

These have a great cake-like texture, and are very moist. You won’t miss any of the fattening things they left out of the recipe and I doubt you’ll mix all the extra bowls! Simple and simply good!

I hope you’ll try them!