The five main food groups include everything for a healthy life, but in my opinion, potatoes should perhaps be in a group all their own. Consider that they are served baked, French fried, scalloped, twice-baked, mashed, roasted, grated, as a salad, on top of casseroles, as the base of casseroles, and can appropriately served at all three meals. I’m pretty sure that no other vegetable can do all that!
Over the Christmas season, I was introduced to a new potato side dish via a couple of British people I follow on social media. Enter the Roasted English Potato. They require quite a bit of hands-on, but it is worth every minute! They are par-boiled, then roasted in the oven in a bit of oil for close to an hour, turning them every 15 minutes. The result is a crispy outside and a fluffy, tender potato on the inside. Potato Heaven!
A simple scroll through my Facebook page brought up three faces of friends dealing with serious health issues. They are each such testimonies of God’s grace as they weather the storms that are howling around them. My mind went immediately back to my Bible reading from this morning in the book of Job. You’re probably familiar with the successive and difficult trials that touched his life in a very short period of time. After his friends charge him wrongfully, Job speaks up and then says,
I can’t even imagine going through all Job experienced, or what my friends are enduring, but I’m so touched at the solid faith they have in their God. Of course they’re asking the Lord for deliverance, but I also see that they are asking God for “faith to be sick.” In other words, they desire the faith to trust God even though they cannot understand what He is doing. They don’t know how long this will last, or even if they’ll ever be cured. They desire to stay close and trusting the Lord, never denying or cursing Him.
Happy New Year, friends! We rolled the new year in quite quietly. My goal for December was rest and refreshment, and that’s exactly how December 31 found me! I have no regrets about that! After a busy week of Christmas activity, it was a blessing to slow things down.
The house feels a little quiet now that Christmas is behind us. The living room couch sits alone with no piles of people lounging on its fluffy pillows. The family room is void of family chatter, laughter and noise. Even after numerous sweepings, the kitchen may still have cookie sprinkles hiding under the cabinets or stove, but it’s void of the hustle and energy of the previous week. Yes, the “big holiday” is over, but you know what? Spite the emptiness of the house, my heart is very, very full. It’s full of memories, joy, and happy sighs.
Reading the entire Bible in a year is the best thing I’ve ever done. My daughter, Whitney invited me to join her about five years ago and it was the best part of my year!
Reading, understanding, and loving the Bible has transformed our lives as a followers of Jesus.
Whitney and I would love for you to read along with us in 2026!
How can you join us in reading the Bible in 2026?
—> Click here to join our group in the Bible app. This is how you’ll know what to read each day. There’s no required interaction in this group or things you have to do – but I’ve found that it’s good to have the accountability of being in a group as I read.
With the Bible app, I like to listen to the Scriptures being read audibly. You can also just read it through the app or use the daily guide as a reference for following along in your Bible. I personally prefer to read using either the ESV or CSB versions.
There are a few resources that you can use to aid your understanding as you read:
The Bible Recap podcast: A 7(ish) minute podcast that gives the context, historical background, and other details to help you understand what you read. This is such a blessing to me – many times bringing me to tears by the end of the episode.The Bible Recap book: This is a condensed version of the podcast, with a 2-page spread for each day’s reading. It’s nice to have for reference, or in place of the podcast if you’re a visual learner.
The Bible Recap Study Guide: I’m thinking about using this book for 2025, since I’ve done the basic TBR plan several years in a row now and feel like I’m ready to add an extra level of study. This book has reflection and research questions specific to each day’s reading, as well as space to write your responses.
The Bible Project YouTube videos: These are super helpful to watch before beginning a new book of the Bible. They kind of give the who, what, when and where for each book.Please don’t let this list overwhelm you! I’ve read the Bible in a year several times without any of these tools and was deeply enriched and helped. You’re not going to understand it all, but that is okay.
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RefreshHer 