November Scripture Writing Plan: Contentment

Happy almost November friends! 

The scripture plan this month is over a topic that many folks have 

suggested when I asked for topic suggestions on Facebook, 

CONTENTMENT!

Contentment is such a struggle in our world for so many today.

Because of social media it's easier than ever to compare 

our lives to others and feel we are lacking. 

Relationships, homes, jobs, kids, friendships- you name it, we compare ours to others. 

We see the pretty perfect pictures many post on Instagram and Facebook and look

 around at our own lives thinking....my life is so NOT like that. 

When we compare, we often spend lots of time thinking "If only....". 

If only I had a bigger house, a bigger bank account, better behaved children, 

a better job, more friends, a more romantic husband, etc.

When we focus on "If I only had..." we start to wallow in it

and almost always become discontent.

We have to remember that God has placed us or allowed 

us to be right where we are right now. 

He wants us to fix our eyes solely on Him and

 to look to HIM for our worth, 

not our circumstances or our position in society. 

The truth is, we don't have to like where we are or what we have, 

but if we will choose to thank God for His provisions regardless of our 

feelings towards those things, we will grow content. 

It's difficult to be thankful in imperfect circumstances, 

but Jesus enables us to be content through His power and His strength.

My prayer is that this month, as we focus on these verses about contentment, 

we take our eyes off of others and instead fix them on Jesus. 

May we find peace that comes only from Him, no matter the circumstances of our lives.  

May we find gratitude in all that He has provided for us 

and peace so that we may truly be content in His faithful provision and blessings. 

FYI: I made the plan 31 days and plan to do that with

all topical plans in the future so that they can be done any month-

not just the month I write them for.

TO PRINT: You can find a copy of the plan in the folder HERE.

Bible Study 101: Verse Mapping Part 2

I had so many great questions about verse mapping from this post  

on verse mapping that I decided to do a quick follow up post! 

Frequently asked questions about verse mapping: 

Where to start? What do you recommend? 

I think starting with a few of your favorite verses is a great idea. Because they are verses you love you probably think you know everything about them. It's fun to verse map them and find out even more info about them! 

How do you decide what verse to map? 

I either do a verse from a list I keep on my phone (of verses I come across that I want to study) or a verse from a Bible study I am doing or hear in a sermon or podcast.

How long does it take you to do a verse map? 

It takes me around 20-30 minutes to do a verse map. 

What do you do with your finished verse maps? How do you store them? 

I do mine on loose leaf graph paper so that I can keep them in a binder, 

sorted alphabetically by verse. 

Can you give us a list of verses to map? 

Sure! I'll post a list of 100 popular verses below for you to start with. 

Can you save the Instagram stories about verse mapping to your highlights? 

Yes! It's saved under the highlight titled Bible Study 101

I created a quick worksheet with the basics of verse mapping 

and a list of 100 verses to verse map. 

You can find the PDF in HERE to download a copy. 

Bible Study 101: Verse Mapping Part 1

I often get questions regarding what Bible I use and how I go about studying the Bible. 

I decided to do a couple of blog posts regarding this topic so 

when someone asks, I can easily reference this list and send them a link.

Previous posts on the topic are listed below: 

BIBLE STUDY 101: STUDY AND READING SUPPLIES

BIBLE STUDY 101: ONLINE RESOURCES

Today I am sharing one method I use for Bible study- verse mapping.
Verse mapping is simply taking a verse (or two) and 

breaking it down and researching the verse. 

I love verse mapping because it's a way to dig into a scripture pretty quickly. 

I always learn tons when I verse map and just love the process!

There are tons of ways to go about doing verse mapping but I typically do the following:

Read and Write it:

• Read the verse in context. I typically read the whole chapter and sometimes several chapters.
• Read the verse in several different translations. I use Bible Gateway for this. 
• Write the verse down on a sheet of paper. I use graph paper but any paper will do!

Map it: 

• Research the background of the verse and write down what I discover (who wrote it, when, where, who was the audience, etc.)
• Circle words to define. Define words using a dictionary-both using a regular dictionary and a Greek/Hebrew dictionary. I use Blue Letter Bible for this.
• Box important phrases
• Read what several commentaries say about the verse. I use Blue Letter Bible or Study Light verse-by-verse commentary for this. Highlight the part of the verse the commentary talks about and make notes highlighted in the same color.
• Write other related scriptures using a concordance

Summarize it:

• Summarize what I've learned about the verse in a few sentence. 
• Ask questions: What can I learn from this verse? Are there any promises/commands/warnings in this verse?

Apply it:

• Pray to God about this verse and ask him to help me apply the lessons I learned from this process. 

Below are a few examples of my verse mappings. 

Remember, there is no right or wrong way to do this. 

Do what works best for you!

If you want to learn more, you can find some great videos HERE and HERE. 

I also shared an Instagram story showing the process and it's saved in my highlights. 

Bible Study 101: Online Resources

I often get questions regarding what Bible I use and how I go about studying the Bible. 

I decided to do a couple of blog posts regarding this topic so 

when someone asks, I can easily reference this list and send them a link.

Previous posts on the topic are listed below: 

BIBLE STUDY 101: STUDY AND READING SUPPLIES

Today I am going to share a little detail about the online resources that I use and LOVE!
Now these are not the only resources out there, 
there are TONS of resources out there online that are fabulous- 
these just happen to be my favorite! 

Two quick things regarding Bible study and tools: 

1. We should never rely solely on other's knowledge of the Bible. 
We MUST read it ourselves! 
Bible studies and commentaries are great 
but we need to learn God's word firsthand, not secondhand!

2. We need to be sure not to read verses in isolation. 
For context, reading the whole chapter 
(sometimes the whole book) is so important
in order to truly understand it.


Resource #1: Bible Gateway

Bible Gateway is a site I use all the time for reading different

 translations as well as reading commentaries. 

They also have some fabulous devotionals and reading plans! 

I use Bible Gateway to read various translations when I don't have my Bible handy 
and when I'm working on a scripture writing plan. 

Here's how that works: 
When you search for and find a verse in one translation, click on the Add Parallel icon (looks like two pieces of paper siting side by side) at the right side of the passage. 

Doing so adds a second translation that you can select from the drop down menu

and you can see the translations side by side!

If you click the icon again, you'll see a third translation. 

You can also click on the listen to icon (speaker icon) to have the scripture read to you. 

There are lots of other great things to check out on the site, 

especially those under the Study tab. 

There's also a great  Bible Gateway app that you can use- 

although I usually just use it in the browser, even on my phone. 

Resource #2: Blue Letter Bible

Blue Letter Bible has some incredible resources including some of my favorite commentaries.

Just like Bible Gateway, you can search and read any Bible verse/chapter. 

But what I love to use is the text commentary feature. 

Search for the verse and click Go. 

To the right of the verse click the Tools icon to reveal a bunch of options. 

My favorites are Interlinear and Commentaries with Cross Refs as a close third. 

Interlinear is the first tab and is a list of all the words from the scripture in Greek and Hebrew. 

(The definition of Interlinear is written or printed between the lines of a text)

You can even click on the icon on the right to listen to the pronunciation. 

Learn more about how to use Interlinear  HERE. 

Cross-Refs lists words that are in the scripture and used in other places in the Bible. 

Commentaries lists audio, video and text commentaries. 

Commentaries are a series of comments, background, 

historical details, etc by biblical scholars. 

I typically use the Text Commentaries. There are lots of great ones

 but my favorites are Matthew Henry and David Guzik.

Clicking on one takes you to the commentary for that verse. 

Each is set up like an outline. 

It starts with a short summary and is followed by the text in dark red. 

Below that are thoughts, details, and historical facts related to the scripture. 

I like to think of reading a commentary as sitting down with a Biblical scholar 

who is explaining the scriptures and giving me additional background. 

If you are ever struggling to understand a scripture or 

want more information or context, 

a commentary is for you!

I will warn you that reading commentaries is a little addicting. 

The more I read them the more I want to read them and learn more!

Learn more about reading commentaries on BLB  HERE. 

The Dictionaries tab shows different words from the scripture 

and their definitions in different dictionaries. 

Learn more about the Dictionaries HERE. 

There is a ton more to learn about on BLB and you can check out their 

Help section HERE or check out their awesome video tutorials  HERE. 

White Texas Sheet Cake

As the mother of a child who HATES chocolate, I'm always on the look out for desserts

 that do not include chocolate. I've made Texas sheet cakes (aka Coke cake) for 

years and years but until recently had never made a white Texas sheet cake. 

I have no idea why I waited so long to make this but gosh- it is GOOD! 

Cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar 
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan. In a large bowl, whisk the first five ingredients. In a small saucepan, combine butter and water and bring just to a boil- string constantly. Stir into flour mixture. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream and extract until blended; add to flour mixture, whisking constantly. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until golden brown (do NOT overbake) and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about18-20 minutes. Cool before frosting. For frosting, combine butter and milk in a large saucepan and bring just to a boil- stirring constantly. Remove from heat; gradually stir in confectioners' sugar and extract. Stir in walnuts. Spread over warm cake.

Bible Study 101: Study and Reading Supplies

I often get questions regarding what Bible I use and how I go about studying the Bible. 

I decided to do a couple of blog posts regarding this topic so 

when someone asks, I can easily reference this list and send them a link.

Today I am going to share the supplies I use when doing Bible study. 

There are tons of products out there for Bible study (and I've bought my fair share of them!) 

but what I have found works best for me are simple, basic supplies. 

When doing a Bible study I use all or most of the following:

My Bible

I have lots of different bibles but my preference is a dual NIV and the Message Bible. 

I love this Bible because it has both translations on the same page. 

I used to use two separate Bible but love this so much more. 

Mine came from Amazon and you can find it HERE. 

A notebook

 Although there are tons of options for Bible study journals and notebooks out there, 

I use a good old-fashioned spiral notebook when doing a Bible study. 

I usually grab mine at Target or Walmart- just looking for one that 

is cute and college ruled. This is the one I am currently using. 

A binder

When I am doing verse study, I use a simple three ring binder with dividers. 

Instead of regular notebook paper, I buy loose leaf graph paper 

from Walmart but notebook paper would work just great too.

Pen

My favorite is the G2 black pen.

Bible highlighters

I have several sets and my two favorite are below.

THESE from Amazon and I love them because there are two of each color in the set. 

I have one set in my purse and the other with my Bible study stuff in a bag.

I also have THESE from The Daily Grace Co and love them. 

They don't bleed through the page and they are precious!

 (While you are there, check out all of their things- 

so many cute products and GREAT Bible studies!) 

Sticky Notes

I use sticky notes to write notes and place in my Bible. 

Usually just to jot down something I don't want to forget. 

Online Commentaries & Study Guides

My favorites are Bible Gateway and Blue Letter Bible. 

I'll explain more about how I use these sites in an upcoming post, 

but below are some basics about them. 

Bible Gateway is a site I use all the time for reading different

 translations as well as reading commentaries. 

They also have some fabulous devotionals and reading plans! 

I love that I can check out different versions side by side. 

Blue Letter Bible has some incredible resources including some of my favorite commentaries.

I'll follow up in a few days with another post showing HOW I use these items! 

Stay tuned!

Notes to Myself Today 10-16-19

Turkey Sweet Potato Chili

Every time I have mentioned this recipe someone has said...."Wait, what? Sweet potato in chili?". I know it sounds like a strange combination but trust me when I say it is AWESOME! I originally found the recipe from Skinnytaste HERE (she has the BEST recipes!) but have altered a bit. My recipe adaptation is below. Don't knock it till you try it!

Ingredients:

1 package 93% lean ground turkey
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large can crushed tomatoes
8 oz can tomato sauce
2 15 oz cans of beans, NOT drained (kidney or pinto)
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp cumin, or to taste
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1 bay leaf
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into small cubes

Directions: 

In a large skillet, with a little bit of olive oil, brown onion and garlic over medium heat. Add turkey and brown- seasoning with salt, pepper and cumin. When meat is browned add the can of tomatoes, diced sweet potato, tomato sauce, beans, water, chili powder, paprika, salt and bay leaf. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until potatoes are soft and cooked through, about 30-45 minutes stirring occasionally. Add additional water if it's too thick. Remove bay leaf and serve

Notes to Myself 10-9-19

Make me MORE

He must become greater; I must become less.

John 3:30

Unfollow the Things