What I'm Looking Forward to in 2015: Scripture Memorization Goals

A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you my reading goals for 2015. I'm slowly but surely making my way through that list, as well as through my Goodreads reading challenge. :-) So far this year, I've read a couple of books for research {sorry, but I can't tell you anymore about that... yet!}, Where Can I Flee? by A.M. Heath, and She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell {Yes, it takes its title from that gorgeous Lord Byron poem.}. I'm currently reading Crooked Lines by Holly Michael and Unplanned by Abby Johnson. {I'm also reading a couple of research books again, but, again, I can't tell you anymore about that yet! :-)}

This week, I thought I'd share with you something that God has convicted my husband and me to make as a "goal" in our lives. So this is not a "Resolution for 2015." It's more of something that we are striving toward making a regular, consistent part of our lives, both this year and also next year... and the year after that... and so on, for as long as God gives us before He calls us to our heavenly Home with Him.

Basically, we're continuing to work on consistently memorizing Scripture, knowing that work in this area will give us a rich harvest in prayer, in spiritual battles, in our day-to-day lives, and so forth. We've been {very imperfectly!} working on this kind of regular memorization for the past year or so... and I'm thankful for it.

Thankful when the Holy Spirit brings a verse to my mind just when I need it.

Thankful to have Scripture rolling around in my head as I go to sleep sometimes.

Thankful to have the accountability of a memorization "partner."

Even thankful when I'm writing a story and God brings Scripture to my mind to include in it.

We don't do very much - only 1-2 verses a week. My husband chooses the verse{s} at the beginning of the week, and then we work on memorizing it separately over the next seven days, asking the Lord to impress it on our hearts, not just our minds. We "test" each other at the end of the week before starting a new verse.

A verse a week doesn't seem like much, does it? It isn't much, but it's 52 more verses in our minds and hearts and souls than we would have had if we'd not committed to this.

Anyway, I just thought that I'd share that it's worth it if you and/or your spouse are thinking about Scripture memorization.

Grace and peace,
Alicia :-)

You might find this post linked up at these blogs, too:
Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth, The Modest Mom, What Joy is Mine, Yes They Are All Ours, Missional Call, A Mama's Story, Mom's the Word, Rich Faith Rising, Time Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions, Mom's Morning Coffee, So Much at Home, Raising Homemakers, Hope in Every Season, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Ministries, Whole-Hearted Home, A Soft Gentle Voice, My Daily Walk in His Grace, Messy Marriage, My Teacher's Name is Mama, The Charm of Home, Graced Simplicity, Children Are A Blessing, Mittenstate Sheep and Wool, Imparting Grace, Preparedness Mama, A Look at the Book, Essential Thing Devotions, Count My Blessings, Beauty Observed, Christian Mommy Blogger, Renewed Daily, Soul Survival, Good Morning Mondays, The HomeAcre Hop, Mommy Moments Link Up, Grace and Truth Linkup

What I'm Looking Forward to in 2015: Reading Goals

I'm going to go ahead and say it with everyone else: "Where did 2014 go?!"

My husband, Mr. P, and I on Christmas Day 2014 ~ We had a wonderful day celebrating the Lord's birth with our families.

The older I get, the more I realize that time is a gift - a great gift - from the Father of Lights... and I also begin to understand how much more important my final destination - my Heavenly Home - is when compared with "these light and momentary afflictions" during my earthly journey. :-) For that, I'm thankful, and I pray that God would continue to impress His place as the "home of my heart" on my soul.

Have you been prayerfully considering what God would have you do or plan to do, in what areas He would have you grow (not self-improvement, but self-abandonment), what things and events He would have you excited about? :-) I have. While I'm continuing to add to this list of "Looking-forward-to"s and "Goals" for 2015, here's the first selection from my list(s!): Books I'm Looking Forward to Reading - Goal of 45 Books Read (abandoned books don't count!) :-)

Books that I'm Looking Forward to Reading:

• Lessons from a Sheepdog by Phillip Keller - My mom gave this one to me for Christmas. She didn't know that I've been contemplating purchasing it for a while! :-) I love animal stories, especially dog ones and those that relate to the spiritual life. 
• In the Shadow of Thy Wings by A.M. Heath - I'm reading the first one in this "Ancient Words" series (Where Can I Flee?) and am really enjoying it thus far. The second book is planned for a 2015 release, so I'm anticipating that joyfully!
• My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers - Some of Chambers' other books have really blessed me tremendously, so I'm including this one as part of my morning devotions this year.
• The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser - Yes, I know; this was on my 2014 summer reading list. I ran out of time and didn't finish it. :-( But that means that I get to read it this year, Lord willing! And I'm so looking forward to it.
• George MacDonald: Scotland's Beloved Storyteller by Michael Phillips - This one has sat on my shelf for far, far too long! I'm excited to learn more about the man who has written some of my favorite novels and who is called the father of children's fantasy writing.
• Unmasking the Antichrist by Ron Rhodes - This came highly recommended from someone whose opinion I trust, and I'm interested in hearing Rhodes' perspective.
• Crooked Lines by Holly Michael - This debut novel has received such high praise... it's about India, the longtime home of one of my missionary heroes Amy Carmichael... and it has a compelling backcover blurb... I'm excited! :-)
• Mercy Springs by Jennifer Osufsen - Another debut novel that has sparked my interest. This Christian dystopian is on my short-list right now.
• A few others that I'm looking forward to: Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman; The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas; God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew; Anna Karenina by Tolstoy; Unplanned by Abby Johnson; The Outcast by Jolina Petersheim; The Chosen by Chaim Potok; For Such a Time by Kate Breslin; God's Will by Meghan M. Gorecki; The Shadow Miner by Katie Beitz; Resistance by Jaye L. Knight; To Comfort a King by Debbie Gilliland; The Fall of Arthur by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Do you have any books that you're looking forward to reading this year? Feel free to share what they are - I might want to add them to my list! :-)

*At the time of this post, this blog contains NO affiliate links. :-) Any links are for informative purposes only.

Onward Ho!

With The House of Mercy, I didn't set out with any goal, other than to write a story - a good story, the sort of story that I want to read. "The How" of The House of Mercy is a blog-post for another time, but let it suffice for me to say that I wrote the first sort-of-kind-of draft (though should I even call it that, as it was so different - practically unrecognizable - from the final draft?) about ten or twelve years before the Lord led me to publish the novel. Until a few years ago, I had no end goal in sight ... I just picked away at the storyline, adding here and there, changing this bit and that. Eventually, by God's grace, it was finished, in almost-final-draft form, without me really needing to set daily or weekly or monthly goals for myself in order to do it.

That's not so much the case with my writing at present. For years, I've kept a file on my computer with story and character ideas, like a gardener storing away seed packets for her spring garden. When I look forward to these ideas blossoming within my writing, I'm filled with joy and delight. Yet the hard work of tilling the soil, dropping the seeds in just the right places, watering and feeding the tender plants lies before me yet - oh, so long it seems! - before I see the full or results of much hard labor.

Yet now, as August turns into September, my story-garden ripens. And grows...

The story I've been telling you about - "the Geranium story" - I thought I would be finished with the rough draft last week; I also thought it would be a "short novel," running about 70,000 words. {My "rough drafts" aren't that rough. I take a little more time with them and then have less revisions to do.}

Then, around last Wednesday, I passed 70,000 words and knew the story hadn't finished. {I actually have the ending basically done. It's the middle that needs some filling... rather like a donut, stories taste better with jelly or frosting stuffed inside them. :-)}

So I reset my goal: Finish the story this week. I write between 2,000 and 3,500 words a day, depriving myself of all forms of carrot cake unless I do so {just kidding}. So I figured, "the geranium story" can't have more than 10,000 words left, can it? I have the rest plotted out already...

Guess what? Yesterday, I hit 78,000 words. And the story isn't finished. Not yet.

But soon. Very soon indeed.

Thank you, friends, for covering my writing {and me} in your prayers.

Onward ho! I see the camp in the near distance...

If You Want to Make God Laugh ...

... tell Him your plans. So says the main character in one of my favorite movies, Bella.

This is a true statement. Definitely for me. Perhaps for us all?

I, for one, am nowhere near where I thought I'd be ten years ago.

You know, to a tenacious teenager, life seemed pretty clear-cut: God had placed a desire in my heart for a particular career. Certainly, my path would be free of any obstacles that would slow me down. I wasn't silly enough to think that there would be no difficulties ... just no roadblocks.

My far-wiser-than-me sister warned me. "God might have you wait a few years. Sometimes, that's how God works."

Surely not, thought I, even as I sagely nodded. Surely God would take into account my deep desire to accomplish this for Him and give wings to my heels. {This plan did not include writing novels, though I've always loved to write. :-)}

Well. There were roadblocks. There were detours. Let it suffice to say, there were also many tears. And that "final goal" seems to be quite far-off yet.

But it's all {for} good.

Because HE is all good.

And because, ever so slowly, two-steps-forward, one-step-back, I am learning that "final goal" ... isn't the Real Goal.

Christ is.

So despite my sinful whining ...

Amidst my continued hope that He has indeed placed this desire in my heart ...

I can trust Him who "doeth all things well."

"A man's heart plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps."

Proverbs 16:9 {nkjv}