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October 17, 2016

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Bind Them on Your Fingers: 7 Reasons to Memorize Scripture

We’re going to take a brief trip back in time to the mind of younger me. I’m going to forewarn you: little me was by no means the darling that I would prefer everyone believe I was. I don’t know if there has ever been a seven year old with such a superiority complex and attention addiction. Here in my younger mind, we’re going to breeze through my top four reasons to memorize Scripture. You ready? Let’s go.

Kid Rosalie Reason #1. To get candy from my Sunday school teachers.

Kid Rosalie Reason #2. To get stickers so that when I got enough stickers I could pick a prize from the prize box.

Kid Rosalie Reason #3. To memorize the verses faster than my peers and therefore be better than them (ah, yes, I’m so proud).

Kid Rosalie Reason #4. To finish another AWANA book (theoretically before everyone else did) and get another award.

Wow. I frighten myself sometimes.

I memorized a lot of Bible verses as a child. Here’s the problem. Eventually, I graduated out of the Sunday school classes that gave candy, stickers, and other assorted prizes for memorizing the verse of the week. And shortly after that, my family moved, and our new town didn’t have an AWANA program for kids my age. So there went all my reasons to memorize Scripture.

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For years I didn’t think that there were any good reasons beyond those four to memorize Scripture. Well, thank God for the Holy Spirit because recently, I have learned seven good reasons to memorize Scripture. Basically, these are just seven of the sweetest benefits that come with Scripture memorization (I’ve decided not to elaborate too much on them because they’re pretty self-explanatory).

Reason #1: So that you can meditate on it anywhere and anytime.

Meditation is essential to understanding Scripture. It’s not enough to just meditate on it for an hour in the morning; it’s so important to revisit Scripture throughout the day. We don’t carry our Bibles everywhere; that’s just the way most of us are. And we can’t always whip out our phones and look up some verses. When you have Scripture memorized, you can meditate on it on the drive to work, while you work out, while you do dishes, anytime. Psalm 119:97 says this: “Oh how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

Reason #2: To have increased intimacy with the Holy Spirit.

When you’re spending time memorizing Scripture, this can naturally draw you closer to the Holy Spirit. When you recite and meditate on Scripture, you proclaim Him and draw near to Him. I love Psalm 107:9 because it says, “For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.” The Holy Spirit is the satisfaction of the soul. The Holy Spirit is the best, good thing for a hungry soul, and when you keep coming back to Scripture, you keep coming back to Him.

Reason #3: To have an enriched prayer life.

It is such a joy to incorporate verses into prayers. When you have Scripture memorized, it starts to seep into your prayers. It starts to change the way you talk to God in a beautiful way. You begin to pray verses that you’ve memorized, and since you’ve been spending so much time with the Word, you’ll be more likely to pray God’s will because your mind is more in tune to His Word.

Reason #4: To have the Sword of the Spirit always on hand to fight the Enemy and temptation.

Christ quoted Scripture to Satan when He was tempted in the wilderness, and each time, it conquered the Enemy. When temptations come, verses start to rise in your mind. Memorizing Scripture keeps the Sword of the Spirit within easy reach at all times. Ephesians 6:10-20 talks about the armor of God, and I encourage you to read that passage, but I just want to share verses 10-13. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

Reason #5: To be able to offer stronger encouragement to fellow Christians.

We’re called to encourage fellow Christians, and one of the purest, strongest forms of encouragement is Scripture. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” There’s no power like that, friends. When you’re memorizing Scripture, you’ll find verses coming to mind more easily to exhort your fellow Christians.

Reason #6: To have a fuller, deeper joy.

This is one of the most beautiful, I think. When you’re focusing on memorizing for the purpose of knowing God, you automatically find your joy and fulfillment in Him. Verses will begin to come to mind when you’re at your lowest, when you feel alone or unworthy, and the Truth that is in Scripture will bring such joy to your heart. I think Psalm 107:9 fits this so well (yes, I might be a bit obsessed with that verse). I’ll share it again just because it’s so good. “For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.” This satisfaction and these good things found in Christ and His Spirit are at the forefront when you’re memorizing and meditating on Scripture.

Reason #7: A hunger for more.

Once you start committing Scripture to memory, it’s hard to get enough of it. You’ll want more. You will have the attitude of Psalm 119:20 which says, “My soul is consumed with longing for Your rules at all times.”

And there you have it. Seven reasons to memorize Scripture.

What about you? Do you memorize Scripture? Why or why not? What are some reasons you see to spend time committing the Bible to memory? Do you think there’s value in memorizing verses?

P.S. – Next week’s post will be a follow-up with some tips that help with memorization.

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October 8, 2016

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Rise to Forgiveness

One of the themes of A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes is forgiveness, and as part of The Rise Tour, I decided to write about it.

When I was little, I fought with Bro #2 (Luke–the sibling that’s closest to my age) a lot. We would get into actual fights replete with kicking, yelling, tackling, and all that jazz (I even bit him once—no, I’m not proud of it). We would get caught by Mom and one of us (sometimes both of us) got spanked, and if it was really bad, we got spanked again when Daddy got home. And then Mom would make us hug and make up.

Usually, it went thusly:

Me: *still sniffing from the spanking* “I-I-I’m sorry for [whatever it was I did], Luke. W-will you please forgive me?”

Luke: *still sniffing also* “I-t’s okay, Rosie. I forgive you. S-sorry for [whatever it was he did]. Will you please f-forgive me?”

Me: “Yeah.”

Mom: “Hug.”

Luke and me: *hug*

(Side note: Parents, please make your children do this. It taught us the importance of asking for forgiveness and accepting forgiveness. To this day, as adults, we do this when we fight, and it’s largely because we were taught that it’s important when we were young.)

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Forgiveness. Honestly, it’s a simple concept: someone wrongs you, but you don’t hold it against them. However, in practice, it can be a struggle.

I’ve found that it’s still fairly easy to forgive when someone asks me to (though, honestly, I’m the one who has to ask for forgiveness most of the time). If Arielle (my sister) asks me to forgive her for being a little crabby or if Luke asks me to forgive him for being harsh, I can do it in a heartbeat. I can say “I forgive you”, and it’s over and done with. Even with the bigger fights we’ve had as adults, I can put it behind me almost instantly. But that’s when forgiveness is easy. That’s when my deep love for my siblings overrides my anger. That’s when the hurts heal faster.

I had a friendship slowly dissolve last year, and that was not easy to forgive. That hurt did not heal for a long time. I didn’t have many friends my age, and so when this girl came along and befriended me, I hung a lot (too much) on that relationship. I put a lot of heart into that friendship, and we were such good friends for a while. She’s the type of person who is so easy to trust and get comfortable with, and so I trusted her. It happened kind of slowly, but then I started to notice that she was forgetting me, making new friendships, better friendships. And then in six months, we weren’t communicating at all. Our friendship came and went within the space of two years. There was no big fight, there was no malicious intent or hurtful words. There was just… a loss of interest.

I spent the next six months letting hurt grow and fester into bitterness. I was angry at her for forgetting me. I would see pictures of her and her friends online and be filled with resentment. I spent more than one night crying and wondering what I could have done to keep her as my friend. I was so wrapped up in myself, in how hurt I was, in how angry I was, how much I wanted her to know how she wounded me.

I clung to my bitterness with both hands, but then the Holy Spirit started to convict me. “Forgive as I have forgiven you. I am your friend. I am your comforter. I am your God. I have forgiven you. Now, you forgive her.”

My grip began to falter, but I didn’t want to let it go. “But I want her to know that I’m angry. I want her to know about the pain she caused me.”

“Is it not enough that I know?”

And so it went for a few weeks. He would call me to rise to forgiveness, like He did on that cross, and I would give Him all the reasons why I wasn’t going to. He kept bringing up Matthew 6:14-15 and the parable of the unforgiving servant. And then I had the privilege of beta reading A Time to Rise at the beginning of the year. I learn best if I am shown something, not just told about it, and one of the things Nadine Brandes does best is show forgiveness at its worst and finest.

And the Holy Spirit kept at it. “Forgive as I have forgiven you.”

It took more time, but an essential step was actually saying out loud to God that I forgave her. I still battled the bitterness that ran deep for a few more months, but the Holy Spirit graciously drew it out of me when I asked Him to. The hurt is still there sometimes, and I get sad when I remember the 3:00 am talks I had with this girl, but it’s a pure sadness. It isn’t tainted with anger anymore. It isn’t shot through with hostility anymore.

I couldn’t heal until I forgave. I didn’t have “closure” until I forgave. I didn’t have complete joy until I forgave.

Forgiveness isn’t a feeling or a notion or something that just happens. Forgiveness is an action. You have to be intentional every time bitterness starts to bubble up again. You have to obey the command of Christ, rise up, and forgive.

My friendship with that girl and how it ended was the big, hard thing for me, but maybe you’re dealing with a messy break up or a spouse who doesn’t love you the way they should or a friend who’s betrayed your trust or a child who has wounded you. Maybe it’s something that happened yesterday. Maybe it’s something that you’ve been carrying around for months or decades.

You have to forgive them. You may not feel like it. It’s especially hard to forgive when they don’t know or recognize that they’ve wronged you, but you still are called by Christ forgive. If you forgive, your joy will be deeper, your walk with God will be stronger, and you will have a greater appreciation for what Christ did on the cross.

So, friends. Rise to forgiveness.

All the fun tour stuff:

nadine-headshot-1The lovely author:

(I personally recommend the newsletter because it’s so much fun as well as checking out her Instagram because it’s mainly of books and so lovely to look at.)

Also, she can speak HTML, and so that’s just another amazing thing about her.

The books.

Guys. Do we even need to go here? Like, seriously, if you’ve followed Penprints for more than a week, you should have already read this series by now. In the event that you haven’t read the series (shame, shame), here are the beautiful covers to stare at and the buy links below to GO BUY THE SERIES.

all three covers

A Time to Die

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A Time to Speak

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A Time to Rise

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A Time to Party

And also you (yeah, you) should come to this awesome Facebook party because you can chat with Nadine and enter to win soooooooo many cool things.

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And thus ends my post as part of The Rise Tour.

~ Rosalie

P.S. – you can expect a review of A Time to Rise sometime next week, but it’s taking a while to write because one does not simply write a review of the final installment of The Out of Time Series.

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September 19, 2016

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The Wisteria Writer’s Tag: Penprints Edition

There are a lot of writer tags running around the internet these days, and the one I’ve been seeing the most of is the Wisteria Writer’s Tag. Today I’m participating in it because the darling Alea from Elvish Pens, Fantastical Writings tagged me last week. You should go check out her blog (talk about swanky photoshop skills over there, plus Alea’s just amazing).

Here’s how this tag works: thank the person who tagged you, answer their ten writing questions, add your own set of ten questions, and tag some more people.

So here we go (hold onto your hats, ladies and gents, because Alea came up with some pretty swanky questions, and I came up with some significantly less swanky answers).

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1. If you could be the author of any published book, which one would you pick and why?

Hmmm. This one is tough. Part of me jumps immediately to A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes (surprise, surprise), but part of me wants to say Starflower by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. And yet another part of me goes then non-fiction route and says Embracing Obscurity by Anonymous. I say one of those three because I wish that I had my spiritual ducks in a row enough to write any of them.

2. Do you ever daydream about your book at school/work?

The better question is when don’t I daydream about my stories at work. One of my jobs is at an antique shop, and that place seems to be the perfect place for my muse to come out and chat. I wrote almost all of Flickering Lights in my head while I was at work. If it’s a fresh idea, I’m definitely dreaming about it in my head.

3. When do you write best?

At night. Once everyone else has gone to sleep. The house is silent and dark. I strike a match, light my favorite taper candle, and get to work. I think this works best for me because there are no interruptions or distractions; it’s just me, God, and my writing.

4. What are your favorite writing snacks?

Dove chocolate, sparkling grape juice, cream soda, gummy bears, and apple juice all feed my muse (I know, I know, the healthiness is overwhelming). Apparently (and unfortunately), my muse seems to detest healthy snacks. (For non-writer peeps, a muse is a thing we writers like to think we have, but it’s all in our heads… like our books.)

5. Is writing easier after reading something?

Excellent question! Not really. Usually, after I’ve read a book, my head is full of that story, and it’s hard to focus on my own. However, if it’s a book on writing craft, like Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, then I am eager to jump into my writing right away.

6. What does your dream book cover look like?

Covers. Oh. I honestly haven’t been able to dream up a suitable cover for my WIP (that’s a work-in-progress, my non-writer lovelies), but I’m thinking possibly red on black. Possibly some claw marks somewhere? Or a black rose? Or both? Beasts (my WIP) is the darkest thing I’ve ever written (sorry, Mom), and so I don’t think the cover would be all that cheery, but for the life of me I can’t figure out what would fit the story. Ugh, and now I really want to come up with a brilliant cover that will knock off a bunch of socks.

7. Does your writing style resemble that of your favorite authors?

Probably not. I want it to, but I’m not there (yet?). I think I have a slightly sardonic tone akin to Robin McKinley (maybe, MAYBE). I try for the richness in Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s writing but that’s a major emphasis on the try. I want to be able to pack a spiritual punch like Nadine Brandes, but alas, still working on that too. My writing style is mainly weird, and so I’m going to have to stick with my first answer that it probably doesn’t resemble that of my favorite authors.

8 . Coffee or tea as writing fuel?

Tea and hot chocolate all the way (what is that you say? Hot chocolate wasn’t an option? To which I say: whatever). I’ve tried to like coffee so hard so many times, I just…. can’t. I want to like it, but… no. It’s like coffee is an affront to my nature (shhhh, let’s keep that between you and me because some people are coffee crazies and would tar and feather me for calling coffee an affront). So I take a mug of green tea with two tablespoons of French vanilla creamer because I’m a sugar junkie in case you hadn’t noticed.

9. NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNoWriMo.

I don’t have a preference. Possibly neither. *gasp* *gasp* *gasp* (My dear non-writer peeps, it’s against some ancient unwritten law for a writer to even possibly dislike a form of NaNo.) Here’s the dealio: I participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) way back in 2014, and I won (50,000 words in 30 days, whoop whoop!)! And then I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo in both April and July of this year and failed miserably (less than 20,000 words in 30 days, less whoop whoop…). It was rough. I’m trying to figure out if either NaNoWriMo works for me or not… so, yeah… I’m just going to let this sentence trail off some more…

10. Share your favorite sentence from your WIP.

I can’t do just one, but I’ll settle for two. I’m doing my favorite descriptive sentence and my favorite sentence regarding a character.

A descriptive line: The sun drives away the clouds of the night, sparkling through thousands of tiny droplets of water, millions of tiny prisms shifting with the morning light as it overtakes the horizon. – Beasts

A character line: If purple was a creature, Faye would be it. – Beasts

And that is the Wisteria Writer’s Tag: Penprints Edition.

Thank you so much for tagging me, Alea!

Now, I tag…

J. L. Mbewe.

Brittany on New Authors Fellowship.

Gabriela over at A Heart Redeemed.

Victoria from Wanderer’s Pen.

Katie at A Writer’s Faith.

Here are your questions:

1. What was/is the inspiration for your current WIP?

2. What does your writing process look like? Plotter? Panster? A little bit of both?

3. What is one thing you do well in writing? Description? Characters? Dialogue?

4. What is one thing you struggle to do well in writing?

5. How much does your relationship with Christ impact your writing (if at all)?

6. What inspires you to keep writing and write better?

7. Do you get lots of ideas or just one every now and then?

8. What is your go-to book on writing craft and why?

9. What stage are you at in your WIP?

10. What do you think makes a book good/worth reading?

I’m officially dropping a bookend on this post, my dears!

Have you heard of the Wisteria Writer’s Tag? What are your thoughts on NaNo vs. Camp NaNo? Do you snack and write (are they sugary snacks, because if they are, we’re basically twins)?

P.S. – let’s not even begin to go into how many parenthetical phrases I used in this post.

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July 18, 2016

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When I Almost Died & What I Have to Say About It

On July 6, 2016,  I was in a car accident that could have killed or crippled me.

Honestly, it was completely stupid accident. I was driving down a straight country road in the middle of a summer evening. No ice. No animals. No other cars. No pedestrians. And yet I flipped an SUV twice.

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I could have been killed. I could have lost an arm. I could have broken my neck. Or I could have broken my back, just like my dad did when he was my age. I could have been hit by the debris flying through the air as the explorer was rolling. I could be dead, but I’m not.

I walked away (literally) from that wreck with a scrape on my arm, a small rub-burn on my thigh, a small rub-burn on the top of my foot, and a very minor concussion. And none of my tiny injuries are even going to scar. The poor SUV is totaled, but me, I’m doing just fine.

The poor, poor explorer.

Some people have said that I was lucky, that thank goodness I was wearing my seatbelt.

But no, I was not lucky, and my seatbelt did not save me.

God did that.

God made sure the explorer landed between two telephone poles instead of wrapped around one.

God kept me from hitting a tree when I over-corrected the first time.

God kept my neck from snapping.

God kept my seatbelt from breaking my collarbone or a couple ribs.

God kept my seatbelt from sawing through my carotid or jugular.

God kept the debris and broken glass from pelting me.

God made sure the explorer landed upright after its second roll.

God helped me unbuckle my seatbelt once the explorer stopped moving.

God helped me climb out of the window when the door wouldn’t open.

God helped me spot my phone lying fifteen feet away on the blacktop amidst the other debris that was strewn across the road.

God made sure my phone was functional with only a couple scratches after its tumble.

God steadied my shaking hands enough so that I could call my dad.

God brought a woman and her daughter from our church down that road to help me.

I am okay, unnaturally okay, and it is because of God. The only reason that I am still alive is because God decided to save me. People have said that God was good to me. “Oh my goodness, Rosalie, God was so good to you,” “Wow, Rosalie, God was good to you,” “God was so good to you, Rosalie.” And He was. And if I’d died, He would still be so good. And if I’d been paralyzed or lost a limb, He would still be so good.

Make no mistake, I am extremely thankful that He protected me as much as He did, but I think we get into a habit of saying He’s good when He does things that we think are good. God is good. Period.

I’ve done a lot of thinking and praying since my accident, since I could have, by all rights should have, died, and this is what I know for sure: I am alive because God still has work for me to complete. I have yet to accomplish the purpose He gave me. I am so unnaturally okay so that there can be no doubt that God was there and that He is sovereign.

To God alone be the glory that I am alive and so, so well.

Now, because you’ve always wanted life advice from some random girl on the internet, here are my thoughts for life after this:

~ Rest assured that you will not die before your time. You will live until you have accomplished God’s purpose for you.

~ Live every moment with intentionality.

~ Say what you’ve been too afraid to say; be bold. Tell those you love what they mean to you.

~ Enjoy life. Drink it in and praise God.

~ Know God now.

~ Invest heavily in your relationships—with your family, with your friends, with God. Someone once told me that there are two things that last for eternity: God and people.

~ Always remember that all glory belongs to God.

~ God is always good—when things are well and when the world is falling apart.

~ Give better hugs.

~ God has put breath in you for a reason; don’t squander your time away.

~ Chase God with your whole heart—life’s too short and He’s too incredible for half-measures.

~ Fear God and God alone.

~ Give more gifts.

~ Treasure your family.

~ For goodness sake, forgive. Don’t hold onto how people have wronged you. If you’ve been saved by grace, you’ve been forgiven and commanded to forgive. Don’t waste life being bitter and angry.

~ When all else fails, praise God.

~ Every heartbeat is a gift.

So I could have died, but I didn’t. The thought staggers me every time. I think I see God more now, and for that I’m thankful. He’s reminded me how to live, and I don’t want to ever forget.

What about you? How do you live?

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June 27, 2016

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21 Signs he isn’t The One (as seen in The Phantom of the Opera)

Romance is tough. Really tough.

There are so many twists and turns and confusing things in romance. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell if the relationship is going through a rough patch or if it should end. Whatever stage of life you’re in—single, dating, engaged—this post is for you.

21 signs he isn't The One

Note: I recommend watching The Phantom of the Opera to get a better grasp on this post.

Here are 21 signs he isn’t The One (as seen in The Phantom of the Opera):

1. He has a two-way mirror in your room.

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2. He sings songs in your head (not gonna lie, this might be a sign that there’s something wrong with both of you…).

3. He thinks he’s the boss of your boss(es).

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4. He’s constantly hanging around your workplace (you can feel him watching you right now, can’t you?).

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5. He plays with dolls in a doll-house that looks remarkably similar to your workplace.

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6. He has a mannequin in a wedding dress that looks exactly like you (guys aren’t supposed to do the wedding planning, and mannequins are creepy).

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7. He’s a big fan of night and darkness and has something against the light of day (now, this can feel romantic, but unless he’s Batman, it’s a red flag).

8. He has a hideout in the basement of your workplace (I mean, yeah, it’s a pretty fantastic hideout, but that doesn’t make it okay).

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9. He tells you he’s an angel.

10. He also pretends to be the spirit of your dead father (what? This is a thing?).

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11. He thinks that murder is a viable option for proving a point (ladies, this is no good, no matter how you slice it).

12. He’s obsessed with his music (it’s all, “my music, my music”).

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13. He takes getting you promoted at work very seriously and into his own hands (his favorite method is talking smack about your rival and trying to sabotage her).

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14. He throws a fit when people don’t listen to him (we’re all adults here, right? Right??).

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15. He gets super jealous when you talk to other guys (possessiveness is cute when it comes to cookies, not relationships).

16. After you’ve broken up with him, he stalks you and your new boyfriend.

17. He crashes parties because he’s upset about your break-up.

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18. He says the only reason your new boyfriend likes you is because of your voice (and he also only loves you because of your voice…).

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19. He steals the engagement ring your new boyfriend gives you and then uses it to propose to you later (I don’t know, maybe he just couldn’t afford his own ring, but still…).

20. He talks about waging war on you and your new boyfriend (and he’s not talking about Halo).

 

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And now for the last one:

21. He tries to kill your new boyfriend. Twice.

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And there you have it, 21 sure-fire signs that you might want to send The Phantom your boyfriend on his way.

Has this list helped you figure out whether or not he’s The One? Do you think this was a fun post? A weird post? Both?

Comment with any signs that I missed!

p.s. – most of the pictures from The Phantom of the Opera were found on Google, but were altered by yours truly.

p.p.s. – this post was inspired by my good friend Chrys. We watched the movie together last time we were together, and then this happened.