Scripture Memory Team

One of my New Year's Goals for 2015 is the memorize 24 bible verses throughout the year. What is the point of this you might ask? Well, a friend of mine at church sold me on the idea. I figure this is one way to help me focus more on the gospel instead of all the other crap that I tend to read on a daily basis (Facebook, garbage on the Internet, etc) when I have a spare moment on my phone. Plus, it gives me something to focus on when I'm getting frustrated or angry. When I get into a situation where I'm feeling overwhelmed or frustrated and I can't think of what to say, or do, or even think...I just start repeating my verse in my head and it immediately calms me down and makes me start thinking about all the wonderful blessings I have, rather than whatever it was that had me pissed off in the first place. Alas, this is why I have decided to take on this goal for the New Year.

Along with a group of girls from my church small group, we are participating in Beth Moore's Scripture Memory Team (through Living Proof Ministries). Basically all you do is choose a bible verse every two weeks (on the 1st and 15th of the month) to memorize. It can be any verse you would like and it's easy because you only have to do it twice per month...which results in 24 total verses by the end of the year. The idea is that you choose your own verses so that you can pick ones which relate to whatever is going on in your life at the time, or maybe just verses that you have always wanted to learn.  

I'm sure you're wondering how memorizing 24 verses will help you get into the gospel more. Well, in order to find verses to memorize, you have to read the bible to do so! I mean, yes technically you could Google "most popular bible verses" and just memorize all of those but then they wouldn't be personal so you probably wouldn't get anything out of it or quit before the end of the year. On January 1st, I had to choose my first verse to memorize so I started searching my bible app for key words and topics that I thought I could relate to and find the type of verse that I wanted. I read through verses for probably two hours (spread among small chunks of time throughout the day) before I found the perfect one. So right there is two extra hours of reading the gospel that I probably would not have done on New Year's Day otherwise. I also stumbled upon a lot of good scripture that I really enjoyed reading and thinking about along the way. 

I am loving this project so far because it's easy and manageable as far as time commitment. I have until the 15th to find a new verse so I can squeeze in little bits of reading/searching time when it works with my schedule. And if I don't have time to find a verse, I can always go to Beth Moore's blog to see what verses she suggests or which ones any of the other participants (already over 19,000 women!) are learning as well.

Overall, I feel like this is going to be a great way to keep me connected to the gospel and positive throughout the the year. Anytime negative thoughts enter my mind, I start thinking about my verse and I feel instant relief. I wish I would have started doing this sooner! 

I've already memorized my first verse for the year and I have it posted everywhere to help keep it at the forefront of my mind at all times. I have it written in my planner, on a sticky note in my car, on a sticky note on my bathroom mirror, in my Scripture Memory Team spiral notebook (where I will be collecting all of my verses for the project), as well as a picture of it on my phone so that every time I look at my phone (which is a lot) I see it. 

I can already feel it transforming me and making positive changes in my life. Not only will I be posting my verses on Beth Moore's blog every two weeks to "check-in" with the team, but I will also be posting my verses here on my blog, along with a reflection and explanation as to why I chose each particular verse.

If you would like to join me on this journey, it's not too late to start! You can sign up through Beth Moore's blog if you want to be official, or you can just leave me a comment that you want to join me and we can do it together! I promise you, this will make positive changes in your life and it will transform you. I've only been doing it for 8 days thus far and I can already feel it! Also, I would love suggestions for verses to memorize so if you have a verse that you love, please share it with me in a comment below. 

For more information on joining the Scripture Memory Team, check out the info posted on Beth Moore's Blog. I look forward to sharing my journey with y'all, and I can't wait to be able to recite my 24 verses by the end of this year!