Scripture Memorization

For those who are interested in memorizing scripture, I really like the method posted by Rivers of Water as part of a new Bible memory challenge.

First, she splits up verses from a particular chapter so that she's working with two verses per day. Every morning, she reads each one out loud ten times, followed by reciting it ten times. Then she writes the verses on an index card and carries the card with her during the day to look at it when she has a few moments.

I like to use a napkin holder (available at dollar stores) to hold all of our family's current flash cards. Right now, it holds alphabet cards for the youngest child, sight words cards for the oldest, and index cards full of scriptures I want to memorize for me. We go over these as part of our breakfast routine.

With Rivers of Water's memorization method, each subsequent day after the first week starts with reciting the previous week's verses ten times, then reviewing all previous verses once through, then working on that week's verses using the ten read-alouds, ten recitations method.

She has a handy table giving instructions by week in her post.

Focusing on Our Husbands

It appears that I have broken one of my own rules in the Proverbs 31 Challenge for Life. I mentioned studying one verse per year, but I have already posted about two different verses.

Let's go back to Proverbs 31, verse 11, for a little while. The King James Bible (Cambridge edition) gives that verse as: "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil."

One of the ways to interpret this verse is that the husband does not have to worry for one moment about his wife. He knows that she will manage the household with no waste and raise the children in the most nurturing way. Some interpretations include the idea that he trusts she will follow all the ordinances of his religion and teach them to their children.

A fascinating wife (as depicted in Fascinating Womanhood, by Mrs. Helen Andelin) also has to trust her husband. This can be hard to do when a wife only gives her focus to her husband when there is a problem. Because it is easy to focus on the details of raising children to the exclusion of everything else, we mothers can use many reminders to give our best to our husbands.

One of the ways a wife can proactively focus on her husband in a positive way is to make and study a list of his best qualities. See this post for more.

Praying for a husband is another very effective way of focusing on him.

There are many resources for mothers seeking a spiritual life at a blog I really like called Inspired to Action. One of the resources is a daily prayer calendar for praying for your husband. It is significant that she offers a prayer calendar not only for children but also for husbands.