In what seemed like a bad dream, I found myself lying in a pediat- ric hospital bed with my 6-year-old aughter after a traumatic head injury. Desperate for the peace of God and
affirmation of His sovereignty, I tirelessly
wrestled the tormenting thoughts of fear
and worry. Is she going to live? Will she
recognize me when she wakes up? Will she
be able to speak? Will she have permanent
brain damage? Without my Bible or cell
phone for three days, I was truly left in
the dark with only my hopeless thoughts.
In that desperate time, I realized the lack
of God’s Word I had stored in my heart.
I began to grasp the value of memorizing
Scripture and having it available when I
needed it. By the mercy of God, my sweet
daughter made a full recovery. I, however,
left changed forever! From that point, I
purposed in my heart to memorize Scripture, so I would have instant access to
God’s truth when life’s issues occur.
Psalm chapter 1 was the first passage
the Lord laid on my heart to memorize.
It appeared short, attainable, and full of
truth that spoke directly to my heart.
Keeping my Bible close to my bed, every
night before turning out the light, I read
Psalm 1 out loud. Having Scripture as the
last thing in my mind, caused me to sleep
deeper and wake up more refreshed!
Before long, I only had to glance at the
passage a few times to fill in the missing
words. Quickly, with minimal effort, I
memorized all of Psalm 1!
Feeling a great sense of accomplish-
ment, the Lord brought portions of that
Scripture to my mind as I needed to make
decisions throughout the day. It was as if
I had a recipe box in my heart holding ex-
actly what I needed to hear at the time I
needed to hear it! As His Word continued
to fill my heart, I began to experience a
deeper understanding of His truths and
a richer relationship with Him. It became
our precious language that He spoke to
me in just the way I perfectly understood.
This was so powerful in my life, I had
to get my kids on board! The Lord gave
me a super easy idea for a game to play
with them while eating breakfast called,
“Heaven’s Kitchen.” In the morning when
they would come down for breakfast, I
would enthusiastically announce, “This
restaurant only accepts Bible verses as
payment for the meal.” They loved the
idea of playing restaurant, but instantly
realized that they had no currency to pay
with. I assured them not to worry; I conveniently printed out Psalm 1 and taped
it to the fridge. “All you have to do is
read the first verse out loud.” That worked
great with my two readers; however, my
youngest was not reading yet. For him, I
would recite the verse out loud, “Blessed
is the man that walketh not in the counsel
of the ungodly . . .” and have him recite
it back to me. Willingly, every morning
Character & Virtue
by Renee Carlson
I began to experience a deeper understanding of
His truths and a richer relationship with Him.
“Be anxious for nothing but
and thanksgiving let your
Philippians The Recipe Box:
Instant Access to God’s Truth
through Scripture Memory
