Hello friend! I’m so glad you’re here!
If you love a good Bible study then you have come to the right place! Let’s talk! I would love to sit down with you and talk about the Bible. I have been teaching the Bible for over 20 years and it still excites me. Studying and teaching God’s Word is my passion.
I absolutely love when the puzzle pieces of God’s Word comes together and causes me to say, “Wow!” When God turns the lightbulb on with one of those wonderful “aha” moments, don’t you? I love connecting the overarching storyline of the Bible and following God’s perfect character from Genesis to Revelation. I love getting into the different stories and different people in the Bible, trying to imagine the feelings and emotions that they might have felt. If you love putting yourself in the stories too, then you will enjoy the “Picture It” writings. They put you right in the middle of the story so that the story comes to life. You can find them under “Articles”.
Studying the Bible did not automatically come easy for me. It has definitely been a journey! I grew up in a strong Christian home, went to church every time the doors were open, came to faith at age 9, married and became a minister’s wife at 19, and still struggled for years to read and understand the Bible. Can anyone else relate?
It wasn’t until much later that I finally learned to study the Bible for myself, and I was completely hooked! It became exciting! It was at that point that I fell deep in love with God’s Word which caused me to fall deep in love with God, because the more you know God’s Word, the more you know God. And the more you know God, the more you will love God.
Some of the highlights and great joys of my life are being a Mom, Mimi, Pastor’s wife, Women’s Ministry leader, Bible Teacher, Conference Speaker, and Drama Production Director. So many blessings include the many wonderful opportunities to serve on multiple ABSC teams around the state of Arkansas, serve on various mission trips and travel on several Bible land tours. You can often find me on my back deck with a book and a hot cup of coffee, hanging out with my beautiful family or my sweet puppy. And if you can’t find me there, hopefully my husband and I are traveling somewhere in God’s beautiful world.
“My passion is to bring women together who want to understand the Bible and experience those amazing biblical “aha” moments. That EXCITES me!”
Thanks for stopping by.
Let’s study the bible!
Cheryl
My sweet beautiful family!
MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY…
I felt an early calling on my life at the age of nine when I gave my life to Christ. I immediately had a passion to serve Him in ministry someday but had no idea what that would look like for a shy, uncertain, little girl growing up in Maynard Arkansas. (Can you say small town?)
In a cheap little spiral notebook, I began writing out my prayer to God that He would let me grow up and marry a missionary or a pastor one day. I mean, how else could a girl serve God? So that desire, in some form or fashion, stayed with me in the back of my mind in my early years. God is so faithful. I did marry someone who, within our first year together, became a minister of music in a small church, which later led to serving in many ministry roles in many churches around the state of Arkansas.
I have always LOVED being a Pastor’s wife. I have always LOVED the “Journey”! I have always considered it a thing of honor. I felt that my calling was to support my husband pastor and keep him organized and serve in the background. That was a great place to be…that was a place I was comfortable. “But God” (my husband’s favorite two words in the bible), But God had something more. My “Journey” was not complete. I had another road to walk. God was intentionally calling me to go deeper with Him in the Word, which became a renewed spiritual awaking for me. Every spare moment I had was spent reading and studying and digging into the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and everything in between. The Bible came alive to me like never before and I began to see it as one AMAZING story of an AMAZING God, rather than a bunch of separate disconnected stories. God showed me so many “aha” moments during this time with Him and my love for Him continued to deepen.
Unbeknownst to me, however, God was laying the ground work and preparing me for the next step of my “Journey”. God began calling me to teach. Now, you have to understand something, my husband Johnny has always been an outgoing and big personality, loved to talk, never met a stranger, someone that you know when he has entered the room kind-of-person…just the complete opposite of me. Teach? Me? In front of people? Can I say “stage fright”? I mean, an audience of two is one too many. I know, I know, I was a pastor’s wife, but please don’t call on me to pray or read in Sunday School class or anywhere else for that matter. So, as Jacob wrestled with God, so did I. As Jonah tried to run away, so did I. As Moses came up with every excuse in the book, so did I. This was my season of true spiritual testing. Would I trust Him to turn my weakness into His strength and use me to do something that I knew I could not do in my own power but would have to rely on His power? It was a struggle for me. I have never doubted that “God can do all things” …just not in me. Why would God use me? I couldn’t even figure out my spiritual gift no matter how many times that I took those crazy spiritual tests. I never tested high in any area. Ever! So why would God even call me to something like this? Seriously, what did I have that could be of any effectiveness?
So, after all the excuses, I just cried out to God like Moses did and I said, “Please use someone else!” But, deep in my heart, somehow, I knew it was true. God was calling me. My faith in God was a strong faith, but a faith untested…it was a faith that needed to be put to action. God was calling me to a deeper level of trust…He was calling me to TOTAL SURRENDER! Through many tears, unanswered questions, much uncertainty, with hands and knees trembling…I took that step of faith. No, not a “step” of faith, but more like a giant “leap” of faith! Y’all I am not exaggerating! I jumped off the cliff and into the deep water and I can’t swim! I was afraid, scared, terrified, and every other word that describes totally petrified! (Look it up in the dictionary, my picture is next to it!) But yet, however, I knew that I really did trust God. I trusted that He knew what He was doing even if I didn’t.
So, I promised God that if He opened a door that I would walk through it, but…I also told Him not to expect me to look for a door, walk up to a door, and definitely not push a door open. Just saying! I also warned Him that if I failed, remember that this whole thing was His idea not mine! Anyone else been there? “But God!” He has been so faithful, even when I have not. It truly is our weakness that He loves to use to bring Him glory. And if my weakness does in fact, encourage someone else to surrender to Him like I did, or go deeper in His Word like I did, or to trust Him with their own “Journey” like I did, then to God be the glory! I am truly amazed and blessed to be on this journey and to be able to play a small part in His glorious Kingdom ministry.
We all have a spiritual journey. What’s yours?
MY LIFE VERSE: Eph 3: 20
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”
THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS. . .
TEACHING: I have served in the local church in various teaching and leadership positions over the years. God has graciously allowed me to teach numerous women’s Bible studies, Bible classes, small group studies, church-wide Connect groups, D-groups and with my husband, marriage retreats & conferences. And I will tell you, I still feel such a sense of amazement and honor every single time! I love teaching and I love learning! The Bible is so full and rich and exciting!
DIRECTING DRAMA: I have had such an absolute blast directing church drama over the years: Large Easter musicals, Christmas pageants, Youth tour performances and Church dinner theaters. Most recently a full scale production called “A Christian Christmas Carol”. Wow! What fun! Some of my best memories in ministry has been through drama!
TRAVELING: It has been absolutely life changing for me to be able to travel and help lead multiple groups to the Holy Land following the steps of Christ. Traveling through Israel and seeing the land and sights personally, opened up the Bible in a whole new way! The stories on the pages of the Bible literally jump off and come to life! Then the multiple trips to Italy, Greece, and Turkey… following the Journeys of Paul. Absolute amazing! Absolutely unbelievable! Absolutely breathtaking! These biblical sights are forever etched in my heart and mind.
And the newest “Favorite Thing” to add to the list…
WRITING: I have completely surprised myself by falling in love with writing. Who knew? I love the creativity, the expression and the satisfaction of writing even though it doesn’t come easy for me. You may notice that I can completely butcher the English language at times. Y’all, the “Arkansas” runs deep in me, can I just say? But in spite of that, writing has become something that I have come to really enjoy and embrace. I have always written my own Bible studies over the years to teach, but writing has now been expanded to journaling our Biblical travels, writing creative short stories based on the Bible (“Picture It”) and recently a full length book. It has been so fun to see the the things that God has opened up and the unexpected paths that He has led me down. He is always so full of surprises! You just never know what He’s up to! But it is always good!
I have absolutely loved every single one of the opportunities that God has given me! When I think back over the years, it just amazes me to think of all that God has allowed me to do and to be a part. And He still continues to open doors and continues to amaze me all the more. God has been so good and I have been so blessed in so many ways.
JUST A FEW MORE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS. . .
FAVORITE WORD – REDEEMED!
WOW! What a beautiful and rich word! Just look at these verse and see if you don’t say WOW!
- Isaiah 43:1 “Do not fear, for I have Redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”
- 1 Peter 1:18-19 “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were Redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.“
Can you say, “Wow!”? Redeemed means “rescued or bought back from sin and death by paying a ransom”. So amazing! God paid the ransom on the cross to rescue me from sin! He paid the price. He bought me with his blood. What a beautiful word! Redeemed!
FAVORITE HYMN – “REDEEMED, HOW I LOVE TO PROCLAIM IT”
If you know it, sing it with me!
Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child, and forever, I am.
Redeemed, redeemed, His child, and forever, I am.
I know that the light of His presence With me doth continually dwell.
I sing, for I cannot be silent; His love is the theme of my song.
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps, And giveth me songs in the night.
