The Well-Versed Story

Tucked inside my jewelry box is one of my most prized possessions – a treasure money can’t buy.  Throughout my childhood I was given dozens like it, but this is the last remaining relic of its kind.  A small piece of unevenly cut note card, yellowed over a span of 45+ years.  It’s smudged blue ink reads:

“And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

This Romans 12:2 (KJV) memory verse card, handwritten by my grandpa, represents an eternal investment in my life:  early Bible memory.  From toddlerhood, I was consistently taught line after line, verse after verse of Scripture.  Those verses made an impresson on my young heart like a handprint in wet cement!  Through every season of my life God’s truth has been with me.  Atop the loftiest peaks and in the darkest valleys, they have been a reliable “word behind [me], saying, ‘This is the way; walk ye in it.’” I wouldn’t trade a single verse for all the riches in the world!

Given that my ”well-versed home schooling” was so profoundly life-shaping, you might assume that early Scripture memory was automatically a top priority with my own little ones.  Nope.  It took a Pocahontas Barbie dispute between my 3- and 5-year old daughters, sending me into desperation-prayer mode.  The Lord brought Proverbs 15:1 to my mind (“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.“) and nudged me to teach it to them then and there.  Using a few easy hand motions, they could say the whole verse in just a few minutes.  We talked about what the words meant and how they could help us from getting into painful arguements.  When my head hit the pillow that night, Proverbs 15:1 spoke gentle conviction of my own harsh tones.

A few days later we learned another verse.  And then another.  And another.  The results were powerful!  My little girls were soaking in the Scriptures like sponges.  And with each memorized line I could sense the Lord fanning a flame in my own heart.  We were hooked!

Soon I was a mom-on-a-mission, searching the Christian bookstores for anything that would help us learn God’s word.  Empty-handed, I began to ask the Lord for simple and effective ways to write his Word on my daughters’ hearts – and the heart of our home.

God provided beyond what I asked or imagined! Scripture memory became a meaningful (and joyful!) time with my girls, spilling over into our daily conversations and actions.  Soon, many of our friends joined us in Bible memory with their families. Doors of opportunity opened for me to speak. Ultimately, many encouraged me, including my husband and daughters, to put this message to print.  Thus, The Well-Versed Family.

Beyond Well-Versed Learning

Like hearing the ocean inside a large spiral seashell, put your ear close to the pages of the Bible and you can hear the heartbeat of God.  Thump-thump, thump-thump.  God’s inspired word is alive and active, able to penetrate the very depths of our being.  By the Holy Spirit, the same passage can both comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.  It changes us from the inside out.  As the verses we learn live in us and through us, amazing things begin to happen!  The essence of well-versed living!

So remember friend, God gave us his written Word so that in Christ (the Living Word) “you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!  [Christ has] overcome the world.” John 16:33

May the Lord give you and me (and our families!) grace and power for well-versed living today!

with love,

Caroline