Cheri's Blog

How to Memorize Like a Boss

memorize like a boss

How to Memorize Like a Boss

Recently I posted on social media the same sort of thing most of you post on social media–the Who’s Who and What’s What of your people and the events of life. My post consisted of our happenings on New Year’s Eve which to most would be considered uneventful and not worth the hoopla of a post. But my post consisted of our tradition that involves the culmination of a year’s worth of effort. My children collectively recited 292 Bible verses that night, without assistance from their parents and one is special needs. We are not part of a club or group or association that spurs us on to make these strides. It’s just a need I recognized years ago and the results of a strategy we set in motion to memorize. What I didn’t realize was how many other people needed what I recognized I needed.

I agreed to get my thoughts together and provide my insight and notes for whatever it’s worth. I posted a podcast on the topic and here I’m just going to offer the overview with links. Today we will consider 4 questions:

Question 1: Where are the verses going to come from?

  • Personal Devotional
  • A portion of Scripture, like a chapter, set of verses, or book
  • Something you download or purchase
  • A, B, C, D, it
  • Which version of the Bible are you using?
  • Below you will find a list of verses I created that are easy and important to memorize. I set something like this up for my kids in the beginning and for my special needs daughter, this kind of approach is golden. Here is a link to the PDF version.

how to memorize

Questions 2: How are you going to organize them?

I began using something like the list above with my children. I went to the Dollar Store and purchased a small spiral notebook for each person and recorded one verse per page so they could flip between each one. They have honestly kept these books and continue to use them. It’s a cheap immediate and useful solution.

A second option is to utilize your phone. I do this in two ways.

  • YouVersion— The YouVersion app offers the verse of the day and it allows you to highlight Scripture and create a VERSE IMAGE that can be downloaded and shared. I use this feature often for memory work. First I select the option to make the image rectangular like a screen saver rather than square for social media. Then after I have downloaded the image to my photos, I create a folder within my photos on my phone to better navigate these images.
  • Fighter Verses— I love this app. You can use the verses they have selected for the year OR you can select your own. I select my own. Either way, you can listen to the verse, hear a song using the words to the verse, download a verse image or screen saver straight from the app (it’s not as pretty), read a commentary about the verse, and play games until you have it memorized. Once it’s memorized, you can click a button and it then goes into a rotation so that you practice it and you don’t forget what you have learned. The downside is that the app is not free. It costs $2.99. But it is well worth it! I use it all the time.

Question 3: How are you going to ensure they are being memorized?

Researchers suggest 4 proven strategies:

  • Food choices — Include the following in your diet to increase cognitive abilities– fish, green tea, blueberries, walnuts
  • Times of Day — Memorize in the afternoons, even if you don’t feel you are most effective this time of day
  • Utilize spaced repetition – or flashcards is their best advice, even in 2020. You can make these any way you like. Find what works for you. I have been using flashcards all my life. It works for me. That’s why in 2020 I began to design them for you. They are perfect to go along with you — fitting in the palm of your hand, with a ring and a prayer! 🙂 This first set published goes along with Unleash Your Brave, finding joy in badness. I needed it. I figured someone else might need it, too. You can check it out here or from the image below.

 

  • Chunking — memorizing a larger piece of material that goes together, like an entire Psalm or a passage. Our brains seem to work with these types of larger pieces better than if we try to helter-skelter our way down the road.

Question 4: What is the personal or collective incentive to keep going?

That’s what began this whole discourse: our family New Year’s Eve Verse-a-thon. Here is the nitty-gritty:

  • Decide and announce what the incentive will be for memorizing Bible verses? What will it be based upon? Number of verses? Age of person? You decide. Then announce the parameters.
  • On the given day, everyone must be ready and meet the requirements set up. If they do, they receive the incentive. If they do not, they do not.
    • Note – it cannot be verses they already have learned or recited before.
    • Note — it cannot be a half-hearted effort to memorize. There are no participation trophies at the Strange House! We left one kid in a pile of tears who was beside themselves last year because they thought they deserved the “prize” for mumbling through some sort of half learned jibberish. No. It was a lame effort and all of us knew it. Cry your eyes out. This is not Upward Basketball where you get kudos for just showing up. I’m not paying for poor performance when the person had AN ENTIRE YEAR!! But this year—-that same kid did an AMAZING job. So, I suggest sticking to your guns on what matters.
  • Lead. Remember it’s not just for kids. Grownups need to lead out, to show the way and model following Christ.

You CAN do this. It has eternal significance. Keep after it. Take your next step. I cannot wait to hear about it!

For His Glory,

 

 

how to memorize like a boss

5 Best Things on Your Summer Bucket List

5 Best Things on Your Summer Bucket List

Podcast #56

5 Best Things on your summer bucket list

It’s the summer!

Yea! We’ve all been looking forward to it. Now what? How do you and I make sure we embrace all that there is for what it’s worth? How do we make the most of every opportunity? Today, I am starting a new format for the summer, looking at five of the best of something. Let’s get started, right where you and I live. Today, I want to talk about 5 of the best things that you need to have on your Summer Bucket List.

Let’s not waste the season, the weather, the good vibes, or the time given. Come over and join me for the She Yearns Podcast.

What’s on YOUR Bucket List?

You can now check out the latest episodes from iTunes, GooglePlay, Stitcher, or SoundCloud. Just click on the links below! As always, you can scroll down and listen right here!

Allow me to invite you to become a subscriber to the She Yearns Podcast by going to any of the providers and signing up for the RSS feed to have it automatically updated to your device! It’s basically ONE CLICK! And it doesn’t use any extra memory and really makes life easier.
If you enjoyed this episode or found it helpful, please leave a comment or review in your hosting provider service. I also love it when you post below! It really helps the ministry. We cannot do it without you! The only way the Word goes out further is with your help. Please share it as you feel the leading.

Thank you for listening.

Cheri

 

Best App to Help You Pray

Best App to Help You Pray

If you ever struggle with staying focused, praying on a regular basis, remembering what to pray, or being diligent to pray Scripture– have I got good news for you! Help is on the way. I have found the best app! Let me introduce ECHO, the prayer app.

My cousin/friend turned me onto this resource a few months ago and my time with the Lord has never been the same. HONESTLY. I can journal, sticky note, and remember stuff with the best of them in terms of what I should pray– but nothing yet has compared with the help this little free app has been to me, personally.

I talked about it in the She Yearns Podcast, Best App for Praying, but I wanted you to have a written account in case you need it that way, also.

It’s so simple. First of all just download it. What you see is what you get. Two simple options: Pray Now or Add a Prayer. Let me tell you about some of the features and how you might utilize this awesome tool in your daily life.

How to use the app

Add a Prayer

First you are going to Add a Prayer.

  • Enter a title of the prayer. This could be the name of the person you want to pray for, the cause, or need, or maybe the reference if it is a verse, like Joshua 1:9.
  • Add an image if you like. (You don’t have to do this. I personally haven’t taken the time yet to do this – so you can skip it.)
  • Add a description. This is for you. Spelling doesn’t count. It doesn’t have to be a complete sentence. It can be in code. Whatever. However you want to jot down what it is you are praying for. The important aspect here is to HASHTAG IT.

For instance, if I want to pray the Scripture, Psalm 90:16-17, this is what my entry would look like:

Psalm 90:16-17

#Scripture

Let your work be shown to your servants; and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

  • Then I would push “Add” and now it would be under the “Pray Now” button. I can repeat this process to add more prayers.

Pray Now

When I am ready to pray for the requests I have entered, I simply push the “Pray Now” button and my requests begin to rotate. I turn them like I turn a page on a Kindle.

Feeds

Another feature I like is called Feeds. This is basically a collection of groups, organizations, and causes that has developed a “Feed” or what we might call a profile with different areas to pray in and for and possibly some prayers written out. Let’s say I want to pray for Missionaries. There is a category or Feed with that title. This is what you would do:

  • Click on that category.
  • Under Missionaries, there will be several Feed choices like, Pray for Napal, Vision Baptist Missions, 10/40 Window, or Vision for China.
  • Select one. Let’s say I selected the Feed, Vision Baptist Missions.
  • Next, I can just look peruse the prayer requests and pray as I want, or I can choose to “Follow this Feed.”
  • If I want to incorporate the prayer into my own prayer time, I can press, “Copy to My Prayers” and it automatically adds it to my cycle of prayers.
  • You can join and participate in any Feed for the free version of the app.

If you want to create your own, it requires the upgraded paid version. I’m looking to do this for our ministry here over the next few months. It’s just another way to connect in a meaningful way that is Gospel-Centered.

Reminders

You can set a reminder for a particular prayer, hashtag, or feed, for a particular date, and how often you want to be reminded. That’s just awesome for a mom of eight!

Answered

There is also a mechanism for keeping track of prayers you find God is answering. There will be a bar at the bottom while you are praying that gives the option to delete, share, or answered. Then it keeps track of the ones that you mark as “answered.” I don’t know if you are in the habit of doing this, but I have found this to be of such value in my journals. To be able to go back over the history I am creating with God. That He is present and active in my life- in my needs – in where I am– is so critical to faith. I love this about Echo. So I hope you will utilize it.

Additional Paid Features

There are a few features that are available beyond the Free version: the ability to create your own Feeds, Groups, share your prayers and add photos. I believe it’s $2.99/mo or $19.99 per year. I’m not sure I articulated this on the podcast. I apologize if I did not get it in there specifically. I don’t use these additional features, but I see the value in them. The most useful ones for personal use might be Shared with Me and adding photos. By and large, you can manage very well with the free version. To join a Feed or participate in a Group you do not need to pay anything.

I hope you will try it out. Let me know what you think. And if you are interested in me posting a Feed, what would you like to see on it?

Have a great week!

For His Glory,

Cheri

 

 

How to Recognize God’s Voice

How to Recognize God’s Voice

Podcast #34

At the heart of the basic questions we can ask in Christianity lies this fundamental one: How do I recognize God’s voice? How do I hear it for myself? And on the heels of this one rides another one: Does God even speak today? How can we be certain? Lean in and listen as Cheri Strange helps answer these questions and more in today’s episode of the She Yearns Podcast in the series, How Do I Do That? Thanks for coming along!

This episode is part of a new series, How Do I Do That? that hopes to meet you in the most basic Christian disciplines. You can now find How to Recognize God’s Voice and other episodes of the She Yearns Podcast from iTunes, GooglePlay, Stitcher, or SoundCloud. Just click on the links below! As always, you can scroll down and listen right here!

Listen to Stitcher

Allow me to invite you to become a subscriber to the She Yearns Podcast by going to any of the providers and signing up for the RSS feed to have it automatically updated to your device! It’s basically ONE CLICK! And it doesn’t use any extra memory and really makes like easier.

If you enjoyed this episode or found it helpful, please leave a comment or review in your hosting provider service. I also love it when you post below! It really helps the ministry. We cannot do it without you! The only way the Word goes out further is with your help. Please share it as you feel the leading.

Thank you for listening.

Cheri

How Do I Worship God

How Do I Worship God

Podcast #32

Let’s face it. There are a lot of options and out there in the realm of Christianity when it comes to how we should worship God. Some of the differences are personal style and preference. But there are some truths we absolutely need to get right. What does the Bible say about worship? This is the question Cheri addresses in this episode of the She Yearns Podcast as part of the series, How Do I Do That? Find out what worship is not, what we can do that hinders our worship as well as how you can incorporate worship into in all areas of your life.

This episode is part of a new series, How Do I Do That? that hopes to meet you in the most basic Christian disciplines. You can now find How Do I Worship God, and other episodes of the She Yearns Podcast from iTunes, GooglePlay, Stitcher, or SoundCloud. Just click on the links below! As always, you can scroll down and listen right here!

Listen to Stitcher

Allow me to invite you to become a subscriber to the She Yearns Podcast by going to any of the providers and signing up for the RSS feed to have it automatically updated to your device! It’s basically ONE CLICK! And it doesn’t use any extra memory and really makes like easier.

If you enjoyed this episode or found it helpful, please leave a comment or review in your hosting provider service. I also love it when you post below! It really helps the ministry. We cannot do it without you! The only way the Word goes out further is with your help. Please share it as you feel the leading.

Thank you for listening.

Cheri