Doorposts - Beauty in the Heart {A Review}

A Bible Study perfect for young women.

Beauty in the Heart - A Study of Godly Beauty for Young Women 

The Essentials - What you need to know
• Published by Doorposts 
• Beauty in the Heart - A Study of Godly Beauty for Young Women 
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• A large paperback or e-book.  A Bible study focusing on beauty.
• $14.00

The Review

We reviewed the paperback book.

This is a collection of studies around the theme of Godly beauty.  Each lesson leads the student through a specific method of Bible study.  The methods included are: inductive, verse study, character study, book study, word and topical study, and chapter study.  The book is designed teach the student how to study the Bible.  There are nine studies with a short review at the end.  Each lesson is broken into 5 sections, so each study should take a week to complete.  According to the introduction to the book, each section should take 5 - 20 minutes to complete.  Each section is also conveniently broken into tasks such as reading, answering questions, underlining and looking things up in various reference materials.  There are addition suggestions for study at the end of the each lesson.  With the additional suggestions this one study could easily last for a whole year.

Each lesson packs a lot of information.  Since each lesson is a different kind of Bible study there is a short checklist of how to do the study and what the student will need.  For example, the first study is an inductive Bible study.  The student reads and observes, interpret and organizes, then applies.  Supplies needed are Bible, Bible Alas, Study Bible or Bible Commentary, colored pencils and an English Dictionary.  As each section is a different method of study the supplies needed are also different.  The introduction mentions that in order to get the full benefit from the study it would be beneficial for the students to have Nave's Topical Bible and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.  Each study uses a different methodology for study, so there was no pattern to the study, which adds flavor to the learning.   The study used the King James version of the Bible.  We used the New International Version and had no trouble with the transition between translations.

Because there is so much information in each day Zippy was overwhelmed.  One of the very first tasks in the the study is to read the entire book of I Peter.  We started and stopped all in one day.  My original plan was to hand her the book and have her complete the days on her own.  I would then look at the answers to make sure they made sense.  There is not an answer key.  But because of the overwhelm I went back and broke the days up even further.  It was easy to do because the days are broken up into tasks.  It took us more than two weeks to get through the first lesson, but it worked for us to break it up so much. The way that the book is structured really lends itself to giving the student just the amount of information that they can handle and I appreciated that organization. Another thing I especially liked about the study is the little grey boxes in the outer margins of the book.  They give insight into the study and often relate to online resources.

I believe this study would be appropriate for adults and college age students as well a young women.  While the topic of beauty is especially apt for the middle school aged girl, it can still serve older students and women as a reminder of what we are in Christ.  I would recommend this Bible study for women both young and old.

Writing the Word

Having a Quiet Time with God

This year has been insanely busy for me.  One of the things that really has gotten me through is my daily quiet time.  Throughout my life I've tried, and largely failed, to have a daily quiet time.  This year I started doing a Beth Moore Bible Study with my church.  I had to find a time to do the homework, so I started getting up a little bit earlier than my kids to do my Bible Study homework.  I don't always manage to get up before them, but I think it sets a good example for them to see me studying the Bible.

It changed me.  By putting the God relationship first in my day it helps me to keep a better perspective.  

What to do without a Bible Study

I had a little moment of panic when I realized that Bible Study was ending for the school year.  I love getting up and having that time, but now the structure was gone.  In keeping with my desire to have a simple summer, I didn't really want to start a new Bible study, but I wanted to do something more than just read.  Then it dawned on me why don't I write the word.  In the first Beth Moore study, James, we were encouraged to write the passages as we studied them.  Then I started seeing great instagram photos from Sam of Sam's Noggin of her writing the Word.  It only takes a two by four sometimes.  That is what I decided to do. Write out the Word of God.

How to Write the Word

Supplies:

Something to writing with

Something to write on

Bible

I wanted to be frugal, simple in my choices.  There are really beautiful journals and pens, but I chose a composition book that was leftover from my back to school finds and pen from my pen jar.  I picked out the book of Philippians to start with. It is short, a letter and it is also my favorite book of the Bible. 

What I learned

• Writing makes me slow way down.
• Writing gives me space to think and meditate on the Word of God.
• All scripture was writing by hand originally.  Writing gives me a connection with those first people who received the Word from God.
• Until the invention of the printing press all scripture was handwritten, copied over and over by diligent people of faith.  Writing makes me thankful for the wealth of knowledge and technology we have today.
• Reading then writing is a beginning for memorizing.  
• Writing the Word has made me rethink copywork.  

All in all this has been a successful endeavor.  I look forward continuing to write the Word all summer long.