EP 61

Christi: Welcome to the smiling at the future podcast. My name is Christi Rose and this is my pursuit to glean practical wisdom on femininity, homemaking, finances, relationships, and singleness from the God-fearing men and women in my life. Hope you enjoy this journey with me as we learn to smile at the future.

Christi: Hello ladies, I’m so glad you are tuning in again to this podcast and I know this episode will be edifying and inspiring hearing from Susan on scripture Memory. But before that, I wanted to let you all know that we now have a patreon account where you can sign up to donate five dollars per month to support this podcast. The donations will go towards paying my amazing audio editor, and thank you gifts, to be given to each guest that comes on the show. I’ve been bootstrapping the expense so far, but thought why not give the listeners an opportunity to get involved as well? So you can click the link in the show notes if you have the means and the inclination to support the smiling at the future podcast.

Christi: Today, I’m interviewing Susan Heck who is a Godly woman and Women’s Conference speaker but the most fascinating reason that I’ve asked her to come on the podcast today is that she has memorized the entire New Testament. Yes, you heard me right? All 27 books of the New Testament. It’s hard to believe but it’s true. So without further Ado, here is my conversation with Susan. Welcome aboard, Susan. It is a great honor to have you on the podcast today. But before we launch into the discussion, would you share with us where the Lord has you in life and Ministry?

Susan: Well, thank you Christi, for having me. It’s a joy to be able to meet you and then to share with the ones that will be listening. Yes, I live in Oklahoma and pretty much born—well not born and bred here, born in Wisconsin—but pretty much in Oklahoma since I was 3 years old. So Oklahoma is my home and I was privileged to have a father for a pastor and a husband for a pastor and I now have a son and a son-in-law who pastor. So I’ve been blessed with Godly Heritage.

Susan: And the Lord took my husband to Glory last year and so I’ve been widowed a little over a year now and I have just really been blessed to be in this journey of widowhood to watch the Lord’s faithfulness and how his word has just flooded my heart and mind and given me such great hope and encouragement as I walk through this different chapter in my life. And it was really my husband who gave me that, I guess pep talk, to memorize scripture way back when I was 18 years of age.

Susan: So, yeah, and the Lord is blessed the ministry with the master. We are traveling a lot in this year and next year, so I’m thankful that I can be used bringing forth, hopefully fruit, my old age as Psalms says. Anyway, so that’s kind of just, that’s just a little nutshell really.

Christi: Well, that is so encouraging how you are just serving the Lord, even as a new Widow, like you shared. And the listeners to this podcast, most of them are single women, but you’re experiencing singleness from a different view. I guess it might be called secondary singleness, having been married before. So I’m just encouraged to hear how you are using your time and serving the Lord. So thank you.

Christi: One of the things that I love about this season of singleness is that it is a time that we can have that undistracted Devotion to Christ, as Paul exhorts singles in First Corinthians 7:35. And so our discussion today will serve to light a fire in the listeners for this pursuit of knowing Christ, growing in our love for him, and a big part of all of that comes down to knowing his word. So I’m just thrilled to talk about how to hide God’s word in our heart.

Christi: So our first question is why is it important for Christians to memorize scripture in the age we live in, when you can just Google a verse, you have just instant access to anything?

Susan: Well, I can think of many reasons why. I mean Googling a verse is fine but you know, that’s not hiding God’s word in your heart. As the psalmist said, “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God.” And so Googling it isn’t going to be hiding it. You might be able to find quickly what it says.

Susan: Also, you know, Paul says to the church at Colossae who didn’t have a written copy of scripture, most of them, to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, inhabit them. And so the word of God can only inhabit us to the to the end that we know it. And so I believe that, you know, in our age of technology really has done a lot of damage to the New Testament Church. My husband used to say, the term “daily devotion” or “quiet time” has done a lot of damage to the New Testament Church because we have Bushnell time or what we call quiet time, and we think that we have done our duty and we go on our way.

Susan: But the New Testament Saints would look at us as spiritually strange and perhaps anemic because the word of God doesn’t dwell in us, it doesn’t inhabit us. It doesn’t permeate our minds. We don’t meditate on it day and night as the psalmist says in Psalm 1, “The Godly Godly Man, the Godly woman in our case, meditates day and night on scripture.” And so we should be thinking through scripture and so Google can’t help that. But you know, I’m thankful for Google and I’m thankful for the times I can search something quickly but at the same time there’s nothing like the all sufficient word of God in its context to hide that word in our heart. And so there’s many many reasons why we should do that, but certainly in our age of technology, I would encourage those sinners to spend less time on technology and more time in the scriptures, you know. So definitely is going to sustain them in the season of life where they are single. So yeah.

Christi: And technology as we know is an amoral tool. It can be utilized and used and there’s actually apps and things that can help you memorize scripture. So, that’s one way that you can utilize technology to your advantage. But one thing I was thinking about Susan is how that many decisions that we make in our day-to-day come down to just split second decisions. We don’t have necessarily the time to go to the scriptures and look up verses on the decision, we’re making. But if we know God’s word, we’re going to know what pleases him. We’re going to be choosing the wise path of life, we’re going to know the wisdom principles in the scriptures and so I think it helps us to obey God better when we have his word in our hearts.

Christi: It’s also I think just a way to serve others, if we have a friend that we’re talking to and they’re sharing and pouring out their heart on a particular issue and knowing the scriptures to bring in that moment without having to be like, “well, let me look up Google and let me look up this verse.” Yeah, so many interactions just come down to those organic conversations and having God’s word ready to go, is going to make us more effective encouragers, better friends and yeah, better in our obedience to the Lord.

Susan: Yes, I would agree with you 100% because, you know, just to Google a verse or something like that in a crisis situation, you often can do that, like I need a verse about this, but it might be out of its context and so we don’t want to misuse the word of God. This is God’s holy word inspired by the Holy Spirit and it is just not right to take something that God meant to say one thing and we can turn around and use it with a friend for something he never intended it to be and so it misrepresents him. And I think that’s a very dangerous thing to do in light of adding, or subtracting from what is the authorial intent of scripture. So, you know, I think we have to be very careful, even Googling a verse to make sure we’re going to use it, use it in its context.

Christi: Exactly. And that segues nicely into the second question I have for you. There are different Bible memory methods out there, but you’re a fan of the long form method of memorizing an entire chapter or book instead of many individual verses. So, can you share the reasons why you think that’s the better way to memorize scripture?

Susan: Yeah, I think random verses, as I mentioned, you know, I’ve been involved in. I know people that do Navigators and people that do the Awana and those kind of things. But often if you’re not careful you’re again, using it out of its context. And when you memorize a whole chapter or a whole book of the Bible, it’s like, you know, if I were to write you a letter and you just decided to take the middle part of my letter and and meditate on that and memorize that, you really don’t know how I began my letter to you or how I’m ending my letter to you, what I’m saying, and all the other places. So you’re really, you’re really misusing scripture by only focusing on maybe a verse or two.

Susan: I think of Philippians 4 would probably most of these ladies know which talks about, you know, where not to be anxious for anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding guards our heart and mind. But we’re missing out because he starts out with talking about Euodia and Syntyche. And they need to get along. That was causing a lot of the anxiety going on in the church. And after that, that he talks about another thing, we need to be praying about is being content with overfull, hungry, good relationships, bad relationships. So we’re taking the middle part there and saying, “okay, here’s the key to prayer,” or “here’s the key to anxiety.” We’re not really understanding the whole of what Paul is saying. And so I think it’s a really, it’s an injustice to our father and to the scriptures.

Susan: And so I’m not, you know, I’m not saying to the ladies don’t memorize random verses, but just to do it in their context. And for me, as a teacher of the Bible to women, I love memorizing books of the Bible because it just gives me an idea of what the whole is all about, and helps me to see context, tells me to see things that are repeated. You just kind of see it in its, in its whole. So I’m not a big advocate of random verses but I don’t I don’t condemn those who do it that way. Just just as long as they do it in the, in the proper context.

Susan: But I know that people that have used the other method of random verses and then after maybe listening to me talk on that topic or reading my book on it or watching my YouTube on it, they have endeavored to memorize a chapter or a small book of the Bible. And I have so many testimonials of women who have said to me that it’s transformed their mind and their heart. They just have never experienced anything like that and it’s just changed their life. So yeah, I think we have to be very, very careful again about just using a certain portion of scripture without the context of it.

Christi: Yeah. No, I think that is definitely key and Susan, I just love how you have such a high view of scripture that this is the very words of the God of the universe and it matters how we wield it and how we understand it. And he is a god that is specific and intentional. And you know, it’s not just whatever it means to me and kind of left up to our emotions, and our interpretation, like God said, what he said purposefully, and so understanding it and holding it in high esteem and treating it with that reverence is so important.

Christi: Is there a specific Bible translation that you would encourage the listeners to memorize from that you feel like is maybe the most close to the original Greek and Hebrew of the Bible?

Susan: Yeah, you know, that’s a hard one for me. I grew up in a Baptist home. I had a father who was a Baptist Minister and back then you know, my Dad read and preached out of the King James version. When I got married, that’s the translation my husband had memorized out of. Since then, I think in his latter years, he used a new King James, ESV, and things like that. And so for me just because—I’m not a King James only person—but because I I grew up with that translation, and I have done, most of who I’ve really done, all my memory work out of that translation. It’s hard for me to switch. That’s the Bible, I read out of, but if I were, if I were starting a new, let’s say, and I were starting today, and I’ve never memorized any Scripture, I would probably use the new King James, ESV, the Legacy Bible. I would use something that is very close to the. You don’t want to use a paraphrase. I would I would discourage the ladies from doing that.

Susan: I will say this, the King James version is written was written in an era when people did memorize great portions of scripture, it’s an easier translation to memorize out of. It has a bounce to it, a rhythm to it, where some of the other translations do not and they’re very wordy. And so my books are written in New King James to take out, you know, all of these and thous and thee-s and thou-s, although I do, I personally memorized in the King James version, but if I were starting over, I would do probably new King James or as I said, I would look into more of the more recent translations that have come out that are closer to the original. So I know a lot of people are using the Legacy Bible and the ESV. So that would be my I’d stay away from the, you know, the paraphrases.

Christi: Yeah, I I memorized from The New American Standard which is similar to The Legacy. The legacy is kind of a taken that and updated it to be even more accurate from what I understand. Maybe I’m wrong on that. But sometimes the phrasing and everything isn’t as doesn’t flow off the tongue and it’s a little harder to get right because it’s not maybe as close to our modern vernacular. I think that is it the ESV? That’s a little bit easier flow. Yeah. They say it is.

Susan: Yeah, they say that. So anyway, but I think what I would say this, if the ladies are going to take the challenge to do something like that, I would encourage them to not change translations in the middle. So let’s say they start a book of the Bible or a chapter or something, I wouldn’t change the version you’re going to use because it’ll really, it’s very confusing if you do that. In fact, when I’m listening to people quote, scripture and it’s not the translation that I use and I’m trying to prompt them, it’s a little bit interesting because it’s just different wordage. So it can be very confusing to change translations if you’re going to start something like that.

Christi: Yeah, that’s a good tip. So let’s say the listeners want to start memorizing but they don’t even know where, like what chapter would you recommend if someone just wants to start? They’re like, “I just want to memorize an entire chapter in the Bible,” what would you say is a good place to start?

Susan: You know Christi, I would probably start if they’ve never done anything like that. I’d start with something simple. Maybe Psalm 1 just has six verses, you know, the contrast between the Godly and ungodly man. If they’re struggling with depression, maybe Psalm 42, which is on depression. “Why are you cast down O my soul, put your trust in God, he’s the lifter of your countenance.” Maybe if they’re struggling with life dominating sins, then maybe Psalm 51, where David wrote after his sin with Bathsheba, “Have mercy upon me O God, according to thy loving-kindness, according to the multitude of thy transgression, our mercy, wash out, wipe away my transgressions.” Or if they want to just focus on God, maybe Psalm 145, which extols 16 attributes of God. Maybe starting with something like that, where they get a taste of it.

Susan: I’m not sure I would just run to a book of the Bible and yank out a chapter. But I mean, they could memorize, like Colossians 3, which is the put off, put on, chapter. They could be, as I mentioned, Philippians 4 a while ago, that has a lot of really helpful things for, especially, for talking to single women. The key to contentment, there’s four keys to contamination there. There’s four ways in which we are to pray when we are anxious. And so there’s a lot of meat in there. But endeavor maybe something their pastor is preaching from. If he’s, you know, preaching out a John, maybe, maybe memorize, you know, something there. But I would start, if they’ve never done anything like that, maybe a Psalm. So I know that was a long answer to your question.

Christi: Oh, I was, I wrote them all down. I can, I can definitely post those in the show notes, if the listeners didn’t get a chance to jot it down. So let’s say someone has some familiarity with memorizing scripture and they’re ready to tackle an entire book of the New Testament. So one of the smaller Epistles, what would you say would be a good place to start?

Susan: Well, the first one that I memorized was Colossians, that was due to my husband’s encouragement. It’s four chapters, very small chapters. So that was good. I would say maybe James. James is fairly simple, and it’s also a very practical book, just five chapters. So I might, I would start probably with one of those. Philippians again is a good book. So I would say, Philippians, James. First John’s a little challenging but probably wouldn’t be the first one. I would encourage them if they’ve never done anything like that. Titus is only three chapters. Maybe Jude or Philemon or Second or Third John, those are pretty short, but maybe I should one of the shorter books of the Bible. I think probably Colossians was fairly simple for me, but I was 18 when I memorized it. So the older, I get, you know, takes a little more work to to put those those chapters away. But yeah, so I may be one of those New Testament books would be good.

Christi: Okay. And I don’t I didn’t ask you this but I know you’ve memorized many books in the New Testament or in the Bible. So can you share with us where, you know, how many you’ve memorized?

Susan: Yes, I finished the New Testament about. I’ve been two or three years ago. I finished memorizing, the entire New Testament. And then after that, I memorized Ecclesiastes and now I’m in Genesis and I started I’m in chapter 16 now. So I’ve done one through 15 and then I’ve done I did Jonah a long time ago before my daughter went off to college and she’s in her 40s now. So I memorized Jonah with her. And I’ve done, maybe a couple of Psalms and then this year I decided to take a break from Genesis and memorize Isaiah 53 on the sufferings of Christ around Easter time. Stopped and did that. So I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m planning to finish Genesis Lord willing and then I haven’t decided what I’m going to do, is I’m just going to Exodus or whether I’ll stop and do some Psalms or something like that. I have decided the answer.

Susan: I don’t know. I really love it. I’m kind of a, I kind of addicted to it actually, and I miss it when I when I travel so much and I have to be preparing to teach four to five times on these conferences or retreats. It’s I don’t really have the privilege to mentally, you know, try to concentrate on teaching four or five times at a retreat or conference and then also be able to work on scripture Memory. Sometimes I’m able but that’s a lot of it’s a lot of mental work. So I do just, I do keep my review up though because I don’t want to lose it. But yeah, but so that’s where I’m at. And when I met my husband, he had most of the New Testament memorized and the man who taught him, had the whole Bible memorized and so

Christi: Oh my goodness. So you see, I have quite some big shoes to follow. Yeah. And how old was your husband when you met him?

Susan: Well, I was 18 and he was 21. He was 21. And he had already memorized the entire most of it, not quite all, but most of the New Testament, he had down.

Christi: Wow. Yeah. Wow. And he did, he have like one of those photographic memories or not?

Susan: He worked very hard at it, so, but you know it, he could really go anywhere in scripture. We were married almost 46 years, six days, short of 46 years, and he read his Bible like 10 times a month. And so he really had saturated his mind and heart with scripture. And so I could ask him Bible questions. He could go anywhere in scripture even though he didn’t have the whole Bible memorized. I say, “Now, where’s that verse about the woman’s menstrual cycle?” And he would go, “Oh that’s Leviticus, chapter 15, about verse 37.” He read his Bible so much he knew.

Christi: You know, and so did I hear you correctly when you said he read it 10 times a month?

Susan: Yeah, he did most times he did.

Christi: He was like, wow, he’s saturated his mind with scripture. That is amazing. I 10 times a year, would be ambitious, but 10 times a month. Wow, he was a man of the book.

Susan: I miss him greatly as he We had great Bible conversations, theological conversations and yeah, I miss that a lot but thankful that I had it for as long as I did.

Christi: Well it is so inspiring. You are the right woman to have on this topic and speak on this. And like you said, you’ve had to work at it. So I think that’s one thing. That’s, that’s hard for people. It takes effort to do this, to put the time into it, the diligence that it takes, but there are things we can do to make it a little bit easier on ourselves and take it from short-term memory to long-term memory. So, love to hear your tips, tricks, things that you have found to make this process a little easier.

Susan: Well one thing I do is I put on recording device, my phone. I have a recording app so I put on with my own voice. Like I’m in Genesis 16. So I put on Genesis 16 on my recording device on my phone with my own voice and I try to record it as fast as I can and still understand what I’m saying. And so I will listen to it when exercising or getting dressed in the morning, putting my makeup on, making my bed, I’m listening to it. And so my husband’s things, he taught me was, if you would listen to scripture at a fast speed, it becomes more planted in your brain. Because our brains pick up things easier, if we hear them at a fast speed, instead of a slow speed. So I that’s one of the tips that I do.

Susan: But I also make a copy on more and more of a visual learner than audio even though the audio helps greatly. So, I take the my Bible, I make a copy, you know, out of the page of my Bible and I carry that with me wherever I go. And I do like everybody does, you know, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God,” so I get a verse down and I go to verse 2, but I’m always, you know, going back to verse 1.

Susan: And and when I finish a chapter or a book, a small book of the Bible, let’s say, the other tip my husband gave me this been very helpful besides listening to it at a fast speed, you know, making sure that, you know, you memorize it correctly but is after you get it finished a project like a chapter or a small book of the Bible, if you’ll say it every day out loud for 30 days, you pretty much have it. That’s been my method for most of the books that I’ve memorized.

Susan: And then also I do review. I try to review all the New Testament within a couple of weeks and the way I do that is because I have everything I’ve memorized on my phone. Now I try to walk every day just to keep, you know, my body going and moving. And so I will listen to scripture while I’m out walking, and I go can go along with it. I try to review Ecclesiastes and Genesis 1 through 15 at home when I’m reading my Bible in the morning so that I am more concentrated then. But I found that that’s a helpful review method is just listening to it. The ones, the books of the Bible that I’ve had memorized for a long time and I memorized them correctly. They’re the ones that have really, they just roll off my tongue. My more recent ones I have to make sure, you know, I keep the review of pretty well, so Ecclesiastes and now Genesis so that, but the reviews are important. If the ladies don’t review it, they will lose it.

Susan: And so it’s just like, you know, I can remember when I was growing up here in Oklahoma. I can still remember my address and 15 1976 East Avenue. My phone was nine 1867 for 493. I still remember that. Because, you know, we said it, we had to say it to our teacher and, you know, “I pledge allegiance to the flag.” I mean, I don’t even know if they do that anymore in school. But but we learned that as a child, because we said it every day. And so, if the ladies will will do the review correctly more than likely, they will be able to retain it and then use it. You know, there’s no merit Christi in memorizing scripture but there is merit in you helping yourself. It for It helped me get off life, dominating sins, it’s helped me know, God better. It’s helped me be more accurate in my teaching, it’s helped me to as a Biblical counsellor and a former pastor’s wife. It’s helped me to help women. And so there’s so much value in why we do it, so I would just highly encourage them to do it the right way, but use it, you know, to use it for the glory of God, and his kingdom.

Susan: There’s no spiritual merit in the memorization of it. But there is spiritual value in using it to know, God to know, his word better and to help other people.

Christi: And we know it does not return void and it is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. So we know that it has power like you said to rid us of sin in our own lives. And I just think our goal is to be more like Christ. And so as we’re meditating on his word, we’re going to have the mind of Christ. We’re going to start thinking like he does, being more pleasing in how we live our lives. So just to be able to walk this Christian Life in a way that honors the Lord. So essential to know his word and like you said to use it to share it. Not just I mean it’s of course of our own benefit but also to be a blessing to others and like you’re using it to teach women accurately.

Christi: So I think a lot of what you said it comes down to habits that you’re making because I it’s easy to get inspired and get all fired up about something. “Okay, I’m going to memorize,” but then you know, after a couple of weeks and it gets hard, you know, it falls off, we get busy, it just goes to the back burner, we’re not doing any more. So I think Bible memory it needs to just be part of your regular daily habit, to your life and it’s not something you just do for a short time and are done with it. So, for myself and I know this has been so helpful because because I know myself and I know when I get busy, it’s gonna it’s gonna go to the back burner. I have a Bible memory accountability partner and I know she’s going to call me every Saturday morning, going to ask me what my verse is. Are we just do two a week. So it’s not a this Monumental feat. We’re almost done with James. We’ve been working on that for a while now. So our 10 verses away from the end, but the accountability has been a huge motivator in my life just to stay consistent with it.

Christi: But I also appreciate how you talked about reviewing because I haven’t mastered that yet. I’m just trying to fit it in when I can and try to review the previous chapters but I appreciate your tips on that. How you said you, you say it out loud for 30 days in your, that’s it.

Susan: That’s the system process. And I had an accountability partner in the beginning as well. For many, many years I would have someone hold me accountable but I think through the years because I’ve been doing this now faithfully for about 36 years so because I have such a love for it. And it’s a it’s a joy. I would love to have the whole Bible memorized by the time I go to heaven but I don’t know that that will happen but I have such a love for it that I don’t really need that accountability. I’m self-motivated I guess because I have seen the value so much in it.

Susan: It’s just like when I don’t get my daily walk. I miss it because I see the value, gets my body going and gets my adrenaline going, it gets my mind going. And so because I do enjoy it, I miss it. When I don’t do it, that’s the way I feel about scripture, Memory. I miss it when I have periods of time where I can’t get to it. So, it’s so valuable. So it’s for me. I don’t need, I think accountability is great and I highly encourage it and to have someone check and make sure you’re doing it correctly. So it’s a, it’s a, it’s a great thing to have people, but for me, I just, I just love it so much and then, yeah. So I don’t know. But accountability is a great idea.

Christi: And another thing that I found to be helpful as I memorizing, because I’m not always gonna know at face value, how to, what the word is at expose that that particular verse. So commentaries like if you can get a commentary and study it while you’re memorizing it, that’s just going to bring bring out a lot more meaning than maybe you might get at face value. So that’s been neat to do.

Christi: And this is no longer in print but John MacArthur had a Bible memory system. That was little passages, but it was for every week of the year but it came with flash cards and such and then it also came with like a five minute sermonette on each passage, so he would explain it. So you’re listening to that while you’re memorizing it for that week, you can still find copies of that on Amazon like used copies. And I’ve used that a couple of times over the years but just understanding what you are memorizing, I think is really, really good. And and you made a comment about, you can start memorizing, what your pastor is preaching and a lot of pastors, if their expository preachers, it will take them a while to go through a passage. And so you’ll have time to kind of stick with them through that.

Christi: But yeah, I think, once again Susan, if we just understand what we’re doing here, the words of the Creator, the god of the universe gave us his word and you know, we should be putting the time and effort into knowing and studying and knowing him and loving him. And once again bringing it back to that undistracted Devotion to Christ, this is the time of life for a lot of the listeners, to be focusing on this, you know, get rid of entertainment, get rid of social media. If you have to, if you need to find time in your day, you know, if you get married and have kids, have a family or it’s going to be a little more tricky to make this as much of a priority in your day. It’s not impossible but now’s the time to really maximize the free time. We have to hide God’s word in our heart. So that’s just my exhortation to the listeners. I don’t know if you have any parting thoughts.

Susan: Well, we all have, you know, the same amount of hours in a day, 24 hours. And so, it’s, I think it’s what we choose to do with our time and Paul says, we want to choose the things that are most excellent and things that will count for eternity. And, you know, we don’t want to waste our life, we don’t want to waste her time, and I know many women have excuses, but when you have them, keep a journal of what they do in a week and a lot of them are spending. And lots of hours on social media. And it’s just robbing, it’s sucking the devotional life away from them and their affection for Christ. And I fear for them, I fear for them in the day of adversity, I fear, you know, for them that they are committing idolatry by loving, you know, the things of this world, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, more than Christ.

Susan: And I, I fear for them and I don’t understand it. I don’t know what the attraction is myself. We’re just so worldly minded. We are we are and the world sucks us in, but that’s for the believer, that’s, you know, it’s it’s shouldn’t be such a draw for us. And so I know that, you know, Peter says “taste and see that the Lord is good.” And so, I would encourage the ladies taste, the Lord, taste him as she’s excellent and do it through scripture memorization. And I would challenge them all to start, you know, somewhere and be faithful, complete the project. And just see if it doesn’t change their appetite from worldly, things to the things of the word. And once you get a taste of that, you don’t want the world looks like nothing. So yeah, even the best the best of it is but is the worst of it. So yeah, that would be my challenge. I’m just try it. You’ll like it.

Christi: What a what a beautiful note to end on Susan. And yeah, I’m just fired up to continue memorizing and and try to follow you as you follow Christ in this pursuit. And when you think about how short our lives are on this earth and how long eternity is, and that’s our true home. And that’s what we’re looking for. We’re fixing our minds on things above, you know, I I think when you have that perspective on this life, we’re a pilgrim, we’re heading somewhere, it’s not our home here. The things of this earth grow dim in the light of his glory and grace. And so yeah, our our delight and our goal is the Lord, he’s the what we’re longing for and filling our hearts with that, that’s going to bring us the joy, the peace, the contentment that we long for instead of using Band-Aids with social media entertainment, any other thing, to try and fill that void, fill it with the Lord, in his word.

Christi: So, all right. Well, thank you, Susan. I am excited to share this conversation and just a joy to sit down with you today. I appreciate it so much.