If you’re new here, hello and welcome! Some of you found me through the Grace in Real Life Podcast giveaway and I’m excited to have you here! I’m Amber and I’m passionate about encouraging overwhelmed hearts to live from the deepest peace in Jesus by holding His gaze and staying present to His presence. This is my little corner of the internet where I write about what God is teaching me and praying it encourages you in your own faith journey. Thanks for being here with me! Stay awhile, I hope you feel at home!
“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” Mark 4:20
If you’ve been following me on social media, you might know I started off the new year with a goal to read the Bible in 90 days. With guidance from Mary DeMuth’s book, 90 Day Bible Reading Challenge, I started a week early determined to be ahead of the game. The first month I amazed myself at my ability to keep up with the reading schedule. But before I knew it, I slowly started to slip behind. By the middle of March, I found myself trying to play catch up and the negative talk in my head started to hit,
Just give up. You’re too far to catch up.
Why even bother?
You never finish the Bible in a year plan, what made you think this would be different?
And on and on, the words kept going, leaving me to feel guilty and defeated.
Days went on when I couldn’t even open my Bible because of the feelings of failure I attached to it.
As my unopened Bible laid on my kitchen table, God’s Words beckoned to me. A small whisper hit my heart telling me to not give up. Galatians 6:9 immediately came to mind:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
I don’t know about you, but I am so quick to become weary and give up. Especially when it gets uncomfortable or challenging. I can become impatient when I’m not seeing the harvest right away.
This verse also tenderly reminded me of my own word for the year, sower, and brought to light the truth my heart needed. It is okay if I don’t make my goal, God’s Word is not meant to be a goal but life. Reading God’s Word and slowly sowing it into my heart, even if it’s little by little, is exactly what I needed to be doing. God fills all things in every way and blesses what we are able to give (Ephesians 1:23, Mark 6:41). Are goals bad to have? Not at all! It’s when we turn our goals into the goal and purpose. If our goals are leading us away from the Reason behind why we are reading the Bible, we have a heart issue going on. If we get caught up in feelings of failure and disappointment, we may have made our goals more about us than about Him.
Friends, can I encourage you to sow His beautiful Words into your heart? Whether it’s only a verse a day, or a week, or a year, just don’t stop reading it. We read the Bible to know God more, His character, His truths, and His heart. The enemy would love nothing more than for you to stop reading it, to not know Him, and for your heart to turn to the things of this world instead. The truth is, this world and everything in it is fleeting, and the fruit it bears never fulfills. But God and His Word stand forever. It is everlasting. It’s alive and active! (Hebrews 4:12)
I am excited for May’s study, Sow + Grow! Inspired by Mark 4-Parable of the Sower, we will look at the soil of our heart and sow His Word to help us produce a crop of good fruits! I’ll be sharing my own personal Bible journey and how my word for the year is going (Did you know I didn’t start reading the Bible until I was in my 30’s?!?). There will be stories of failure, back sliding, and struggles; along with God’s goodness, grace, and mercy woven in between. No perfection, just perseverance. God’s Word changed my life, so I continue to cling to it.
Whether you’re a newbie to the Word, a Bible nerd, haven’t touched your Bible in years, or somewhere in the middle, you’re invited to take part in reading the Word of God and getting to know Him more.
What to expect in the Sow + Grow study:
Weekly reading plan
Weekly written & audio devotionals
Breath prayers
Journaling questions
Quick Notes for the Heart Scripture dive
Access to my other monthly studies like Peace-Filled, Full of Wisdom, Permission to Be Present, and More!!
Giveaways, graphics, prayer requests, and community!!
I sure hope you join us! The study won’t be the same without you! Spend this Spring being intentional, working on the garden of your heart! May we be the sower who sows the Word and may our heart be of good soil!
Hold His gaze!
Amber
What I am reading:
Read it for free by joining the launch team (Bonus, you’ll be able to hang out with me! I’ll be running the launch and I promise it will be fun!): Sign up here!
Here’s what others are saying about God Who Became Bread:
So many of us go through life with a vague hunger for more. God Who Became Bread is an invitation to explore what will truly satisfy your soul—a feast of grace, hope, and resilience. Emily’s words will help you settle deeper into your seat at the divine table, where you’re fully known and loved, where you’ve always belonged.
—Holley Gerth
Wall Street Journal best-selling author of What Your Mind Needs for Anxious Moments
I’ve known Emily for a very long time, and I have witnessed how she has completely given herself over to the will of God. She is incomparable. This beautiful book is her passion, penned onto pages. God Who Became Bread is a must-read that will move you. It is a testament to the transformative power of faith, reminding us that in God’s boundless love, our hunger—both physical and spiritual—can be satisfied, and through us, the hunger of the world can be met.
—Jennifer Dukes Lee
Author, Growing Slow, It’s All Under Control, and Stuff I’d Only Tell God
I am completely undone. Undone is the only word I can stir up that describes my response to Emily Wierenga’s new book, God Who Became Bread. The symbolism she presents is stunning; the rich lessons she layers in every section make me ravenous for more. There are sections of this book that I read with great heaves of my chest and gulps between my tears. How can a woman write with such simplicity and yet such texture? I believe the greatest endorsement one can give to a book is to humbly declare, “I wish I had written that book.” I can assure you, I wish I had written this book.
—Carol McLeod
Best-selling author, Bible teacher, podcaster, and blogger
Buy here! All proceeds go to The Lulu Tree Ministry!
Song I have on repeat:
It is Well by Kristene DiMarco
Studies I am working on:
May Study: Sow + Grow: Sowing God’s Word in Your Heart
June and July Study: Summer Book Club - The 40-Day Feast by Wendy Speake
August Study: Mother’s of the Bible
Is there a topic or a book of the Bible you would like to study on? Leave me a comment and let me know!