Thankful for Memory Work

July 27th, 2007 by naomi

By Naomi Wickham, 13 years old

I was quite honored when Natalie asked me to write a guest post. Of course I couldn’t resist such an opportunity! Before Natalie asked me, I was skimming through her posts about “Thursdays of Thankfulness” and I really enjoyed them. So when I was asked to do a guest post I thought of a title right off the bat, “Thankful for Memory Work.” I know it’s too late, and too early, but by the time it’s November it will be old news!

Ever since all of us kids were young, Dad was sure to make us do memory work! None of us were very thrilled when we had to start (well, at least I wasn’t). The worst part was having to write out our verses over and over if we did not memorize them well. When we first started memorizing Scripture (as far back as I can remember), we would sit on the couch with Dad on Sunday when it was our turn and quote our verses to him. It was very nice having a Dad that seemed to stay up even later than usual on Saturday, because he would get very tired when we did verses. The second he closed his eyes we’d be off that couch and on our jolly way. Over the years I gradually got better at being diligent and just memorized the required verses. Now I’m to the point I see the value of hiding God’s Word in my heart!

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

Ever since the Lord convicted me of how important it is to memorize, I haven’t stopped. Now that I look back on the years I wasted, I regret it!

Noelle (my 16 year old sister) and I attended an I.B.L.P Seminar (Institute in Basic Life Principles instructed by Bill Gothard) this past week for the first time. It was incredible! The teaching, the inspiration, the encouragement…everything was wonderful! I have never been to something that was so life changing! I told Natalie that I didn’t necessarily go looking for answers, but Mr. Gothard spoke about many different topics that will change the way I live from now on! In fact, one of the topics was about engrafting Scripture in your heart. He said to engraft Romans 6-8 in our hearts, which was nice because I already have those chapters memorized. But I don’t really have them hidden in my heart. So it was inspiring when he said to quote them in bed, quote them in your sleep, etc. (don’t ask me how you’re supposed to do that!). Later I found out that Mr. Gothard had almost the entire seminar memorized, all the Scriptures, all the stories, etc… After that I was even more convicted that it was very important to engraft Scripture in my heart. I thank the Lord for giving me a father and mother who care about the value of their children memorizing Scripture.

Even though I didn’t appreciate it at first, now I can see the lasting impact it’s going to have on my life!

Posted in Inspiration from others, To make you think | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Thankful for Memory Work”

  1. on 27 Jul 2007 at 4:20 am   Sherri Hayden

    Naomi, God is convicting me of the need to vigilantly memorize Scripture and urge my children to do so–and most of all–to engraft (hide) it in our hearts. He used your “guest post” to reconfirm this conviction.

    Thank you for your well-written, encouraging post.
    I praise God for the testimony He has given through your life.

  2. on 27 Jul 2007 at 12:55 pm   Naomi Wickham

    Thank you Mrs. Hayden for sharing those kind words! Your family as well, has inspired me! I praise God for your comment because I prayed that not only would this post glorify the Lord, but encourage the hearts of the people who read it!:) Thank you so much for your encouragement! God Bless You!:)

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