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Word Wednesday #98

Published on by Amanda TeroLeave a comment
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 
Romans 8:12-13
It’s easy to read verse 12 and say, “Now I don’t need to live after the flesh” then by the flesh try to accomplish it. The key is in verse 13: we must conquer the flesh through the Spirit.


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Share a verse that God has given you today or copy the button if you’d like to join in Word Wednesdays with your blog! Did you post on your blog? I’d love to see — share your link in a comment!

 
 

Scripture Memory – the Process

Published on by Amanda Tero2 Comments
Last week, I mentioned the three pillars for the foundation of memorizing Scripture.

This week, I’m eager to share some of the things that help me memorize Scripture.

Read
Read the Scripture 10 times out loud.
Memorize Portions
Break up the verse into phrases and work on one phrase at a time.
Repeat and Repeat
Whether its a full verse or portions, say it over and over. I usually say a portion fifteen times. Then, I’ll say the next portion fifteen times. Then those two portions together fifteen times.
Pattern of Six
My sister recently discovered that saying six words together (even if they do not create a full phrase) helps induce memory.
Memorize While Working
Copy the verse on an index card or prop up your phone with the Scripture verse on it where you’re working. Instead of letting your mind idly wander, purposefully memorize Scripture.
Place in Easily Seen Places
Copy the verse onto index cards and put it out in areas that you frequent. Each time you see it, say it.
Sing it
Create a song to sing for your verse.
Put it to rhythm
Instead of saying the verse in monotone, accent some words, say some words faster, some slower. (No, I’m not saying create a rap out of your Scripture verses…but if that helps… ;))
First Letters
Write down just the first letters of the verse and say it using only the first letters as your aid (John 3:16 would begin, “F G S L T W…”).
As You Go to Sleep
Those minutes when your mind is winding down? Quote your verse.
When You Wake Up
And…those minutes when you’re groggily trying to convince your body to get out of bed, quote your verse.
Listen to It
Either record yourself or listen to an audio Bible of the verse(s) you are memorizing.
Have an Accountability Partner
A friend and I were discussing the trouble we were having with faithfully memorizing God’s Word, so we decided to keep each other accountable. Sometimes, she’ll text as soon as I pick up a book to read and I have that reminder, “Have you worked on memory yet today?” Amazing how God works out the timing like that!
What are some ways you’ve found helpful in memorizing Scripture?


It’s Here!

Published on by Amanda Tero22 Comments

 Journey to Love is now ready for you! Find it on Amazon!

About the Book

Now orphaned, Marie is swept miles away from the only life she knew to be sheltered by unknown guardians. Caught in the challenges of a new life, she cannot prevent changes from happening, but she can keep the Bowles and their friends at arm’s length. Or can she? 

While things appear to transition smoothly on the outside, Marie struggles against the turmoil she faces on the inside. She sees something in the Bowles and her new friends that she had never experienced before…but should she trust what the preacher is teaching when it goes against everything she had accepted as truth? Is God really a God of love? If He is, then is Marie willing to accept it? 

Follow Marie as she begins the journey to love.

About the Series

Imagine yourself as an orphan, struggling for survival on the filthy New York streets, where disease and crime run rampant. Journey from these wretched streets to a temporary lodging in an overcrowded orphanage and then to the train station. After riding the train for hours, picture yourself lining up with other children, waiting as adults look you over. Would you be chosen—or would you have to hold onto the hope that maybe, at the next station, someone would want to bring you home? Minister Charles Loring Brace had a vision for New York orphans that brought them through this journey from streets to homes. He began his orphan work in 1853, then in 1854, because of lack of orphanage space, Brace sent the first orphans, by train, to Dowagiac, Michigan, where the children could be sheltered by local families. The “orphan train” continued until 1929, bringing at least 150,000 children to new homes where they were fostered and, occasionally, adopted. Brace desired to place children in good, Protestant homes. Many orphans experienced Brace’s desire, but some orphans had different stories: siblings were separated, and some couples took orphans to use for cheap labor. Though many orphans ended up as successful men and women, not all of them turned out to be trustworthy citizens. Orphan Journeysis a fictional novella series based on the American Orphan Train saga. Each story follows orphans not only as they adjust to a new life, but also as they embark upon a spiritual journey.


Blog Tour Schedule
Be sure to check out these sweet people who are featuring Journey to Love on their blogs:
3/14 – http://apinchoffaith.com/
3/14 – https://thewindowfriend.wordpress.com/
3/14 – http://willowywhisper.com/
3/15 – http://www.honeyrockhills.com/
3/17 – https://faithblum.wordpress.com/
3/19 – http://meagandavenport.com/
3/21 – http://hisprincesswarrior.blogspot.com/
3/22 – http://kelseysnotebookblog.blogspot.com/
3/22 – http://inthebookcase.blogspot.com/
3/22 – http://thetruthinseaglass.blogspot.com/
3/24 – http://www.abrighterdestiny.blogspot.com/
3/28 – http://www.alishainprogress.blogspot.com
3/ 29 http://elishapress.com/
Do you want to connect with me elsewhere?
Email: amandaterobooks@gmail.com
Website: http://www.amandatero.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amandaterobooks
Instagram: amandateroauthor
Pinterest: truthpicsart
Blog: www.withajoyfulnoise.blogspot.com
Goodreads: AmandaTero

Posing Problems | Photography

Published on by Amanda Tero6 Comments
When I started to seriously photograph people, I got on Pinterest (since then, I have found its usefulness for writers as well). There are tons of cute posing ideas on Pinterest! But I quickly found two problems with it: 1) I am not good at replicating a shot (not do I want to mimic someone else), 2) Not all subjects pose like Pinterest pins.
I discovered both of these points when experimenting with my sister. I loved some cute hand-poses. It did not take long to see that those poses just did not look like my sister’s normal self. It was forced. Unnatural. So then we did some things with her hands that she always does and you know what? Those pictures captured her personality splendidly! “Read” your subject. Ask them if a pose feels comfortable. Get them to pose themselves–“Just sit next to the wall”–and see how they naturally set themselves. You may need to tweak their pose a little, but try to capture their pictures–not shaping them to a Pinterest idea mold.

 From my Camera Bag:
(or my card ;))
Here are the pictures of my sister that I ended up taking.


Are you on Pinterest? Connect with me here.
Please comment and leave your Pinterest name–I don’t follow back everyone who follows me unless I know them. 😉

The Solid Rock | Cover Reveal, Giveaway, and Interview

Published on by Amanda Tero6 Comments
You’ve seen Faith Blum on my blog before, and here she is again! 🙂 I was privileged to read The Solid Rock as a beta reader and it sure is full of excitement! Do you want to see the cover? Oh wait…you must gather all fifteen clues first! 

About the Book

Joshua woke with a quiet groan. As his senses woke up one at a time, he cracked his eyelids open. Sure enough, there was a silhouetted form standing at the foot of the bed. From the smell, the person was either from the brothel down the street or had recently left one.

He forced himself to breathe evenly and reached for the knife in his thigh holster. With as tough and evil a voice as he could imitate, he spoke, “State your intentions.”

Pinkerton detective, Joshua Brookings, is sent on a job that seems simple on the surface. His fellow detective has been kidnapped and his boss, William Pinkerton senses foul play. Joshua is sent to investigate Edward’s case in hopes of finding the kidnapped detective and helping solve the case that has taken over ten years to investigate.

Arriving in Cheyenne, Joshua finds much more than a simple kidnapping. Yet again, he must go undercover, something he made his boss promise never to make him do again. The only Christian in the outlaw group, Joshua falters and almost loses faith in God’s providence. Will he stand on the solid Rock or drown in the sinking sand?

About the Author

PictureFaith Blum started writing at an early age. She started even before she could read! She even thought she could write better than Dr. Seuss. (The picture doesn’t show it well, but there are scribblings on the page of Green Eggs and Ham). Now that she’s grown up a little more, she knows she will probably never reach the success of Dr. Seuss, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.

When she isn’t writing, Faith enjoys doing many right-brained activities such as reading, crafting, writing, playing piano, and playing games with her family. One of her dreams is to visit Castle City, Montana someday to see the ghost town she chose for her characters to live in. She currently lives on a hobby farm with her family in Wisconsin.

Clues

In order to gain access to the blog page that has the full cover on it, you need to hop over to the __ other blogs to gather the clues. Each blogger will have a clue number and one character of the clue. Each clue is either a number, letter, or symbol. What you need to do is gather the clues and put them in the correct order. Once this is done, type in the password (no spaces) on the protected page (found here) and you will find the full cover in all its glory.

Here’s clue #14

Visit these other blogs to get the other clues! While you’re on each blog, be sure to read the excerpts and I’m sure each blogger would appreciate a comment. Happy sleuthing!

Antrim Cycle
Creative Hodgepodge
God’s Peculiar Treasure
Jaye L. Knight
Leah’s Bookshelf
Meagan Davenport
Melanie D. Snitker, Author
Rebekah Lyn Books
Singing Librarian Books
Wildflower Acres
With a Joyful Noise
Writing Dreams
Writing, Learning. Living
Writings, Ramblings, and Reflections

Zerina Blossom’s Books
Giveaway

All the books in the giveaway are either Christian, Mystery, or Western. I have not read all of them, so I cannot vouch for what they are like inside. There will only be one winner (sorry), and since they are all ebooks, we can open the giveaway up internationally as well! Here is the list of the ebooks. To find out more about each book, please click on the title and read the Amazon description.

Enter Giveaway: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/991224809/

Dangerous Illusions by Barb Goss
A Box of Dreams by James DiBenedetto
Heartfelt Cases by Julie C. Gilbert
Pride and Butterflies by Franky A. Brown
Guardian (Guardian Trilogy #1) by Robin Helm
SoulFire (Guardian Trilogy #1) by Robin Helm
Legacy (Guardian Trilogy #1) by Robin Helm
Finding Hope by Elizabeth Diaz
Lily of the Valley by Faith Blum
Life and Salvation by Faith Blum

Special
To celebrate the cover reveal, Faith also has the third book in her series on sale! It will be $0.99 through 11am tomorrow and then will go up to $1.99 until Monday evening when it will be back at full price. Here’s a short description of Amazing Grace: A doubting man agrees to wed a widowed mail-order bride, but he struggles with whether or not he can be a father to the woman’s daughter who desperately wants a father’s love. 
You can purchase this book here: getBook.at/AmazingGrace.
You can read my review of Amazing Grace here.



Interview
Me: How long have you known that “The Solid Rock” would be a part of the Hymns of the West series?
Faith: This is a great question! I haven’t always know the title or the exact plot of The Solid Rock, but the first inklings of the idea came when one of my beta-readers for A Mighty Fortressasked if there would be a sequel. My immediate response was, “I wasn’t planning on one.” But then my brain started working and I came up with an idea that Joshua, the main character in both books, becomes a Pinkerton detective and solves some sort of crime. Then I got ideas for the other three books and the timeline worked best to put this book off for last.

Me: What lesson do you most hope and pray readers will be able to learn from “The Solid Rock?”

Faith: No matter what is happening in your life, or how far away God seems, God is always with you and will always be there for you to lean on if you’ll just let Him be your rock and foundation.

Me: How does it feel to finish the last novel in the Hymns of the West series?
Faith: It’s kind of nice and kind of strange at the same time. I’m sad to leave the characters, but I’m also excited about the next series I’m working on. And since the next series will have some of the characters from the Hymns of the West series, I’m not completely leaving them behind. I’m looking forward to where God leads me next.


Word Wednesday #97

Published on by Amanda TeroLeave a comment
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 
Acts 17:11
They listened with a ready mind and compared the message they heard to God’s Word. Today, we have many people who listen–yes, with a ready mind–but they fail to compare the message with Scripture. For this reason, false doctrine reigns in the multitudes of Americans. Am I studying God’s Word for myself?


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Share a verse that God has given you today or copy the button if you’d like to join in Word Wednesdays with your blog! Did you post on your blog? I’d love to see — share your link in a comment!

 
 

Scripture Memory Osmosis

Published on by Amanda Tero3 Comments
I am guilty of wishing that Scripture memory came through osmosis. You know, just go to church and keep up with daily Bible reading, and the Scripture will be there, perfectly memorized for whenever it’s needed.
Wrong.
Scripture memory takes work. Psalm 119:11 says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” If I am to hide something, does that mean I’m just going to toss it somewhere haphazardly? Nope. If I’m really intent on hiding something, I’m going to spend time and do it correctly. Hiding God’s Word in my heart will take action, time, and determination on my part.

I’ll admit, this past year, my memory efforts have faltered. It’s not that I didn’t know how to memorize God’s Word. I just didn’t do it. I let busyness and other “priorities” take precedence over God’s Word. This year, though, I am determined to work on my Scripture memory on a regular basis again, with God’s help.
There are three steps that I have found to be the foundation in my Scripture memory:
1) Pray
This is a step not to be forgotten. My memory is not very good (you can ask my family, friends, and music students). And sometimes, I come to a verse that just throws me for a loop. So, I have found that the first, most important part, is to pray. Pray that God will give me the desire to memorize His Word, pray that He will help me to memorize His Word.
2) Work
As I already mentioned, memory takes work. I can’t just read through a verse five times and have it memorized (if you can, good for you! I’m slightly jealous of you…). I have to choose to put aside 10 minutes to memorize. I have to choose to prop my phone up on the windowsill to work on memory while I’m washing dishes. I have to choose to work on it.
3) Review
Once I memorize Scripture, I can easily forget it the next week (like I said, my memory’s not the best). So, I have my Scripture review cards on which I write the references for all of my memory verses. Every day, I work through one of these cards and it has helped tremendously. I can still quote verses that I first memorized five years ago.
Next week, Lord willing, I’ll share some ways that I vary up the process of Scripture memory.
Here is the verse I’m working on this week. What verse are you memorizing?

Biblically Speaking – The Way of the Wicked

Published on by Amanda Tero3 Comments
Part 18 in my study on what is abomination in the sight of God.
Recap:

Many believers have fallen into accepting that which is abomination in the sight of God. Unless we study God’s Word to learn His Mind on what is abominable, how will we know to purge ourselves from abomination? Lord willing, I will be posting the fruits of my study on the word “abomination,” but feel free to leap ahead of me and study it for yourself. What is an abomination to God?

The Way of the Wicked
Proverbs 15:9 – The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness.
This verse debunks the modern thought that “God loves me how I am.” God cannot love us “how we are” if we are living a lifestyle that He loathes, a lifestyle that refuses to acknowledge God’s higher ways and His righteousness.
One Justifying the Wicked
Proverbs 17:15 – He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.

Not only does God loathe those walking wickedly, He also loathes those who justify the wicked. Here is where many Christians are falling today. Am I trying to “soften” the sins of others? Am I trying to make others believe that “God accepts you as you are” when the Bible clearly contradicts that lifestyle (the Bible defines the lifestyle as wicked)? Am I standing on the Word of God firmly, or am I beginning to sway to the world’s thinking? Oh Christian, be careful of justifying what God calls abomination!

Improving Your Photography

Published on by Amanda Tero2 Comments
We’ve all heard it: “Practice makes perfect.” But it’s easier to quote this than to actually do it.
Some aspiring photographers complain because all they have is a “cat or dog” as their subject. Whether you have subjects ready at hand or stationary objects, you can still practice and accomplish much.
1) Know your camera
I’ll confess: it still shocks me how many people buy a DSLR, brag about a fancy camera, but have no clue how to use it. Read your camera’s manual (sorry Nikons, I’ve heard that their manual is hard to understand). Play with your settings (you can always revert back to factory settings, so you’re not going to mess something up). Take it out and use it.
What you practice willhelp you. I’m not a nature photographer, but I learned a lot about my camera by shooting nature when people weren’t available. The first time I really understood about aperture was when I randomized my f-stop. I noticed that the smaller the number (f-2.8), the blurrier the background. The larger the number (f-14), the clearer the background. Later, I read about this in a book…but I first learned it by playing with my camera settings.
Some pictures from when I really learned the value of the f-stop (these are completely unedited):


2) Be a “Nobody” Photographer
By this, I mean to be willing to use your camera at small events, when you’re not paid, when you don’t necessarily have to. This will help you in two areas: you will gain confidence, and you will learn the beauty of “capturing the moment.”

I took hundreds of portraits of my sisters “just for fun.” Not only did this actually provide me business (“I saw that picture you took…would you do our family’s pictures?”), it gave me great practice. Another example, I side-shot at least five weddings “just for fun.” For most of these I was in the audience; for one of them, I was the big “third photographer.” But tell you what, I was super glad I did that when I was asked to be solo photographerat a wedding! 

What days will you be working on photography this week?
What tips would you add to this?