Meet a Memorizer (Anya)

In this series, you will meet several folks who have been faithfully memorizing Scripture this year as part of our 2021 Scripture Memory Challenge on Facebook. May you be encouraged and spurred on by their stories!

Next up is Anya. We have never met in person, but we have a lot in common! We both...

-graduated from Asbury, a few years apart from each other

-have 4 kids

-are teachers

-are crazy enough to try to memorize the book of Romans!

I had posted in a mutual Facebook group because I felt like the Lord was leading someone else to memorize Romans, too. Anya, whom I had never previously connected with, responded to the message and decided to go for it! Her life is busy, and I'm impressed with how she's been making steady progress this year. Here's a bit of her story:

-Tell us a little about yourself and your background with memorizing Scripture

    My name is Anya, and I live in Raleigh, NC with my husband, Jonathan, and our four kiddos, ages 8 to 1. I got connected to this group through Mary's post in a Facebook group for alumnae of Asbury University, where she was looking for a Scripture memory buddy. I grew up with Bible club and summer camp memorizing individual verses but honestly stopped as soon as I graduated. Then as an adult I worked on Scripture memory several years ago, doing about a chapter a month, but had fallen out of the habit lately. Mary's post was just the boost I needed to set a goal and get back into memorizing the Word!

-What is your goal, and how did you decide on it?

    My goal for 2021-2022 is the book of Romans. I'm not sure quite how long it will take, might be the whole two years, but I'm working on chapter 5 now! :) I had been thinking about memorizing Romans ever since a chapel speaker at my sister's college gave a message that ended with him reciting the entire book of Romans. Fear of failure kept me from making it a serious goal. Mary suggested the book of Romans in her Facebook post, and it was like God nudged my heart and told me to jump in and try!

-What method do you use to memorize?

    I use several methods to help me memorize Scripture. Songs help sometimes, especially with the Psalms! I am also a visual learner, so I read the passage from the same Bible frequently (so that the words are in the same places on the page), and write out the passage, a section at a time, in my notebook a few times. I also like to listen to the Bible read aloud, like on the Bible Gateway app. It's nice to get to the point where I can recite along with the app!

-How have you personally grown as a result of memorizing Scripture this year?

    Scripture memory is hard for me just because my life feels so inconsistent from day to day (or minute to minute!) that I am not very consistent with when and how I spend time in the Word. But I have seen how the Spirit will bring verses to my mind at just the right time that I memorized years ago!  With longer passages and books of the Bible, I think memorizing the entire book or long passage really helps me understand the bigger picture of what it is saying. I have really enjoyed working through Romans word by word, because I think it's helping me understand and rest in the logical argument that Paul makes for salvation by grace alone!

-What encouragement would you have for others?

    For the one who is having a hard time with continuing (or starting!) Scripture memory, I would say that you are not alone! I don't know anyone studying the Word who finds it easy all the time!  The times when I find it easiest to memorize verses are times when the verse is what I need to focus on in that season. So, verses of reassurance when I was afraid of the future, verses of exhortation when I was struggling to be obedient in an area. If in doubt, ask a person you look up to in the faith what their favorite verse is, and then tackle that one! And always start as small as you need to for success!