Q-s That Are FA-d

FAQ's

Um...what exactly do you do?
This is a great question. I still don't even know what I do! Oh, I tease. I write full-time. Both my own studies and studies for others - such as Pastors who would like to expand on a teaching series of their own and need some help.

I saw that you write Bible studies -- what kind do you write?
I write in-depth bible studies which involve individual homework and corporate gathering.

What is The Invitation? Where can I read it?
The Invitation is the first in-depth bible study I wrote. It looks at the exodus journey of biblical Israel and brings their heaven-taught lessons into modern light.

I post pieces of it every now and then edited into devotional format -- so you've read more of it than you know! Though it is complete it has wrap up sessions that need to be taught in front of a willing class.

If you are interested in learning more please contact me at sherebiah@optonline.net.

What are you working on now?
I am currently in the midst of writing a new bible study and am working as a "writing consultant" (whatever that is!) for a private project.

Will you ever attempt fiction?
I hope to! I have ideas for fiction and in my spare time am attempting to write my first novel. Stay tuned for more...

What kind of chronic illness did you have when you were young?
At the age of 14, after three years of intense physical struggle, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. All throughout junior high and high school, Fibromyalgia was the battle of my life. Later, at the age of 19, after a back injury, I was diagnosed with Ligamentous Laxity - which in my case means my ligaments are too large for my body. And can cause over-extension, leading to pain.

Will you be my friend?
Of course.

Where do you live?
Without getting too specific, I am a New Yorker living in Southern California for a time. Pray for me!

Are you really that into Lattes?
You don't know the half of it. I'm so into lattes we recently bought a coffee maker that would allow us to make 'em in our home! Do you have any idea how expensive Starbuck's can become when you are me?

Could you please pray for me or about...?
If you so feel led to send me a prayer request, please do. While I am clearly unable to spend all day in prayer for those who are in need, I am in the process of assembling a prayer team. I welcome your requests and am deeply humbled you'd ask.

If you are interested in joining up a prayer team for Exemplify please contact me!

What's the difference between your blogs?
So glad you asked!

Exemplify is my professional blog. Here you can read regular devotionals and print out the weekly "Walk It Out" which incorporates the application of a specific verse each week.

It is here you can also pitch your own projects to me.

Podcasts will also be a feature at Exemplify shortly!

I am toying with the idea of starting an in-depth study on Exemplify - with weekly homework and a wrap up session. Is that something you'd be interested in?

Taste Buds is my personal blog. If you want to read my thoughts on life, get to know me a little better or read some more devotionals (which more often than not deal with my own personal walk) than this is the site for you.

Whatever Girls is my blog for teens. We are still putting the finishing touches on this one - but if there is a precious teen girl in your life, this is the site for her! Each week a devotional is released with questions for application - they are great for Mother/Daughter devotional time. My own Mom and 13-year-old sister love it. I also post things just for fun - and welcome the girl's input!

I also contribute monthly to The Internet Cafe - a great place for women!

Keep the questions coming, ladies!

And thank you for stopping by

and reading my heart jotted down on these blog pages.

Have You Seen It Yet?

"Don't weep. Look?the Lion from Tribe Judah, the Root of David's Tree,�has conquered."Revelation 5:5b

This movie was�spectacular! Stunning. Breathtaking. GO SEE IT NOW!

Yet.

"Who is like you, LORD God Almighty?�

�� � � You, LORD, are mighty,�

and your faithfulness surrounds you."

Psalm 89:8

Where words journey

Only to fall incomplete

Where hearts to a hollow tune

Brokenly beat ?

Where worlds spin

And churn and collide

Where homes once sweet

Now in two, divide ?

Where the path paved

Is covered with debris

Where the smiling eye

Offers tears silently ?

Where the joy of the dawn

Nervously wanes

Where the blaze of the night

Stills its neck and cranes ?

Heard above the loss

Discovered among the remains

Even now lifts a voice

To the One Who Sustains

And where sacred is the soil

�Humbled, wholly I am found

Where deep calls to deep, my God

Yet� Your faithfulness surrounds

�

�

�

She Writes.

Snow fall, soft and powder white?

A heart break? A heart ache?

A loss not yet in sight?

Sun breaking with beauty to the eye?

A rainstorm?s lightning shocking the sky?

Will it be a memory fading; buried deep in hurt?

Or a flower emerging from soiled earth?

A clouded moon; a darkened night

With something to hide?

Or star-lit, charcoaled in

Shining so bright?

Will it be a kiss that comes undone

As a gift all my own?

Or a wish left forever to suppose?

Will it be a promise cruelly broken

Or a�vow that has yet to grow?

Simple words left unspoken

That I may always ache to hold?

Dreams that beg to take flight

Before they ever know?

What is north of tomorrow?

Early Homemaker Retirement

Genesis 29:20

?So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel,

�and they seemed like only a few days to him

�because of his love for her.?

�

�

I feel like this day is taking forever. Dramatic? Perhaps. Warranted? You bet.

�

Let me give you a quick recap of my day: If God were in the business of forsaking things He would have started with the hour I woke up this morning. Not only did I wake up before the roosters; I awoke to the face of my brother shouting inquiries about where my Mom was. (Sadly enough for her she was up and out even earlier than I! God bless her soul.)

�

�My brother began drilling me about school projects, cat food and dinner before my eyes were even open and registering that it indeed was a new day.

�

My sister shrieked when I woke her up. Not the average shriek, this was your pre-teen-not-in-the-mood-for-you shriek. It was piercing. I believe it may have actually done damage to my inner ear ? you know, the cochlea, ossicles and auditory nerve that we need so desperately? Those very things met their demise this morning when they met the shriek of an 11 year old.

�

Then there were the giblets. Oh my. This chicken moment of the morning was enough to send me into early homemaker retirement. Yesterday my Mom thought it would be nice if I made my siblings a delicious chicken dinner while I am manning the house. I had no idea that chickens:

�

a) were so slimy

�

b) can be stood up and danced around in a funny manner

�

c) have their inner body parts still inside of them when they are wrapped up and sold in the supermarket.

�

Now, honestly, what genius thought this was a good idea? If people can take the time to wrap the things in blue and yellow plastic, slap a price sticker on them and stock ?em ? surely we can find someone who will remove the inner parts that way none of us ever have to touch such a thing in our lives.

The cat almost got her claws on the giblets. Sad but true. The fact that she still even has claws is a whole other debate but she was meowing for a piece of chicken liver and let me tell you ? twice I thought my entire dinner was going to be sitting in her dish. She was ready to pounce.

�

I feared for my life by this point.

�

I don?t recommend washing a red chenille bathrobe with black pants you would like to wear today. This was lesson number 3,000 of my day. As a matter of fact I cannot be sure I will ever be able to wear these black pants again. They are no longer black.�

If anyone is in the market for a matching red bathrobe/pants set, let me know. I?ve got just the one for you.

�

This was also around the time the phone calls began. Thousands. Maybe even millions. I had no idea one could use so many words in one day. I think I may be tapped out for at least the next two weeks.

�

Salmonella also made her debut around this time. Overcome with the feeling that I was for sure in the beginning of some kind of crazy inner-chicken bacteria sickness (although no symptoms had appeared), got the cleaning part of my day in high gear.

�

This house and just about everything in it ? not including the cat and dog- have been in the last few hours sprayed with every bacteria killer known to man. Taking no chances! The way this day has been salmonella would not be a surprise. Hence the spray bottles and rubber gloves.

�

Romans 12:1-2 tells us to, ?Take [our] everyday, ordinary life?[our] sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life?and place it before God as an offering.?

�

I pray that the events of our day ? however boring, entertaining, annoying or thrilling they may be - we willingly present to Christ as an offering.

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I don?t just want a life in ministry offered to Christ, although separate that is great and wonderful.

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I want a life offered to Christ.

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Every aspect. Every area. The before- the- rooster -crows -mornings, the ear piercing shrieks, the giblets, the red bathrobe sagas, every ounce of my every day to be placed before the feet of Christ. As a labor of love for His namesake, I pray that we can live our lives out to the fullest; taking every moment to glorify Him more.

�

I have been stunned to the core by a simple verse in Genesis 29. Verse 20 of this chapter tells us that, ?Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.?�

I want to love Christ like this. That every day I set out to work, whether it be in an office with Donald Trump or in my home among laundry and crock pots, the hours fly by because of my deep love for Jesus. I would like to say to my Christ on the day I meet Him, ?All of that hard work seemed like nothing more than a breath leading to this moment because of my absolute love for You.?

�

Today I challenge you to love your Maker deeply. He wants to be seen in every area of your life. And yes, that includes the salmonella scares and all!

Reprint from two years ago! Dedicated to my sister Kate, who in a few short days, will no longer be a pre-teen.�

I Could Kill A Small Tree

?When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.?�

�Peter Marshall

Today has not been an easy day for me. Which is a pity, really. Because yesterday was a breeze, leaving me with high hopes for today.

� For starters, I?ve become a full-fledged insomniac. �This is a rather normal cycle for me ? as I begin a new project Satan always come at me in the area of rest. I?ve felt much better prepared this time around simply because I knew it was coming due to experience.�

�Writing studies are normally the hardest times of my life. I thought I was going to lose my life during the writing of ?The Invitation?. I kid you not.

� So, every now and then I lose a bit of faith and wonder, ?Is it worth it??

It is. I know.

� My sleep deprivation this week has been accompanied by emotional upheaval rearing its ugly head. Those who know me are confident where this is going: I don?t do emotions. So, that was rough in the beginning of the week. I?m much better on that front now ? yet still worn out from it.

And then there is The Issue. Now, I try to be careful what I post here in such a public format and what I simply post in prayer and leave private. So without divulging too much information so as not to hurt those involved with The Issue ? I will say dealing with certain people is a major struggle.

�A struggle that rather regularly leaves me questioning my own sanity for making a life decision indirectly involving this person and leaves me irritated more often than I?d like to admit.

I believe my quote earlier this week was, ?I am so angry I could kill a small tree.?

Yes, I know the ridiculous nature of that declaration. But I felt like God would?ve been really disappointed in me if I said I wanted to kill anything with actual emotion-filled blood pumping through its veins so I took a gamble and decided I could attack chlorophyll.

Bear with me.

I said late last night in my living room aloud and with force, ?Satan, get behind me!?

Echoing my King, ?You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.?� (Matt. 16:23)

Matthew Henry offers amazing insight on Matthew 16:23 in his commentary, ?Whoever takes us from that which is good, and would make us fear to do too much for God, speaks Satan's language.?

I want to have in mind the concerns of my God. I don?t want the things or people of this world to be given enough power to control me in terms of my heavenly productivity.

• I want to write for God?s glory.
  
• I want to research and learn His Word with a clean heart.
  
• I want my thoughts to honor my Christ.
  
• I want my words to bow before Him before they ever leave my mouth.
  
• I want my actions to be worthy of my calling.
  

And so today, in the midst of difficulty and disappointment, I am looking ahead.

I am ?straining toward what is ahead and I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.?

God has called me heavenward.

And that is where I am headed.

So again, ?Enemy, get out of my way.?

To Know You, Part 3

Philippians 3:10-11�(TM)

?I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.?

�

I?ve been married too few months to bestow upon the world my marriage related wisdom. In all honesty, my husband, Eric, and I are still so immersed in this awesome newlywed phase, we can barely see straight!

� This morning, when he came home from work for his early break, we cuddled on the couch as I drank tea and he ate his toasted bagel. He was wearing his uniform (he is in the Navy) and I was gushing to him about how handsome he looked.

If my brothers were ever to read this, now would be when they would start to roll their eyes and tell me they get the point. Well, perhaps my brother, Danny, wouldn?t say that. But EJ? You bet he would.

The point I am trying to make is that when Eric and I got married it was our way of telling the world, ?This person is it for me.? It was our way, society?s way, of ending the search for that life partner whom you want to share everything with. The good, the bad, the ugly, the sad: all of it. The thing is, in order to share ?all of it? with Eric, I had to give up ?all of that?.

Married life calls for the plural to become singular. Two hearts becoming one flesh. To separate people, with two separate opinions, taking the other?s hand and walking forward. In order to accomplish that, you need to let a few things go.

Obviously, dating other people comes to an end! Answering to only your self is no longer viable. Sole decisions become votes. What was a monarchy is now a democracy, as two become one.

This is why I am so marked by Paul?s words, especially The Message Bible?s translation: ?I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.?

This verse, in this language, speaks so profoundly to my heart:

?I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally?

�and be partnered with him??

Getting to know Christ more and intimately takes commitment. This is a journey not for the faint of heart: the road gets bumpy; trials come up and leave us flustered. We are committing ourselves to not only know Christ personally during seasons of joy but also in seasons of sorrow and suffering.

I want to encourage you today, if that is where you find yourself, to hold out and hold on ? because Rescue is coming.

The months leading up to my wedding were quite a disaster. So much so, I truly believe Red Cross should?ve had to send me supplies ?cause it was that bad.

The night before our wedding, I was testing out different make up colors on my eyes (to really make ?em pop!) when I was just overcome with excitement and jubilation. I was getting ready for My Groom. This Man I had prayed for all my life.

The next morning as I was driven to the ceremony site, white dress, pearls and all, I thought, ?All of this planning, prepping, disaster-ridden months have been worth it because today I. Get. To. Marry. Eric!?

As I made my way down the aisle, my Dad giving me away, I knew the make-up was just right because Eric was staring at me with love oozing from his pores.

I promise you, when we have our Revelation 19:7 moment, when our Heavenly Father hands us to our Bridegroom all of the suffering of this life will in that moment have been so worth it.

You?d do it again if it meant Christ would be yours.

And I tell you, in that moment, Christ is going to look you in the eye and you are going to know just how stunning you look to Him.

So even in suffering, as we are molded and made to be more like Him,

?Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory!

�For the wedding of the Lamb [will] come�

and his bride [will have] made herself ready.?

And you, one who long-suffered, will shine with righteousness.�

I Wish You

Philippians 3:10-11

?I want to know Him. I want to have the same power in my life that raised Jesus from the dead. I want to understand and have a share in His sufferings and be like Christ in His death. Then I may be raised up from among the dead.?

Thumbing through an old journal of mine, from a very specific time of prayer in my life, I?ve been thinking back on what I felt as I wrote the words on those pages.

One entry, from May of ?06, I remembered very well. Almost like a movie in my mind, the memory plays out:

I was sitting in my backyard, with my Bible and my pen, two of my favorite things and I was staring off at nothing in particular. You know, it was just a moment of reflection and a day where solace was something I was aching for.

I remember well, I was hungry and I was warm.

And I remember thinking; journaling: ?It?s not what I expected is it? Not what I thought at all?But now I can say to you [and mean it!]: ?You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.? I went on to write, ?It is You or nothing for me. You or none of it. You. I want.?

I don?t know if writing these words can really do justice to what journaling something like that to Christ means in this life of mine.

As a matter of fact, I am rather confident my Mom and I may be the only two who fully understand the weight of that miracle. Because had you looked at me or heard me speaking my thoughts on Christ a few years earlier; you, or any Christian, would have been appalled.

Because I didn?t want Him. As a matter of fact, I wanted nothing less.

So to write, basically, ?I want nothing more than You,? is a downright miracle. And a testament to the transforming power of Christ Jesus. I cannot stress that enough.

What I thought and wrote next that day still comes back to memory for me on a rather regular basis. It is something the Lord reminds me of continually, as if to whisper His remembrance of it as well.

For it was at that moment, in that backyard, on that day, under that sun, that I looked upon a portion of the lawn covered in dandelions. It just ushered in for me, the childhood recollection of pulling as many out of the soiled ground as possible and wishing.

And so I wrote:

?If could pick those ?wishers?; I?d wish for you, Lord. I wish you, Jesus.?

Philippians 3:10-11, penned by Paul, says, ?I want to know Him. I want to have the same power in my life that raised Jesus from the dead. I want to understand and have a share in His sufferings and be like Christ in His death. Then I may be raised up from among the dead.?

All of our lives we wish for things, many of us missing that everything worth anything lies in knowing Christ now; because if we know Him now, our pasts are redeemed and our future is secure.

This is a hard one because in order for us to know Christ more and the power of His resurrection we have to accept knowing Him in suffering.

We have to even still in the midst of loss and heartbreak; in the barrenness of desert land and serious heat; in the seasons of falling leaves and bare branches ? even then we must press on with the determination of following Him.

I am confident it is in those moments, those heart-heavy days, where those who still wish for more of Jesus will find more of Him.

May He and the power of His resurrection be ours abundantly; even if it means suffering?

Hebrews 2:9 (New International Version)

"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."

New Post at Exemplify today, too! Entitled, "I'm A Momma!"

The ABC's of L-O-V-E

I believe Eric will paint a different picture of how we met and fell in love if asked. I encourage you to track him down and listen to his story of us. It is...well, I dare suggest, all lies. Allow me to be the one to shed some truth filled light on the real story!

Eric and I met in preschool at Faith Academy, a private Christian school on Long Island. We had a wonderful teacher, whom both of us still rank as a top teacher in our school careers. Together we shared fun finger painting moments, learned how to write in both upper and lower case, played tag on the playground...the stuff a good romance is made of.

I agree with Eric on all of the above. He will, however, (kindly) leave out the simple fact that he not only tortured me mercilessly but I deplored every moment spent with him during our elementary days. As a matter of fact, he will be kind enough to refer to a school bus ride in which he promises I made an aggressive gesture, hurled it his way with severe intent and meant it with all the sincerity a feisty girl can muster up.

He also stands by his story that my denial of that moment is one hundred percent false.

Borrowing the words of my Dad, "I can neither confirm nor deny that." I will, however, stress Eric could most certainly get me to the point of aggressive gesture hurling at such a young age.

The truth is, regardless of our playground rivalry and classroom clashing -- something was birthed.

And apparently, it was love.


I can honestly say, again, with all the sincerity a feisty girl can muster up I wouldn't trade one moment spent with the pestering preschooler I now call husband. Any moment that has led us here, we both agree, has been well worth it.




(The above photo is Eric, thinking about me, and Me, thinking about me ;) at the age of four. He is a bit older but in this photo, I think we are both four. Oh yes, and I am quite confident our teachers sat him so far away from me to protect me from his incessant teasing...)

O Holy Life (For Mom)

I once asked my mother to kill me. And meant it. In my defense I was thirteen, chronically ill, and convinced ingesting rat poison was the only way for me to taste rest. I think you may have put the pieces together and deduced she did not agree to my morbid plot.

This is the story of my Mother: Life.

Over a decade since my struggle with sickness, my Mother and our family have seen our fair share of loss. My maternal Grandmother died suddenly and very unexpectedly at the age of 54. My Mom was only in her early thirties at the time.

There are moments in this life that seem to etch themselves upon our very being, unwilling to be lost. My Grandma's funeral is one of those moments for me.

I remember vividly my Mom taking me into the parking lot outside of the funeral home and asking me to sing. I was thinking to myself, "How could she want me to sing at a time like this? She is losing her mind!"

It was the beginning of August, gloomy with humidity, devastating in heart and here standing on black pavement beneath clouds billowing with rain drops mirroring our own tears, my Mom asked me to sing. More specifically she asked me to sing "O Holy Night". A Christmas Carol for goodness sake!

And so sing I did:

Till He appeared and the Soul felt its worth

a thrill of hope the weary world rejoices...

As I write, I battle tears forming in my eyes, knowing in the midst of such grief and loss my Mom was holding out for more. She was looking up to Christ and praising His name on the concrete walkway that led to what remained of her Mom on this earth.

It was a rough time after that, but our family made it. September 11th, 2001 blew in like a fall leaf and started early for us a deep season of winter. My Mom's brother, my Uncle Billy, was murdered by terrorists as he, a New York City fireman, courageously walked into a building that would later crumble under the force of evil destruction.

I thought our lives were over.

I thought as my Dad, also a firemen, came home from the City after digging for his best friend and brother-in-law in the rubble that clearly Christ wanted to tear everything we loved away from us in one full swoop.

It took my Uncle's 'brothers', the City firemen, over a month to find him and bring him home to us. As a family we were broken in two.

Yet again, even in the midst of ashes, I remember praying in the car with my Mom on the way to a memorial in my Uncle's name. I remember before he was found, watching my Mom- heart bowed before the throne of grace- asking for a miracle. And believing Christ was more than capable of delivering us one. He chose not to but my Mom still remained faithful. She still rested in Him, standing strong in the promise of life we have been given in King Jesus.

She often says even still, "This place is not forever." And in those five words, she tells me more than any one ever as: There is so much more than the here and now. Christ's eternal kingdom stands even as buildings fall and families grieve.

Of course, at the time of my Uncle's death and family's anguish, I did not want to hear about Christ's coming kingdom and His comfort for us even still. I wanted out. So, I bowed out of the faith program my Mom was a part of, marching down a road of depression and rejection of the very things my dear Mother's heart clung to.

Etched even deeper in the memory chest of my mind is the day I told my Mom if her Christ was in the room, I'd have no problem telling Him what disdain I had for Him right to His face. I think I broke her heart that day.

She prayed incessantly for me, spoke words of kindness and encouragement. Continuing to live the love-infused life Christ has called her to. Years passed and I found myself hungry for Christ; this time though, with a tested maturity that knew this life is not about living in scoreboard brilliance but about finding Christ in the day to day; in suffering, in joy, in pain, in abundance.

Christ began to tug at my heartstrings, pulling me into writing ministry. After much work and prayer, I felt He was calling me to write a Bible Study. It was the worst season of my life to date. The enemy came at me with a force yet unrivaled in my life. There, in the storm, amidst the waves and storm clouds, remained my Mother. A walking testimony of the promise we have in Christ. A woman whose lips offer Christ praise even in the midst of suffering, a tongue that encourages the weak to hold out for more and urges the empty to remain faithful.

Only my Mother did not stand-alone.

For my Mom bears a heart reflecting the beauty and grace of our Heavenly Father. A heart that follows hard, listens intently, encourages the broken and lives the life. Her heart continually glorifies her Savior. I consider it an honor to call her my Mom, not simply because of her quirky humor or love for Starbuck's, but because she endures this life for the joy set before her.

"This place is not forever," she says.

And with those words, she has gifted me with an eternal legacy; an inheritance far exceeding the things of this world.

"It is with her words of wisdom ever present
in my heart I intimately speak to my
Father, "Whom have I in heaven but you?
Earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh, my heart may fail, but
you, Lord, are the strength of my heart and my
portion forever."

Five years ago, had you asked, I would've thought today I would be working very late and long hours in a huge office building, writing ad campaigns somewhere in Manhattan. Latte in hand.

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I am currently sitting in front of my iMac, in Southern California, �working very late and long hours writing bible studies. Latte in hand.

�

Go figure.�

"Is there anyone around who can explain God?�

�� Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?�

�� Anyone who has done him such a huge favor�

�� � �that God has to ask his advice?�

�� Everything comes from him;�

�� Everything happens through him;�

�� Everything ends up in him.�

�� Always glory! Always praise!�

�� � �Yes. Yes. Yes."

Romans 11:35-36

Life Saving Husband

My handsome husband just brought me home a Skinny Vanilla Latte from Starbucks.�

Oh, our loves runs deep.�

So -very-caffeine-in-my-bones deep.�

I love him so.