If you’ve gotten this far you’re probably wondering “Who is this lady writing Bible studies? And why should I trust a study that she wrote and published herself?” Those are great questions. Let me tell you a little of my story.

My walk with the Lord began when I was just a little girl. You know those testimonies that are structured like: “Before Jesus I was like this, then JESUS! and now look at what He’s done with me!” I love those testimonys! But that’s not my story. Mine is a story of a savior who met me when I was just a little girl, whose walked with me throughout my life, who challenges me to trust Him when He calls me beyond my own ability, and who never, ever has left my side. He saved me from my “before” story before I had a chance to live it. And I want nothing more than to come alongside others and introduce them to the Savior who has competely captured my heart.

Let me start from the beginning. Some of my earliest memories are of my mom reading Bible stories to me at bedtime. I was only about two when I first fell in love with Jesus. I loved hearing all the wonderful things she read about Him—and then one night she got to the crucifixion. My little heart broke. Not long afterward, while watching a church service on television, I heard an invitation to trust Christ. I responded with all the innocence and conviction of a small child. I certainly didn’t understand much about theology at two years old, but the Lord knew me. He has been faithfully drawing me to Himself and growing me in my faith ever since.

How I Fell in Love with Studying the Bible

Years later, as a young mom in my twenties, I was browsing through a Christian bookstore when I picked up a book from Precept Ministries’ New Inductive Study Series. I didn’t know anything about inductive Bible study. I just knew I wanted to study my Bible.

That little book changed the way I approached Scripture. Even though I had grown up in church and had attended a Christian college, for the first time, I was learning to slow down and really look at the text—to notice words and phrases, ask questions, consider context, compare Scripture with Scripture, and make sure my conclusions came from what was actually there rather than what I assumed it said. I noticed something as I studied. Passages that were once mysteries started to open up as if they were a rose in bloom. I started to make connections throughout Scripture, seeing how every story, every passage build on every other one. And more importantly I was getting to know God even more.

I never imagined at the time that the Lord was only getting started with me.

The Bible Study I Didn’t Want to Lead

When my husband and I were 29, we began working with young adults at our church. Before starting, we spent about a year learning from another couple in our area who had a thriving college ministry. What impressed me most wasn’t their events or even their Bible studies. It was the way they shared their lives. Their home was always open. Young adults were constantly coming and going, eating meals, hanging out, asking questions, and becoming part of their family.

Lifestyle ministry. It reminded me of something I learned from my family growing up in the Salvation Army, where church wasn’t just what you did on Sunday morning. It was a family you lived with.

We eventually had about a dozen young adults who became our core group. We had a regular teaching night, but they were also in and out of our house all week long. I rarely knew exactly how many people I was cooking dinner for on any given night—and I loved it. Around that same time, after taking a break from more intensive study while my boys were babies, I picked up inductive Bible study again. And one morning as I was praying, I had a distinct thought. “Share this with the young adults.” I knew that voice – it was absolutely NOT my own.

My plan was pretty modest. I thought maybe one or two of them would work through the book at the same time I did. Then, after dinner some night, I could casually ask, “So, how’s it going?”

That’s not what happened. About a dozen people wanted to study with me—not only young adults, but a few friends as well. Suddenly we were meeting every week, and I discovered that I was in the role of a Bible study leader. What??

I had no idea what I was doing. Those first few studies were a hot mess, or so I thought. Off topic. Rabbit trails. Discussions that lasted for hours and went nowhere. Skipping lessons because “only 2 or 3 were there” and letting the study drag on for an eternity. But they hung with me. And I learned what leading a Bible study really could, and should look like.

Learning to Lead

That fall, Precept was offering a Bible-study leader training nearby, and I signed up as soon as I could. I learned what it looked like to ask good questions and wait for an answer. I learned that leading a study is very different from teaching. You don’t have to have the answers. Just listen, and keep pointing back to the text. Let the Bible do the teaching. I still had a long way to go, but I was hooked.

Our family moved to Calvary Chapel Fredericksburg in 2012, and before long my women’s ministry leader asked if I would be willing to offer Precept studies to the women there. The next fall I started Genesis with about a dozen ladies. The group kept growing, eventually multiplying to two, then three groups in the morning and a group in the evening. Word about inductive study was spreading through the church, and like that Samaritan woman in John 4, the gals in the group kept inviting their friends, saying “Come and see!”

During those years, my relationship with Precept grew as well. For two years, I served on volunteer staff as an Area Growth Coordinator with the Precept Network in Northern Virginia. My role required me to become familiar with Precept’s studies and resources and to help pastors and ministry leaders understand how Precept studies and training could be used in their churches. I hosted leader-training workshops, attended ministry meetings and conferences, and had the privilege of getting to know some of the people behind a ministry that had already influenced me so deeply.

When Precept began experimenting with a more personal approach to training leaders, I was invited to Chattanooga to learn a coaching model built around developing leaders within the context of their own groups. I spent the next couple of years coaching a small number of women as they learned to lead, both in my own church and in a few other local churches. It wasn’t about reaching as many leaders as possible. It was about investing deeply in a few. I’m still in contact with some of those women today, and they’re still leading Bible studies.

Investing in the Women in Front of Me

Around 2017, My pastor called me into his office and asked to be part of three-woman team leading the Women’s Ministry at Calvary Chapel Fredericksburg. We shared responsibility for caring for the women in our church, but each of us had a different area of focus. He asked me to be responsible for overseeing the teaching aspect of the women’s ministry. As the teaching lead, I oversaw our Bible studies, trained small-group leaders, developed the teaching for retreats, and served as our primary Bible teacher. I was able to focus on the part of women’s ministry I loved most—opening God’s Word with women and helping other women learn to do the same.

It wasn’t long before I found myself at a crossroads. I could continue investing more heavily in coaching through Precept, or I could focus more of my attention on what the Lord was doing among the women in my own church. For me, the answer was obvious.

Around 2019, I entrusted the Precept studies to the leaders that I had raised up and stepped back into more of an oversight role with those studies. That gave me the opportunity to begin focusing on another group of women—women who wanted to study God’s Word deeply but, for one reason or another, needed something different from the studies we were already offering. They wanted depth. But they were also working, raising children, caring for families, serving in church, and juggling all the ordinary responsibilities of life. I listened to what they needed, and I was praying about how I could meet those needs.

I pivoted the Women’s Ministry Bible studies in early 2020. Up to that point, the focus had been on teaching women how to dig deeply into the Word. In early 2020, we had a different emphasis. Build Community around the Word of God. Still inductive. But far more accessible, far more relationship oriented. The Lord knew EXACTLY what we would need. We had no idea what was coming.

How Treasuring God’s Word Began

Like churches everywhere, we suddenly had to figure out how to minister to people when many of the ways we normally did ministry weren’t available to us. We finished that first study over Zoom by May, and the church still weren’t meeting as regularly as we used to. Normally our studies break for the summer, but that year was different. I couldn’t just say “goodbye – see you in the fall” We needed to stay connected. The problem was, I didn’t have a study vetted and ready for them.

Fall was quickly coming, and Covid was still lingering. I had no idea what we were going to be allowed to do as far as gathering for a fall study. And I didn’t have any idea what we were going to do about a study. Nothing I looked at was “right.” I met with my pastor to brainstorm ideas. We landed on staying in the Psalms for fall, and I suggested we do some that were more popular: Psalm 23, Psalm 100, Psalm 1, Ones that the gals may be already familiar with. At that time, I thought we could just use the devotional guide we had been using for the summer.

I started prepping and quickly realized that the discussions of these familiar psalms might end up looking like a rehashing of everything that they’ve already been taught. Not that that’s bad – but I wanted them to see the psalms with new eyes. So I began writing. I expanded that brief guide into a more intentional study of each individual psalm. Within a few weeks, “Favorite Treasures in the Psalms” was born, the precursor to “Call to Worship.” As we worked through it, I listened carefully to the ladies. Were the questions clear? Were they accurate? Was it too much? Too little?

After that, it started to become a “thing” that I would write our studies. The next spring, we worked through Habakkuk and then Philippians. A few gals asked if I was planning to publish. My answer was always “I’m not intending to. The Lord would have to make that happen.” But one thing I WAS praying for: A coach to help me refine the studies. I wanted someone with more experience to look at what I was doing and tell me the truth. What was working? What wasn’t? I wasn’t looking for someone to tell me they were wonderful. I wanted help serving my ladies well.

From Writing to Publishing

During my years with Precept, I had become acquainted with author and Bible teacher Kathleen Duncan, who had written for Precept herself. Eventually, I worked up the courage to ask if she would read what I had written and give me some feedback.

Kathleen came alongside me as a coach and editor, helping me refine Yet I Will Rejoice, Again I Say Rejoice, and Call to Worship. Her influence was especially important in the development of Call to Worship. We intentionally built more instruction into that study so that women wouldn’t simply study several Psalms—they would also learn how to study the Psalms for themselves.

Without her encouragement, I’m not sure I ever would have considered publishing them. But Kathleen not only convinced me it was worth it; she walked me through exactly how to do it, spending hours helping me work through every step without asking anything in return. How could I say no to her gift of wisdom and time? And that’s how Bible studies written for women in my local church ended up on Amazon as Treasuring God’s Word.

And I’m Still Sitting Around the Table

After twelve years at Calvary Chapel Fredericksburg, the Lord moved our family into a new season. I now attend THRIVE Christian Fellowship, a church plant that grew out of Calvary Chapel Fredericksburg. I occasionally teach and lead small groups there, and I also lead two independent Bible studies.

Those groups include women from several different church and denominational backgrounds, and I love the discussions that we have. I certainly have my own theological convictions, and my years in Calvary Chapel have shaped many of them. But when we’re studying Scripture together, the question I’m most interested in them focusing on isn’t, “What does Rachel think?” It’s “What does the text say?” I want the women I study with to look carefully at Scripture, understand why they believe what they believe, and be able to reason from the text—even if they don’t always land exactly where I do.

I still love those moments when we’re sitting around a table and someone points something out that I didn’t see. I’m a student of the Bible, just as they are. I don’t have the answers. I’ve just learned to ask good questions. It’s still one of my favorite things to hear a woman say: “Look what I learned!!” as they share a nugget from their study.

I’ve been called a teacher, and because I’ve got a few studies published, I get called an author. You might see me wince a little when I hear that. I’m in awe of what the Lord has done, and I love seeing what He is continuing to do in the lives of the ladies I get to hang out with. He’s introduced me to so many of His daughters along the way. And if you’re reading this, and you end up letting me sit alongside you through one of my studies as you dig into the Word, I count you as one of those precious gals He has let me pour into. It’s a privilege.

Come, sit at a table with me. Let’s talk about the Lord. What has He shown you this week?