Hey There!

My name is Allison and I’m the creator of Bible Book Info & Whatnot!

I started this blog as a means to use my spiritual gift…teaching.  Let me tell you a little bit about my gift.

The Teenage Years

When I first realized that my spiritual gift was teaching, I was beyond upset.  Seriously.  I was a teenager at the time and I did not like anyone looking at me.  The thought of having to get up in front of people to teach was horrifying.  I didn’t even get my driver’s license until I was 17 and a half because I didn’t want people in traffic to look at me.  (Silly, I know.)  The only reason I finally got my driver’s license was because my younger brother was getting his  and I wanted to get mine before him.  Ahh, sibling rivalry.  Such fun.  Just kidding, the rivalry was all in my head, he didn’t care one way or the other.

Anyway, back to my spiritual gift.  My dad was teaching about spiritual gifts in his Sunday School class and came home one week with a test that helped a person identify his or her spiritual gift.  It wasn’t perfect, but at least it was a starting point on figuring our your spiritual gift.  I was convinced that my spiritual gift was Giving, so naturally, I wanted to take it.  I should probably tell you, I wanted my spiritual gift to be Giving because I was sure that would mean I would have a lot of money.  (Don’t judge me, I was a teenager!)

I took the test and the result was that my spiritual gift was teaching.  Well, that wasn’t cool, so I took it again.  I knew what answers I picked, so I figured I would just pick different ones.  Nope, that didn’t work.  It came out teaching again.  Obviously, the test was wrong.  So I took it a third time, picking different answers yet again.  Answer: Teaching.  I was seriously bummed.

Moral of the story…you can’t trick God.  The Lord clearly knows what He is doing.

I decided to ignore the results.  I was not going to be a teacher.  No way, no how.  So I didn’t do anything with it.  That sounds ok, right?  I was pretty sure God wouldn’t mind.  After all, He wouldn’t want me to be uncomfortable.

My Twenties

Fast forward to my late twenties…there I am, minding my own business, and one of my sisters casually mentions to my dad that I would like to teach kids.  Now mind you, she and I had talked about how it would be fun and the kind of things we could teach them about the Bible, but that was as far as it went.  Next thing you know, my dad is telling me that he spoke with the children’s pastor at our church and signed me up to teach kids in a Sunday School class.  Yeah, that happened.

I was petrified.  Yes, I realize I would only be teaching kids.  Surely I knew more than they did.  But still…they would be looking at me!

Well, one day at work (yes, I have a job), shortly after I found out my dad signed me up to teach, I was told I would be giving a presentation at our next staff conference.  Hey, you know what happens when you give a presentation?

People. Look. At. You.

No joke.  I had to get up and give a presentation in front of 50 or so adults.  Adults are much scarier than kids, in case you’re wondering.  They know things.  Things I didn’t know at the time.  I had only been at my job about six months and the topic was way over my little newbie head.

You know what I realized though.  If I could give a presentation to 50 plus adults on something I knew very little about, I could certain get up in front of some little kids and teach the Bible.

I love the Bible.  I love learning about it.  I love talking about it.  I love everything about it…even those so-called “dry passages” related to genealogy.  Yeah, they’re pretty cool when you study them correctly!

So I made a deal with the Lord – yeah, I know, not really, but to my little brain, that’s what I did – I said, ok Lord, I’ll teach.  Here’s the deal though, I’ll put the information in there, but you’re going to have to take it out.

And you know what?  He did!  Miraculously, my fear of people looking at me went away and the next thing I know, not only am I teaching kids on Sunday mornings, but I agreed to teach them on Wednesday nights.  I also started teaching a woman’s bible study out of my home each summer.

I learned to love the gift of teaching.  It’s beyond amazing when the Lord is in control.  He wouldn’t have given me the gift if He didn’t intend to help me use it properly.  It’s not something I do on my own.  I teach through the power of the Holy Spirit.  I make the effort to put the information in and He is gracious enough to use it, feeble though it may be at times.

My Thirties

Teaching kids and a teaching a woman’s bible study went on for a while.  Eventually, life got in the way of the woman’s bible study and it disbanded.  It was lovely while it lasted though.  I truly enjoyed my time teaching and fellowshipping with those ladies.

As for teaching the kids, that too came to an end when there was a difference of opinion between myself and the new children’s pastor at my church.  We had different ideas on how the class should be run and rather than usurp his authority, I felt the Lord leading me to step down.  We parted ways and I haven’t formally taught since.

Occasionally, friends ask me about certain bible passages or I help my dad with material for his Sunday School lessons.  I thought perhaps the Lord would open up a new teaching opportunity – there were a couple of avenues I tried to explore over the years, but I didn’t have a peace about them.

Now I’m rapidly approaching forty and I don’t want to wait any longer to use my gift so I’ve started this blog.  It’s something I’m truly excited about and I cannot want to see where the Lord takes it.  I hope to provide you with information that will help you grow in your walk with the Lord – whether it’s in the form of resources you can use to study on your own or lessons I’ve created you can study.  Eventually, I would like to create online courses where I can teach others the doctrine the Lord has taught me.

Above all, I sincerely want to bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ as His ambassador here on earth.

Blessings,

Allison