I never thought I would be here. Struggling to remember things that used to be second nature. Searching for words in the middle of a sentence. Leaning on technology just to get through a day I once handled on my own.
But here I am. Early in July, I fell down the stairs and cracked my head. It was weeks later before I found out I had a concussion.
At first I did what I have always done. I kept going. I told myself I could push through, that if I just tried a little harder the words would come back and the work would get done. So I kept showing up. I sat down to write and lost my train of thought halfway through a sentence. I opened my notes to teach and could not find the words I knew were there. I tried to hold a long list of study steps in my head before I even opened my Bible, and it felt like trying to carry water in my hands.
If you have wondered why it has been so long since my last blog post, that is why. I was so focused on making my work happen through my symptoms that I did not stop to see what they were doing to me. Months later, I finally had to admit it. This had changed more than I expected. My symptoms were keeping me from the very work I love, and I could not keep pretending otherwise.
So I went back to the doctor and began to deal with it more seriously. Now I have two months set aside to heal, working with therapists and doctors to help my brain recover. I have to admit that this has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I've always been someone who loves learning, creating, teaching, and finding ways to bring everything together, and suddenly I was struggling with things that once came so naturally. Even with the help of technology, I was spending so much of my energy trying to accomplish what I used to do that there wasn't much left for anything else.
And somewhere in the midst of all of this, I began looking at my life a little differently. I started thinking about how much I was trying to accomplish, how many things I had added to my days, and how often I had taken something I genuinely loved and surrounded it with so many tasks that it had become more complicated than it needed to be. I wasn't looking to do less because I cared less. I wanted to simplify things because I cared deeply about what I was doing, and I wanted to have the time and attention to do those things well. More than anything, I wanted to make room for the Lord, to spend time in His Word without feeling as though I was constantly trying to catch up with everything else.
What I hadn't quite realized was that some of these same questions had already been coming up in conversations with the women who study alongside me. Through the questionnaires I had shared, the messages I received, and the conversations we've had over time, I began recognizing something that I think many of us experience. We genuinely want to study God's Word more deeply. We want to understand the historical and cultural context, discover the connections between passages, recognize the themes that run throughout Scripture, and grow in our understanding of who God is. But we also have full lives, families, responsibilities, and seasons when we simply don't have the same amount of time or energy to devote to studying as we would like.
For those of you who have been studying with me for a while, you know that the original Lyric and Letter Study Method had seven steps. We began with prayer, read the passage, explored its context, paid attention to what was happening, worked through our understanding of the text, considered what God was teaching us, and reflected on how His Word should renew our minds. I developed that method from years of studying Scripture and learning from different approaches to Bible study, and I still believe those elements are important. But as I began working through my own cognitive challenges, I discovered something rather interesting. Even though I understood the method and had been using it for years, I was struggling to hold all seven steps together in my mind.
That made me wonder how many other women might be experiencing something similar, though for entirely different reasons. Perhaps it wasn't a brain injury but a busy household, a demanding job, caring for aging parents, or simply trying to find a quiet moment before the day began. I began asking myself whether I had made the process of studying Scripture more complicated than it needed to be, not in the depth of what we were learning, but in the way I was asking women to approach it.
I certainly didn't want to sacrifice the richness of studying God's Word for the sake of simplicity. If anything, I wanted to make that richness more accessible. I wanted women who were opening their Bibles for the very first time to feel comfortable beginning, while also giving those who had been studying for years the opportunity to explore the depths of Scripture. I wanted something that could grow with us, something that could guide us through a passage without making us feel that we had failed if we couldn't complete every question or follow every cross-reference.
So I began reworking the method, and with the help of AI to organize some of my thoughts and work through the structure, those original seven steps eventually became four. What emerged was GO S.L.O.W., which stands for Seek, Learn, Observe, and Worship. It wasn't an entirely new approach to Bible study, but rather a gathering together of the things I had already been teaching into a simpler, more natural progression.
We begin with Seek, coming before the Lord in prayer and acknowledging our dependence on the Holy Spirit to help us understand His Word. From there, we move into Learn, where we slow down long enough to pay attention to what the passage actually says. We ask questions about the people, the setting, the events, and the words that are being used, noticing details and patterns we might otherwise overlook. This is also where we begin recognizing connections to other passages of Scripture, allowing the Bible to help us understand the Bible rather than rushing to conclusions based on our own assumptions.
As we move into Observe, we begin considering what we've learned and what the passage reveals about God, His character, His purposes, and His work throughout redemptive history. We look at how the passage fits into the larger story of Scripture, including the ways it points us toward Christ, while being careful not to force connections the text itself doesn't support. And finally, we come to Worship, where we consider how the truths we've discovered should shape our lives, our prayers, and our response to the Lord. Worship, after all, is so much more than the songs we sing. It is the response of a life that is being transformed by the truth of God's Word.
One of the things I especially love about this new approach is that each step includes CORE questions that can stand on their own as a complete study. If you only have a short amount of time, you can still open your Bible, work through the passage thoughtfully, and walk away having spent meaningful time in God's Word. But if you find yourself captivated by something you've read, perhaps a Hebrew or Greek word, an Old Testament connection, a recurring theme, or a passage that raises more questions than answers, there are opportunities to Go Deeper. You can spend as much time there as you want, following those threads through Scripture and allowing yourself the freedom to explore without feeling that you have to complete everything in one sitting.
I think that freedom is something I needed to learn for myself, too. For so long, I associated being productive with accomplishing something measurable, and while there is certainly nothing wrong with being diligent or organized, I've been reminded that not everything of value can be measured by how much we complete. That is especially true when it comes to our relationship with the Lord. We can spend hours filling pages with notes and still miss the significance of what we've read if we're more concerned about finishing the study than understanding the passage.
I've found myself returning to Psalm 46:10 quite a bit lately, where the Lord says:
"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
Psalm 46:10 (ESV)
What strikes me about that verse is the context in which it appears. The psalmist describes the earth giving way, mountains falling into the sea, waters roaring, and nations raging. Yet throughout that upheaval, the Lord is declared to be the refuge and strength of His people, their very present help in trouble. The command to be still isn't simply an invitation to find a quiet moment in a busy day. It is a declaration of God's sovereignty, calling us to cease striving and recognize that He is God, regardless of what may be happening around us.
And I think that is what has been speaking to me so deeply during this season. My circumstances have changed, and there are things I simply cannot do right now, no matter how much I might want to. There are still moments when I wonder what recovery will look like and whether I'll be able to return to everything I once did. But none of those uncertainties change who God is. He is just as faithful today as He was before I fell down those stairs, and His Word is just as rich and sufficient now as it was when I could spend hours studying without becoming exhausted.
I'm learning that slowing down doesn't necessarily mean falling behind, and that sometimes the most meaningful time we spend in Scripture happens when we give ourselves permission to stay with a passage rather than rushing on to the next one. I don't want to lose the joy of discovering something wonderful in God's Word because I'm too concerned about completing a process, and I certainly don't want the women who study with me to feel that way either.
That's really what is at the heart of this change. I haven't lost my love for deep Bible study, and I haven't changed my convictions about the importance of handling Scripture faithfully. I still believe we need to understand what a passage meant to its original audience before we begin considering how it applies to our lives. I still believe that Scripture interprets Scripture, that the whole counsel of God's Word matters, and that the Bible's unfolding story of redemption ultimately finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Those things are foundational to everything we do at Lyric and Letter, and they aren't going anywhere.
What I am changing is the way we approach that study, giving us a little more room to learn, explore, ask questions, and grow without feeling overwhelmed by the process itself.
The new GO S.L.O.W. Study Guide is now available for free in the Freebies & More store, along with a printable set of daily study pages. I've also begun working on updating the Lyric and Letter Bible Study Companion app to reflect the new four-step method, and I'll share more about that as the update progresses.
As for me, I'm taking these next couple of months to focus on healing, spending time with the Lord, and slowly finding my way back to some of the things I love. And yes, that includes the podcast! I'm still working on it, although at a much slower pace than before. In fact, I've been using some of that work as part of my rehabilitation, giving myself opportunities to practice organizing my thoughts, researching, writing, and putting together the studies I love sharing with you. These are many of the same cognitive skills I'll need when I return to my job in a few months, so being able to work on the podcast in small, manageable pieces gives me a way to practice those abilities without the demands of a full workday. There are days when I can accomplish quite a bit and others when I have to set everything aside and rest, and I'm learning to be okay with both. I still have so many ideas for Lyric and Letter, so many passages I want to study with you, and so many things I hope to share, but I'm learning that I don't have to do them all at once. There is a season for everything, and right now, this season is teaching me to be a little more unhurried.
My hope is that GO S.L.O.W. will give you that same freedom, not to study less or settle for a surface understanding of Scripture, but to approach God's Word with the time and attention it deserves, wherever you are in life and however much time you have to give.
Because ultimately, the goal has never been to complete a study method or fill another notebook. It has always been to know the Lord more deeply through His Word and to allow that truth to transform the way we live.
Go Slow. Study Deep. Be Transformed.
And to all of you who have shared your thoughts, answered questionnaires, sent messages, and continued studying alongside me, thank you. This community has always been about growing together in our understanding of God's Word, and I am grateful that even in a season I never expected, the Lord continues to use these conversations to help shape what we're building.
Love in Christ,
Rebecca
