About Carole

This is me: Carole Sparks. As you can see, I like the color red. I prefer my leather jacket and cowboy boots over all other clothing…and long, flowy skirts in the summer. I’m letting my long hair turn gray. People say I don’t look as old as I really am.  (c) hawa images

Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.   -Psalm 115:1

When I started this blog, I didn’t want to put anything about myself on this page because I really wanted it to be about God, not me. I still do. But now I realize that you, my reader, need to know who I am and what my relationship with God is like before you can trust me to share His Truth with you. So here goes…

You can read my faith story on my website, but I’ve been a Christ-follower for most of my life. I grew up in church, and I’ve been reading the Bible since I was a kid. My sister and I read our Bibles through every year during our late childhood/early teens (Back then, King James Version was the only option!). I grew up, fought to keep my faith through college, and married a new believer. It wasn’t long before we moved overseas to share Christ. We weren’t very good at it.

While we were there, however, I came to a point where just reading my Bible wasn’t enough anymore. The truth is, I thought I’d gathered everything there was to gather from the Bible. (What pretentiousness, I know now!) But, as was my habit, I pushed back rather than running away.  As I began to truly study, explore, and ponder the Word of God, He graciously began to reveal more and more of Himself through His Word. I stopped regarding the Bible as a textbook and started to recognize it as an autobiography or a personal letter of someone I really wanted to know better. I stopped racing through big chunks and started relaxing in a single verse or paragraph. I stopped reading out of obligation and started reveling in the joy of being closer to Him.

After we returned to the US, God gave me the privilege of going to seminary, where I got to study the original Biblical languages. I thrived in seminary, and I learned not only how to ask questions of the Bible but also how to find answers. My husband and I left there with two degrees and a baby. We thought that was pretty good for 3-1/2 years! I have a Master of Arts in Theology, focusing on Old Testament and Missions.  My undergraduate degree is a Bachelor of Architecture, by the way.

I have a strong imagination and a love of well-told stories, so it’s easy for me to put myself into the situations of the Bible–especially the gospels–and look around for a significant detail or fresh point-of-view. Because I collected so much knowledge during those years of reading then internalized real theology during seminary, the Holy Spirit invariably connects that “new” piece to something else in the story or to other verses/stories.

I’m a thinker, a “wordnerd,” a people-watcher. I try to live very intentionally, especially in parenting and being a neighbor. So you get all of that in my blog posts. If you still haven’t read enough, go to my website: carolesparks.com. My official author biography and a lot of other information is available there. You can also ‘like’ my author page on Facebook and follow me on either Twitter or Instagram. For more on the story of this blog, check out This is the ‘Why’ (my very first post).

If you read something here that you think would resonate with a larger group, let me know (carolesparks{at}outlook{dot}com). I would love to speak to your Bible study, women’s ministry, or other group!

Every time I sit down to write a blog post or part of a Bible study, and every time I prepare to teach, the Lord meets me for something special, something for which I can’t find a good label. I continuously pray that He does the same for you when you read each post. Because it’s not about me.  It’s about Jesus Christ of Nazareth, about God the Father, and about the Holy Spirit.

-Carole

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!     -Romans 11:33

(c) hawa images