New Bibles

 Ryan and I purchased new Bibles this week. I've written about Bibles before, so bits and pieces of this may not be new, but I'll share anyway.

My parents always made sure I had a Bible of my own when I was growing up. A real Bible - not a Bible storybook. (I mean...I had those too, but when I went to church on Sunday, I carried a real, full Bible.) But I was in high school when I got my first study Bible, and I loved it. I still have it. It has a dusty rose cover, which was so very 90s and so very Bekah. I highlighted and underlined and added sticky notes and wrote in the margins and learned truths I still know today from living in the pages of that Bible. It was a Life Application Bible, which is one of the only study Bibles I've ever found that you can purchase in multiple versions. It's also one I recommend to anyone wanting to learn how to apply what they're reading in Scripture. 

A few years later, when I was in college, I felt it was time to get a new Bible, because I was in a new season of life, learning new lessons, and I wanted a new space to learn. I'd taken a New Testament class that required the NIV Study Bible for the official text, and cheapie Bekah purchased a paperback copy of it to get through the semester. But it turned out that I enjoyed the study notes, so my parents gave me a proper, leather-bound, name-stamped copy for Christmas shortly thereafter and I used and loved that Bible for many years, too.

Along the way, I've purchased and used several study Bibles in several versions. I've used the Archaeological Study Bible, the NET, the Key Word Study Bible, the Jesus Bible and more. I've learned so much from each of them. And last year, shortly before we moved to our new town, job, and life, we both got new Bibles for a new season. Mine was a cultural background Bible, filled with study notes about the lifestyles, customs, and beliefs of the world in which the Bible was originally written. Super helpful for understanding context!

But I told Ryan a few weeks ago that I was ready for a new season again. Maybe it's because everything is changing here where we are and I needed a new space to take notes and learn. I'm not sure. But we both decided to get new Bibles to carry us into this next chapter of WillowBridge life. 

(In case you're wondering, we keep all our study Bibles and do reference them even when we're not using them on a daily basis. We have our own little library of commentary notes from the collection of them added together! I love using them when I write, because I learn different little snippets from each one.)

But this time I found something I've never seen before, and I'm excited to have it. It's called the "Interleaved" Bible. For every one page of Scripture, there is a complete blank page beside it for notetaking. (Or journaling or art or whatever strikes your fancy. Notetaking strikes my fancy.) No more cramming sermon notes in the margin. I can write to my heart's content just out to the side and have note upon note upon note of what I've learned!

It arrived last Friday, and I just sat forever, thumbing through the pages and inhaling the fresh page and new leather smell. 

Of course I'm kind of scared to take the first note. That first stroke of the pen sets the tone for everything, right? But I can't wait to fill those pages and be able to flip back through it again and see what God has taught me in the season that for right now - is still ahead of me. 

I will warn you, if you're looking this up for yourself, the font is tiny! I have great vision, but our church is dimly lit on Sunday mornings, and I found myself squinting a little! But I'll take the tiny font in exchange for those big, beautiful blank pages!

Here's to a beautiful season of learning!!