My first bible was a children’s King James, and I barely read it. The language was a challenge, and I didn’t have anyone in my life back then who knew Jesus enough to help/ encourage me.
When I really fell in love with Jesus, my best friend said I should get an NIV study Bible, easier language, and notes to explain things as I went. That Bible is amazing! It is stuffed with notes, prayers, questions, coffee stains, a little sand, and even some blood! (I was in an especially difficult season and got a bloody nose all over the page…. I think Jesus was trying to distract me from my sorrow because it was so ridiculous that I found myself laughing instead of crying, but that’s a whole different story).
As I matured in my faith, I heard a guest speaker, Sheri Rose Shepherd, she loved Jesus so beautifully. Her gift was (she died May 2023) writing love letters the way God might speak to us. Her letters were infused into the Thrive Bible, NLT, which is the one I just retired. It has big margins, and my goal was to have notes on every page so my children and theirs could know I was there… sometimes, we can feel alone in our reading, but I pray this legacy gift unites our hearts through the generations. Plus, Sheri’s love letters are breathtaking.
Nearly every page does have notes at this point and the cover is about ready to self-compost, so it seemed like a good time to start fresh.
I went with ESV because that is what my church uses. It is considered the most “essentially literal” translation to the original language. I know margins are important for the way I process, and I do like the study notes on occasion. God will have brand new things to show me on these pages.
This Bible is a blank canvas. I’m not the little girl who didn’t understand. I’m not the new believer or the one who needed constant reassurance of Jesus’s love. I’m something brand new, like His promises, every morning. And I can’t wait to see who Jesus shapes me into on these pages!
“And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to do. ” Jeremiah 18:4
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? ” Isaiah 43:18a
Judy in the Sky 