I just finished reading Shana Noel’s new book 10 Ways to Fall in Love With Your Bible and Stay in Love.
Dayspring provided this book free for review. I was not required to give a positive review – only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
Many of you may already know that Shanna is the fonder and owner of Illustrated Faith, one of the largest online Bible journaling communities. Her enthusiasm for God’s Word and journaling is easy to see now but this book explains it wasn’t always that way for her.
This book won’t tell you how to Bible journal it will explain to you why you should.
Divided into 10 chapters this book covers a range of topics from “Getting Rid of Excuses” to “Celebrate Your Life”. Each chapter is broken down into 4 or 5 smaller sections so it will be easy to read a few minutes at a time (if you can put it down that quickly) and find the sections you want to reread. Each chapter starts with a applicable quote and ends with a page of relevant scriptures.
If you are like me you will yourself shaking your head yes to everything in certain sections (and glad that someone did such a good job of putting things into words) and being prodded to correct things in your life by others.
I personally loved the “Turn the Guilt into a Gift” section because I had already found that changing my attitude towards something made such a difference in getting it done. If I look at washing dishes as a chore and reading my Bible as a duty I dread them and don’t do them as often as I should. If however I look at dish washing as a way to care for my family (that encourages both me and them to fix something healthy more often) and Bible reading as an opportunity to learn about my creator (I’ve always loved to learn) then both of them are something that gets done often and with a much more joyful attitude.
I found the “Be a Fan Girl” section good and convicting. While I feel enthusiasm for a lot of things (especially God and His Word), I am not always good about showing it to others. In fact except for my closest friends and family that are probably few who could tell you anything I’m a “fan” of. I’m not a very outgoing person and often find it difficult talking to strangers or even sometimes people I’m familiar with but not close to. Sharing something that I have deep feelings about is even harder. But as this chapter points out things will rarely go as bad as you might imagine and God is worth the risk. I’m hoping to put this chapter into action partially by sharing a bit more of myself from time to time here on Bible Buying Guide and on some of our social media.
Each chapter also includes a place to fill in a personal top 5 and top 10. Each chapters lists are different and all are excellent ways to really think about or apply the lessons of the chapter.
There are lots of doodles and prettily lettered quotes and scriptures spread throughout the book. This makes the book look more like Shanna then a plain text book would. I don’t think that’s the only reason they are included though. A single quote got Shanna thinking and started her on a journey to loving her Bible. I think she’s hoping one of these will do the same for each one of her readers.
There are lined pages in the back for you to do both the 30 day journaling challenge and the 30 day joy challenge directly in the book if you want to. So the only other things you need to get started are a Bible and something to write with. (Though you are encouraged to use as many different things as you are comfortable with)
I highly recommend 10 Ways to Fall in Love With Your Bible. Sometimes convicting, sometimes uplifting, but always encouraging, this book will help you develop your love for the Bible. It would be especially useful for those who want to start a habit of Bible reading, improve the quality or consistency of their Bible reading habit, or those trying to figure out if they want to start Bible journaling.
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Buy from (some are affiliate links)
Illustrated Faith at Dayspring
and many local Bible bookstores
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Photography by hannah C brown