Monday, September 9, 2013

My first thoughts on the Virtue Training Bible

I contacted Mindy about her Virtue Training Bible.  I told her that I had heard a lot about this set and the Children's Training Bible and I was wondering if I could give it a try and write a review.  God bless her, she sent one out.  She warned me that she was just sending the set up instructions, that the Bible and all the labeling would be up to me.

So here comes the package in the mail. It's filled with brightly colored and beautifully printed instructions and little inserts you glue in or place in the Bible.  With hundreds of verses for you to color coordinate and highlight.  I set it aside and told myself I need to go to the store and buy the highlighters and Post-It flags.  Pretty soon time is flying by, we are talking months and I still haven't gotten to a store that would carry such things.  These months also happened to fall in my first trimester of our third child coming in February and busy summer months.  Feeling pretty guilty at this point I contact Mindy to apologize and get right on Amazon to order the additional needed supplies.  Finally my Amazon box arrives and I have all I need, minus the Bible, to put this together.  The Bible is packed away in the garage, it was mine as a teenager.  We will get it out soon. (I ended up using a different Bible, more on this later.)



So why do I tell you this pathetic story?  Well because it has what I think, is a good ending.  I was raised in a church where we didn't really crack the Bible very often to dig for scripture.  Now that was many years ago, so the years between then and now I can only pin on myself.  I have bought the already put together Study Bibles hoping that would help my exploration of the Bible.  Nope.  The best exploration of course, comes when I am a part of a Bible Study.  However, something has hit me in the last week or so and it's hit me pretty hard.

We had an amazing weekend about a week ago.  We traveled to Washington state, visited family and then stayed and spent all day Monday with Jeff's best friend, a fellow Christian couple and it was just rejuvenating.  Yet when Tuesday came upon both Jeff and I we were overwhelmed with a heavy cloud.  For me the trigger was looking on Facebook and seeing the news feed of senseless crimes, and lots of anger from all directions as well as stories of abortion which always way heavy on my heart.  I kept praying because this feeling was so foreign to me and I was continually comforted.  Reassured that we are in His hands, that even if the evils of this world touch our lives, He will carry us through.

I had this realization on that day that I need to bring more scripture into our home.  I really didn't fully understand why I felt this.  But it sunk it a little more when we had some Australian relatives visit on Labor Day.  I was sharing our story of the last few years and some of our struggles and how we took some leaps of faith, trusting God, not knowing the outcome.  Then Philip and Elizabeth shared their story and he made a point that resonated with me.  He said that sometimes we as Christians can be a little passive with our faith, that we can sit back and pray and trust that God will take care of us and protect us.  Of course he said there is nothing wrong with that sort of faith.  But he also said that we as Christians sometimes need to be more militant.  Or in other words, on guard, proactive or on offense, not just defense.  We were given a sword, God's word, we should use it.  Finally all my thoughts came together.

Why did I feel this need to have more scripture, more of God's word in my home after feeling so bombarded by the evils of this world?  To be on guard for my family, to be proactive and not passive with my faith.  How many times are we told this from the pulpit?  Yet we still don't take action.  I tell you all this to paint for you my thoughts on The Virtue Training Bible.  No longer do I see it as a chore to set up and prepare this Bible for my family.  I see it as a great responsibility and a great opportunity to dig through the word of God in a way I have never done before.  I think by having to set up this Bible on your own, rather than purchase it already done, you have to show your commitment and desire to truly have scripture at hand in your home. 

I am afraid this journey of setting up and using this Bible will warrant more than one, I would say probably more than 2 posts.  I do hope you don't mind Mindy.  I thank you in advance for the impact all your hard work will have on me and my family.

Lord, my deepest desire is for my family to be surrounded by your scripture.  Please open my eyes to the wonders of your word and help me to grow in awe of the sword you have given us.  I pray that I will learn to turn to your word not only on dark days but on days of rejoicing.  Help me to stay strong in this pursuit.  In Jesus' name, Amen. 

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