The Busy Mom's Bible

A few weeks ago, I was absolutely blessed to have the opportunity to review The Busy Mom's Bible for Zondervan.   First let me say, the ribbons and tags you see in my Bible, above, I added.  I can't live without my ribbons and tags.  ;) 

Now, onto the review.  First of all, it's pretty.  It really is.  It's a nice, soft leather, in dual tone pink, with a strip down the middle of chocolate brown.  Now, that doesn't have to do much with the spirituality of the Bible, but to me, it was important.  See, I have a hard time with "femininity."  I was raised by feminists, basically, and was never taught how to be a sweet, soft, feminine lady.  Now, I have to surround myself constantly by pretty femininity, in order to remember that I am a lady, and I need to behave as one.  (Not saying everyone needs to do this, but I do.)  So, having a pretty, pink Bible, that really stands out to me.

Now, onto the Bible itself.  This is an NIV Bible.  It's not my favorite to study with, but then, this Bible wasn't meant for getting-down-in-the-dirt study.  It's designed for busy wives and mothers, who are having a hard time finding time to get into the Word.  And for that, the NIV is really good.  It's simple, plain language, and you don't have to sit and think really hard about what it means.  It simply says what it means.

The study guides, or Thought Starters, in this Bible are broken down into 1 minute, 5 minute, and 10 minute sections.  They look like this:

Basically, the idea is to do one Thought Starter a week, memorize the verse, and ponder and meditate on it all week.  The 1 Minute paragraphs give the idea for the week.  If you have time, you can do the 5 and 10 Minute activities, too.  (The 5 Minute is called Reflect & Pray, and the 10 Minute is Study.)   The Study section gives you what pages to turn to back in the Study Index (which is nice, not having to flip through the index), for deeper study on the subject.

The Thought Starter pages are brightly colored, and each page (13 of them) has a different "theme,"  with four sections per theme.  The themes are:

God Is...

Family Ties

Your Marriage

Raising Your Kids

Your Relationships

Your Identity in Christ

A Woman of Character

Overcoming Obstacles

Your Emotions

Your Spiritual Life

Healthy Living

Stewardship

God's Love for You

All of these, we should be studying daily.  But, it's hard, sometimes, to carve out that time in the middle of all the chaos going on.  With a 8, 7, 3, and two 8 month olds, I know!!  I try really hard, but when the twins have ear infections, and are up all night, or the 7 year old decided to get up at 4:30... and stay up... waking up the 3 year old in the process because they share a room, or when the day has just been more than I can handle... It's SO nice to have a study laid out for me, quickly, easily, and to the point.

That isn't to say the Thought Starters don't require thought.  For example, the first section under Family Ties, although it was directed to blended families, is on Acceptance, and really spoke to me.  The Holy Spirit used that small study to show me and convict my heart of the way I treat one of my children, and how I need to accept this particular child, just as the Lord made them, because the Lord knows what He's doing!  That was a hard lesson for me to learn, but it was much needed, and I have been much blessed from it.  So, although the Thought Starters are small, they can be very powerful!!

There are also two more sections worth mentioning in this Bible, a Concordance, and a section on Biblical Maps, both of which I really appreciate.

Overall, this is a really nice Bible.  I was so excited to get it, it's been years since I've had a Bible of my own!!  (Bought more than one for hubby or the kids, but not one for me in roughly 10 years.)  So, to have a Bible not just for me, but designed for busy women and moms... it's priceless to me!!

I highly recommend this Bible!!

You can buy it on the Zondervan website, for $24.99, or find a retailer near you there.

***Please Note:  I'm not going to get into discussions on different Bible Versions on this blog.  Please don't start any.  Any comments to that nature will be deleted.***