Latest / How to Faith a Life Podcast with Faith Womack / The Best New Bible for Crazy Bible Notes + Real Talk on Bible Study Struggles

Transcript

The Best New Bible for Crazy Bible Notes + Real Talk on Bible Study Struggles · How to Faith a Life Podcast with Faith Womack

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you're listening to the How to Faith a Life podcast, where we wrestle with questions on how to live a life of faith, from everything from books to Bible studies, even Bible study tips.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is your place to wrestle with the hard questions and dive deep into what scripture really says for the Christian walk.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you've subscribed to this podcast and your favorite podcast streaming services.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Review this podcast so other people can find it and share with other believers who want to ask the hard questions.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, with all that said, let's begin.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Hi friends, welcome back to the podcast.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Today we have a special guest that I know y'all know.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Today we have Amanda Bible Williams.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: She's the co-founder of She Reads Truth.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: When she isn't writing or editing or podcasting, Amanda enjoys working crosswords, hanging with her family, and catching up on her reading for seminary, where she is pursuing her lifelong dream of being a professional student.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Amanda and her husband David live in Franklin, Tennessee with her four kids.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, her maiden name really is Bible.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Amanda, welcome to the podcast.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm so happy to be here.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me, Faith.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was telling you before we hit record, I had like a moment where I realized just how full circle it is because back in the day, right when y'all's Bible first came out, I cut out.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is so embarrassing to tell you now.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: But I cut out I love this.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: I loved the Bible, but my husband had just gotten me an ESV interleaved journaling Bible.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I wanted y'all's book summaries in my Bible.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so I cut out y'all's book summaries with all the beautiful verse art and like the diagrams of like Ruth and David and all that, and I taped them into my ESV journaling Bible.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And now today we get to sit and we get to talk all about y'all's new spiral-bound note-taking Bible.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I get to pick your brain, and it's just such an honor because you guys have done so much good kingdom work helping us get in the word.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks for coming on.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's so kind.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, I think when you've got arts and crafts involved in your Bible reading, that to me just screams like we are in this.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I love it.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: I love that the Lord invites us to be who we are as we are reading scripture.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so for all of our creative sisters who love to, you know, do art and just to engage with their Bibles in different ways, I love that.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it took me forever to even feel like it was okay to write or underline, you know, in my Bible.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: I used to be really kind of weird about that.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And just, and so I love this story.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I also, you know, the way that the Lord has used the She Rudes Truth Bible is just really stunning to me.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was so unexpected, and it's been almost 10 years now.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: 2017 will be 10 years of the She Rudge Truth Bible, and so it just really been a really sweet thing to be a part of.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think a lot of people are like, what's the novelty of really writing in your Bible or taking notes in your Bible?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: But once they start, they see, oh wow, this is taking my reading so much deeper.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's what makes me the most excited about this new spiral bound.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I can tell that you guys really cared about people being able to physically engage with scripture, like take notes, underline, have plenty of room for that.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Will you share a little bit about like what led y'all to take just the traditional bound Bible and make it spiral bound?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I wish I could take credit for this idea, but the publisher, BH, had the idea and came to us.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, the the She Reach Truth Bible has kind of taken on this life of its own, especially with the younger generations, and they just love they love it, which brings me so much joy.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, anytime I anytime I see any She Reach Truth Bible, you know, out in the wild in real life, it brings me joy.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: But especially if a teenager is holding it, I get real excited.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: But they came to us with this idea of, you know, we the She Reads Truth Bible itself has wide margins on purpose.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we left white space and wide margins and made it single column so that girls and women could engage with the text on the page.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so what I love about the spiral note-taking Bibles is that it levels up that aspect of the She Reads Truth Bible.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so you still get, you know, the introductions that you mentioned, some of those tools that we call extras, like maybe it's a chart or a map or a timeline.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: There's one of those for each book, and there are reading logs in the back, so you can kind of keep track of when you read, you know, if you've read each chapter and which dates, and but what it really the the notable difference is that in the the scripture portions of the the Bible, which the most important part, right?
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's the font is a little bigger and the space between the lines is wider and the margins are even wider so that you can really dig it.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean you can underline, highlight the paper's thicker, it's it is spiral bound with hard covers, so it's really easy to hold on your lap and you know take notes if you're in a church service or at a conference or whatever, or sitting on your back porch, you know.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's difficult to be comfortable and write in your Bible at the same time.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and so it really does kind of make it really easy to engage with.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so we loved this idea.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: It feels kind of like a a new chapter for this really beloved Bible that we got to be a part of.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so, yeah, it's been really well received so far.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's been fun to watch how people are using them and get different ideas.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: How have you seen people use it and you've gone, oh wait, that's so cool.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: I love that you're using the spower band Bible that way.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: Even just in my own circle of people in my real life, I have a really dear friend who's relatively new to scripture, she's about two years into her kind of journey of Bible reading and following Jesus.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so she, for the first time this year in 2026, she is doing a Bible in the year for the first time, and so she is using it alongside an audio Bible in the year, and so as she's listening, she's reading, which I love that to start because you get the benefit of both types of learning.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: You get the auditory and the visual, and she's just jotting down questions, thoughts.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: She texts me random Bible questions all the time just to say, like, why does it say this?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's just really sweet because she's going to have a chronicle of her first read-through of the entire Bible and her kind of reaction and engagement with it.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: I love that people are taking them to church because I know so for some of us, like at our church, we read through books of the Bible and our pastor preaches through books of the Bible.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's usually not a surprise to me what we're reading in church on a given Sunday, because you know, we will have been we're going in our in order.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so if we're in Mark, you know, we can I can take my New Testament because it's so spoiler alert, if you have not seen the product, the spiral Bibles, they are it's five volumes because they are large.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: You're not gonna carry all of them anywhere, really.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: They're going to stay at your house, on your desk, on your shelf, and you'll engage one volume at a time.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it's divided up, you know, there's the Pentateuch, the historical books, the prophets, poetry and wisdom, literature, and the New Testament.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that you can grab a volume, take it to church, and everyone's dream, like turn it inside out, like the spiral allows you to do, and sit it on your lap and take notes.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I love that we've heard of people using them for events like a baby shower or a wedding shower or a graduation and having people like you know, having friends or family underline favorite verses and write a note in the margin for, you know, for the person that they're celebrating.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: So they're just it really there are so many ways that I just I feel like it really opens up some possibilities.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think that's one of, I don't know what your experience is, Faith, with your community of Bible readers here, but I have found in my own life and as I have spoken with women over the years that we really are we tend to put our Bible reading in a box of sorts, and we can kind of put some just kind of false guidelines or may at least made up guidelines over what it should look like, you know.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so I love that that a spiral Bible makes us kind of it just even the form factor gives us sort of an opportunity to reapproach reading the Bible, and I think that's a really exciting thing.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: You guys do a good job of kind of looking at a Bible with new fresh eyes and going, what will help people get into the word better?
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: What will actually engage like a studenthood, a feasting that might not happen when somebody opens up a traditional study Bible and there's a lot of words all tight cramped onto a tiny little page, and we get that instant overwhelm with a spiral, you can fold it in half, break it down.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: I love like immediately when I saw y'all's margins and the gaps in between the lines, I was like word studies perfect place to do some word studies, yeah, to do some mapping.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, draw lines and arrows and have highlighters and different pen colors, and I mean it really does encourage even me, who I just confess like it was hard for me to even begin to write in my Bible years ago, that it really does kind of coax that creativity and engagement out of me, which I love.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thankful for.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I always say this, and I say it too much where it gets annoying, but like if we really believe it's true, we're gonna read it and we're gonna dissect it and we're gonna want to know it truly.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what did Paul intend with this word, or why does he keep repeating this phrase?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the beauty of actually doing that circling and the highlighting and annotating, whether it's just for one year as you read through one of the elders' wives in my church, does that every year she buys a new Bible and she annotates her way through all the sermon series and all the things, and then it goes on a shelf and it's that year's all of that year's Bible studies and sermon edits.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, at first I was like, oh, that's kind of consumeristic.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: You're buying a new Bible every year, Lisa.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: LOL if she's listening to this right now.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, love you, girl.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: But the more I think about it, the more I'm like, that's the perfect use case of the Spiral Brown Bible.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna have to give that to her because yeah, then all you need to do is take Mark as we're going through Mark right now, you know, whatever it is, and take your sermon notes.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And oh, he did this one little word study, and that makes me want to go down my rabbit trail.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: And when I get back home, you know, then I can open up my big Bible and you know, connect all the things.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it's so cool.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Was there anything that, like, while turning it into a spiral bound that kind of surprised you in the process or made you kind of go, I should add that to my Bible study rhythms?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a great question.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: So in the She Reads Truth Bible, the the full, you know, text Bible, we have reading plans for every book of the Bible.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the reasons that we include those is because we're very passionate and a UR likewise to allow scripture to interpret scripture and to look at, you know, where if you know we're reading in the Old Testament, for example, like I just opened my Bible to Ezekiel a few minutes ago.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, where in the rest of Scripture do we see connections to Ezekiel?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so in the She Reads Truth Bible, there is a daily reading plan for each book of the Bible that you can use if you choose that will help you connect those dots throughout scripture to see that all of scripture tells one story, right?
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: The story of the redemption of God's people.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: And and so when we were creating the spiral bible, we had to kind of wrestle with that because we're like, well, if we put, for example, in the prophets a reading plan for Isaiah, it's going to contain New Testament scriptures that are not in this volume of the spiral Bible.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so we had like some really good, like healthy back and forth, which my other half, Rachel Myers, that's like our sweet spot, is to just kind of like have two views of one kind of question or problem or issue and go back and forth until we reach the spot, right?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Where we can come to a consensus.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so we decided that no, the right use case for the spiral bible is to put a reading log where for Isaiah, for example, I'm going to be able to check as I read each chapter and then note, you know, which date or dates I read, because I may return.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I could have these spiral Bibles for 10 years and return to Isaiah 62 once a year or a couple times a year, whatever.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so it but the way that challenged me to answer your question is that I find that as with many things in life, I have to keep myself from swinging too far to one side or the other.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so in my passion and zeal to see the whole of scripture, sometimes I can avoid just sitting in one text or one chapter and really meditating on that particular piece of the Bible.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think one of the things that we have heard people say so far about their engagement with the Spiral Bibles is that it helps them slow down, which I think is so interesting.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it is one because they're large and you can't just be like you may take it to church or to Bible study or throw it in your backpack, but it's not going to live in your like everyday bag.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's a formidable volume, right?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think part of that is that it is most conducive to sitting down at a table or on a sofa and reading.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas I have, you know, a little, I have like a pocket size, not really pocket size, but a personal size Bible that I often throw in my bag if I'm traveling or if I, you know, I just want to just an on the go Bible.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's one, but also I think the form factor helps us to slow down.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: When you're looking at a traditional Bible, and now I just have it open to Isaiah, there's a lot of words on that page, especially if you get like into the historical books, right?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you're in some narratives and you're like, okay, there's a lot happening here.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: And the way that in the Spiral Bible, it kind of just allows all of the text to breathe.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think our brains take note and just go, okay, we don't have to hurry.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're just gonna, we're just gonna read and dig in and pause and like we were talking about, mark it up, ask some questions.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: I love a question mark in the margin of my Bible.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: I do it a lot.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Or like a you know, like, what what is happening?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Or another favorite question mark exclamation point of like, yeah, what is really what is happening?
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it has challenged, it's challenged me just even the form factor because I do love to get comfy in my approach, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's nice to shake it up every once in a while.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's funny how, like, yeah, the form and the function of it can really totally transform the experience or the enjoyability of being in the word.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think too many of us we give ourselves so much pressure.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: We need to have like the perfect Bible study, and I need to like perform for God in my Bible study, and then we're sitting there staring at that like gray page full with tiny little words and tiny little letters attached to those words, and you're like, what is going on?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Why did this king do this weird thing?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, let's slow down, let's give ourselves some space.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: The white room of like, okay, wait, wait, I can slow down.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: And this one line says this one person did this one thing.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: Is that faithful to the Deuteronomic Code or whatever, you know, God's law?
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And just yeah, slow down.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a huge barrier for so many people in Bible study.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: It can be a barrier for me.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I stare at the huge books like Ezekiel and Isaiah, and I'm like, oh, okay, another day, another day.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: When my friend that I mentioned, who's using the Spiral Bible to go through her Bible in a year plan, she started texting me questions about Ezekiel, and I was like, Are you did you are you at Ezekiel?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: And she was like, Yes.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, It's wild.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: And she was like, It is crazy, and like it is blowing my mind.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so, but it's so yeah, I think it's fun.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: I know I know enough about you, Faith, to know that you think it's fun, but it becomes fun when we allow ourselves to engage like as we really are.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody wants to perform.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: We do enough performing in our lives, right?
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and enough, you know, trying to pull it together and get it together.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: And in my Bible reading, my times in the word are the most fruitful when the the box checking and the getting it right are just the furthest thing from my mind.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: So either when I'm just like really nerding out and asking allowing myself to ask questions, I think it's a wonderful thing to ask questions about what you're reading.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we can think that asking questions of scripture or of God somehow means that we are like less faithful or I don't know, like it's it reflects on the quality of our faith.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I just don't think we see that in scripture at all.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think that there are a lot of things that we are intended to go, you know, to really wrestle with as we engage with scripture.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so those are my favorite times in the word when I find something that feels random that I just want to like dig into, and and it always it's always fruitful.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't always make perfect sense to me.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't always find like the answer to my question the first time around, but it's like a diamond, you know, like you the more you like turn it and let the light shine through and just engage with it, just the more we see.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: I totally agree.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: I love how relatable you are in the fact that you're like, oh yeah, no, totally I have questions, or sometimes I feel silly asking questions, or I don't even find the answer to my questions.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: But daggum, it's worshipful.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Being in God's word, it transforms our lives.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: And praise the Lord for that.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think I a lot of people look at other people's Bible studies as something of like, you go to Jesus and you're like, what else should I buy?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: What man should I marry?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: What should I do with my life?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then you get your answer and you walk away.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: He's like a vending machine, right?
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: But being in the word, it's so different than that.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's yeah, worshipful is the word that I use for it.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: But how would you encourage somebody that's like, I don't know, Amanda, you're the she reach truth lady and your Bible studies must be perfect.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: How would you encourage believers struggling through their Bible studies and getting more questions than answers?
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think, you know, first of all, I would just say you're not alone in that.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: I think anyone who is giving you an honest answer will say that they, if they're a Bible reader, for any amount of time, you will have days, seasons where it just looks different.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: And that's one thing I would say to encourage is that there is seasonality in our scripture reading and in our spiritual life, just like there is in our physical life and the created world around us, there are different seasons of Bible reading in your s and it's allowed to look different as the seasons of your life change, and depending on kind of what is going on in your life and in your world and in your heart.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so there are times when there are times when I run to scripture as a refuge because I am just feeling so vulnerable, so exposed, so afraid of the unknown, of what's going on around me or even within me sometimes.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: And there are days when I feel like, you know, sun's shining, things are good, and I'm coming with, you know, just with a different posture.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: And all of those postures are welcome.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: I think this sounds so simple, but as you were talking, Faith, I just felt the Lord remind me that like one of the first or like foundational aspects of the posture with which we approach scripture is that God, we are learning about the infinite God.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: God is God, we are not.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: So that should tell us just right up front some things about what we are going to experience as we read God's word.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: We are not going to fully understand scripture or God or even ourselves all the time.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: We're just not going to.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: If we did, he wouldn't, wouldn't it be God?
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like ran across a quote in my seminary reading the other day.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: I believe it was Augustine.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not quoting a verbatim, but it was essentially like if the thing you are studying, like if you fully understand something, then that thing is not God.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I love that because it he is infinite, we are finite.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so, of course, we are going to feel like some days we're just like, I honestly can't tell you what I just read.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, you talk about Ezekiel, Ezekiel will make you feel like you have stumbled into like I don't I was gonna say sci fi, that's not true.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Some sort of spectacle, a fever dream.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: And and it doesn't mean that it doesn't have meaning and that it isn't inspired.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: It has meaning.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: It is inspired by God.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: It has deep, beautiful, profound meaning about God's pursuit of his people and our profound brokenness and his profound love for us and pursuit of us as his people.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's all in Ezekiel, but you're reading about what this guy, or is it Jeremiah, or do they both do something weird with their linen underwear?
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: I don't remember because all the prophets start to run together.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: But like there's and like he's asked to like dig through a wall with his hands, and like it is upsetting sometimes.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so I say that to say here's what I remind myself of often there are people who have devoted their entire lives to not just studying scripture but studying specific aspects of scripture.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm talking in academia, like this is their full-time job, this is what people pay them to do, and they don't exhaust the truth of God's word, they don't exhaust the mystery of God, and that is just what's true.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so I have come to really love that about God.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Does it frustrate me?
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: And also I want an infinite God, I don't want a finite God.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hi friends, I'm gonna hijack my own podcast really quickly to give a shout out to this sponsor, which is honestly many of you guys.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: This entire ministry is sourced by you guys, funded by y'all.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: I have a Patreon page, which is just a crowdfunding website where everyday people like you guys join me in super in-depth studies.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: So while you might know me from podcasts or YouTube or maybe even my silly Instagram or TikToks, the majority of my time I actually spend on Patreon studies.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's where we get to go super in-depth.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of being controlled by algorithms, it's just content for the people and with the people.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I love it.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's honestly the best.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: We just started small groups, which has been really cool.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: We're finishing up this four-year-long series, going through the Psalms super in-depth every single week, and that will just live there on Patreon and they get to like rewatch them and go back through them if they want to.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if you join today, we'll be there and we're starting a new one through the pair bulls.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then every year we have a whole other series that we're going through.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I share vlogs and things going on in my life.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's really just the means by which this super public online ministry with a lot of people can be made a lot more intimate, one-on-one, and we can just go so much deeper.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: So if you like the stuff I come out with and you want to do more in-depth Bible studies with me, and honestly, just find a community of fellow like-minded believers that truly want to geek out on that Greek or Hebrew word, then Patreon's the place for you.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's patreon.com forward slash how to faith a life, literally the name of this podcast.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, there's a million and one different studies, and they'll all just live there for years to come.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, they get the best bang for your buck.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Join the top tier and you get free stickers every single month, as well as access to all the things.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to see you there.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure to mention in the chat that you came from the podcast.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of, let's get back to the podcast.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: I love what you said about how God is an infinite God.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, we will never be able to get to the bottom.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: We won't ever scratch past the surface of the richness of his word and all the beauty that's going on.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you guys do a really good job of giving us students of the word a beautiful playground to just dive deep into God's word through the spiral bound.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, everything y'all do is such good quality, such like good intentionality and a worshipful heart.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I just think this is such a cool resource.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: I know there's so many people, you know, they're thinking about next year, they're thinking about maybe their Bible study goals for next year and what they want to do in 2027.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like this would be such a great resource for them if they want to study a book in depth or go through the Bible in a year to catalog their journeys through the Word through a tool like this.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's just so great.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, bigger font, more space, word studies, verse mappings.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: There's room for a ton of stuff.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's room for so much.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: You really can.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of the things I love about it, is that I really do think that you can come to it with a lot of like a variety of intentions.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: So you showed me earlier what your Bible looks like.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: It reminds me of Lisa Harper, which hers is not as big, but have you ever seen Lisa Harper's Bible?
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's the same, it's just like there's stuff just sticking out everywhere.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: And she has to read something, she has to do the thing you know that you do.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like we have to move four post-its to get to the text underneath.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: But it's it's beautiful, and so you can do that, or you can have something really specific that you want to use, a specific way you want to engage in this space.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, I love it.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: I will say, for those who have and love the She Reads Truth Bible, the art is still in there and it is a little bit updated in a really beautiful way.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: All of so the verse, the lettering is all still is there, but the background, all the lettering is placed on photos, like on a photograph, and it's so it just really like freshens it up.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: It kind of brings it, you know, all of that art was from almost 10 years ago.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so it just it's not it's familiar, but it also feels a little new, and so it's really beautiful.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: I love the way that our creative director took that on and did that, and he did such a good job.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's been really, it's been really fun.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: But I just love, you know, you've talked about people who are maybe frustrated or feeling like their quiet time, which even that can be tough to use that phrasing, that their time in God's word doesn't look the way that they wanted it to.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to tell you that I am convinced that one of the reasons that God has allowed me the privilege and honor and joy of stewarding she reads truth over the past 14 years has been because this was a surefire way to get me into the Bible regularly.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: Because I have always struggled with that, and I have always struggled with false expectations that I've put on myself or feeling like I was performing and just really psyching myself out and swinging like super academic, but then or super the other direct and just really struggling to have a relationship with God's word in the true sense of the word relationship, and she reads truth gave that to me.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so most of the people that you look at and you admire their faith, they got there honestly and are continuing honestly because that is we all have a journey that all looks different, and that is not a surprise to God.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: He designed us, he created us, so he is not surprised that we have to that we have to really struggle to focus.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: He is not surprised that we psych ourselves out about like what color ink to use when we underline in our Bible.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like he is uh and he is the patient father who is just delighted that we have a heart to engage with him.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: So that helps me to remember.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: It helps me to remember that the things that I get so caught up in and worried about that God is actually just he is delighted that I am in the word.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: And he is the faithful one.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: So much less of this rides on me.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: But I, you know, I always overestimate how much of the how much of my spiritual growth even is dependent on me.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Do I show up?
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, but he's God, and it's the Holy Spirit who works in us.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I would take great comfort in that.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's such a good word.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think one thing I often struggle with when it comes to taking notes and getting in the word that I face is there's a part of me that's like, okay, if I just write something down, I'll accomplish something.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: If I just take some kind of note, if I just do one word set, if I just do something, then like I it's a performative mindset, you know, it's like productive.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: Fill up a page, check the box, and move on.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: And essentially what that is, I've found, at least for me, is it's self-worship.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's really self-centered.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's not going to God's word and saying, Lord, transform me.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's Lord, let me conquer you for today so I can get to what I really care about.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: How would you encourage, because I think the spiral bound bible, whether people order it or not, I just think it's a really cool tool.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I'm geeking out about it.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: But like whether people are using it or not, how would you encourage people to be in God's word and to feast on it and not miss make it about ourselves in all our weird convoluted ways?
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean prayer, just to acknowledge that we really are coming to God's word to sit at the feet of God who made us, at the Savior who, you know, gave himself for us, at the Spirit who is our advocate and counselor and with us.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I love the image.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's not an uncommon image.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: We've all, you know, are probably familiar with it, but just the image of Mary at Jesus' feet.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we give Martha side eye because we're like, oh my goodness, you are like you're being performative.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: You should just sit down and listen.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus is right here.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: I am Martha all day long.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: Even as I am sitting at Jesus' feet.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: I am Martha, I mean, you know, and this is not about being one or the other.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: This was in that moment, this was the teachable moment, right?
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we get to learn from it.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm grateful.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: But I can, even as I am coming to the Lord, can really get in my head, just what you described.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm just saying, yes, me too.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I think for me right now, I'm learning to sit with God, to realize and to remember that reading the word is not an end in itself, that reading scripture is not the goal.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like to be in God's presence is the goal, to walk with him is the goal, to learn about him and to live uh a life reflective of him.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: All of that comes from just being with him, and there's nothing magical that happens you know, differently from when I am walking through the grocery store talking to God or sitting with my Bible open, talking to God.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like these are all elements of relationship.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so, and I'm so grateful for God's word.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: Reading the Bible has changed my life and continues to change my life.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: I can't imagine, I can't imagine being without it.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's because it, it's because it's God's word, it's because it is the Holy Spirit.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: God's word is living and active because the word is Jesus and the Spirit is living and active and with us as we're reading.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so I have just been trying to just sit with God a little more and also listen.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: It also helps me to force myself, and I mean that I have to sometimes force myself to just be still and quiet before and after I read scripture and actually allow the Holy Spirit to work with what I've read in my heart, like to do some some plowing up and planting in my heart.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because a lot of times I will just read and close and go on with my day.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that's okay.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: There are days that look like that, but this is not the the end goal.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: The end goal is Jesus.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: The end goal is to know him and to walk with him.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's really easy to make other things the goal because it is really gratifying.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's really satisfying to check some boxes and to turn to a place in your Bible where you have very clearly like really engaged, and you're like, look at that.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that's great.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: There's nothing wrong with that.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is so like cheesy, but girl to girl, you were just sitting there talking about Jesus, and your eyes like lit up and the sun was shining down on you, and then you were like, It's like Mary and just sitting at his feet.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I was just like, Oh, praise the Lord! Like, obviously, you're a beautiful vessel.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you guys aren't watching on YouTube, you're missing out, okay?
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, Amanda's gorgeous inside and out, but then she's like, I'm right by a window, so there's a lot of natural light coming at me to see the love of God and his word just beam through you, and it really just comes back to that.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's not about the emotions, it's not about the checklist, it's not about the performance that we think that we can put on for God.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: It really truly just starts and ends with our savior and praise the Lord for that.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's not about us, but it's for us and praise the Lord for that.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's just so cool to see you sometimes you say things that are just so incredibly simple, but just like, you know, like, oh, that's so real and so wait, did that sound rude?
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, I don't mean I'm trying to honestly, no, I feel so seen because that's what resonates with me.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: I love I love theology.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: I love studying, like, you know, we're both in seminary.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I love to dig deep, but the thing like what resonates with me most are just the are the simple truths of who God is and who we are and the gospel story.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's I think that's good.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: I love I take that as a compliment.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: You say it simply, right?
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: Can't even miss it.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh yeah, it's about Jesus.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, it's about just being in the word.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: I love a how-to as much as the next person, but I think sometimes that's what we need is like instead of the five steps or whatever, I think sometimes we just need the the correct starting posture, and that is for me, that is that God is God and I am not.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that simple posture of worship really changes how I approach um God's word if if I if I let it because it does like I want to control it.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: I want to control what it says, what it means, like what I do, what I how it forms me, and then how it applies to everyone in my life, like everything in my life.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, parenting, for example, I would love to know how to fix anything that has gone sideways in my kids' life or in my kids themselves.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: In myself.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: I love to fix some things that are sideways in me.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I so often parenting is just like the thing the place where probably in the last few years it has cropped up the most where I really believe I really find myself believing the lie functionally.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: If I look at how I'm thinking and how I'm acting, and even look at my prayers sometimes, I am functioning as if I am looking for that silver bullet or like it is dependent on me and my strategy and the knowing like what to do.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it's real easy, it's real easy to put ourselves in the position of God in subtle ways and not so subtle ways.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm just so thankful for the way that the Holy Spirit just takes us down a notch when we put ourselves up there where we shouldn't be, and just some gently or not so gently, if necessary, just gives us a little flick, knocks us down, and like, nope, that's not good for you.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: You don't want what you think you want.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_01: You don't want to, you don't want to be in charge here.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that helps me.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: This has been so good coming back to why do we do this and why do we have these goals to make it through the Bible and and to study it in depth, and it really again comes back to the personal work of Christ.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so thank you for taking us on that journey, pointing us back with our eyes on Christ.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, this is a delight.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm um I'm a fan.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_01: I love what you do and the way that you invite people in, and it's you're a kindred spirit.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's been a delight and it's good to meet your people.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_01: Hello out there.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm happy to happy to meet you all.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if they don't know, I mean, I sh there's no way that they don't know who you are and what you do, but if they want to get more from She Reads Truth and Amanda, where can they find you?
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, come on over.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: We are, if you're wanting to read the Bible and don't know where to start or don't know what to read next, we are always in a Bible reading plan at She Reads Truth.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_01: So you can go to SheReadstruth.com andor the She Reads Truth app.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: I am Bible Williams.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: Bible is my maiden name, and I just learned the word for that.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: Let me see if I can remember.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: Aptronym, I think is the when like a person's name matches what they do.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's like for work.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I didn't know that that's what that there was a name for that.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_01: Bible Williams is my handle on really just Instagram.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: I don't that's really the only place I hang out often.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: But uh yeah, come read the Bible with us.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's or don't just read the Bible.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: You didn't have to be with us.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: Our mission, yeah, allow me to correct myself.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um our mission at She Reads Truth is women in the Word of God every day.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so it is not women in She Reads Truth every day, it is women in the Word of God every day.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: And there are a lot of beautiful resources out there of which we are just one.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: But yes, you're always welcome.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and the spiral babbles are available everywhere, as is the She Reads Truth Bible.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, thank you so much for coming on.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, such a blessing.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: Go check out the spiral bibbles, guys, and definitely make sure to clock in with She Reads Truth and all the good stuff that they're putting out.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_00: All right, we'll see you next episode.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: You've been listening to the How to Faith Life podcast with your girl, Faith Womack.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: During seasons, episodes go up every Wednesday, and they're found everywhere podcasts are posted.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: I personally love Spotify.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure to hit subscribe and leave a review that really helps other people to find it.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: But if you want to hang out with me and do in-depth Bible studies, like I talked about earlier, you're gonna want to find me on Patreon.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I spend most of my time teaching with weekly Bible studies, longer form teaching, behind the scenes content, and honestly, just a great community of awesome believers who love God's word and want to go deeper.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's patreon.com forward slash how to feed the life and faithful mac everywhere else online.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: Bye guys.