Everyday Matters Bible for Women Review

Reading/studying the Bible is a very personal thing. This is why there are so many versions, translations and study guides available. Most of us have our favorites, my top three are The Message, The Amplified Bible and the New International Version. My pastor preaches mainly from the New Living Translation and I haven’t owned that one, until now. The Everyday Matters Bible for Women published by Hendrickson Publishers is a New Living Translation Bible that is designed to help busy women focus on 24 core disciplines or practices of the Christian life.

The 24 spiritual practices highlighted in this Bible are:

• Acceptance
• Bible Study and Meditation
• Celebration
• Community
• Confession
• Contemplation
• Faith
• Fasting
• Forgiveness
• Gratitude
• Hospitality
• Justice
• Mentoring
• Outreach
• Prayer
• Reconciliation:-
• Sabbath and Rest
• Service
• Silence
• Simplicity
• Solitude
• Stewardship
• Submission
• Worship

My original plan was to study these in alphabetical order but with the events of the past few weeks, the accident and Sierra passing away I knew I needed to head straight to the back of the Bible where it lists all of the features available about each discipline. I looked up “Faith” and that is where I have stayed throughout this difficult time. The two pieces that spoke to me the most were Julie Kloster’s “Questioning God” based on Habakkuk 1:2-4. I questioned God a lot from the moment I received word of the accident and even more 5 days later when Sierra went home to be with Jesus. Kloster showed me that when we wrestle with God, we grow closer to Him even when we don’t like how He answers our questions. The other piece was Marshall Shelley’s Q&A on “Unshakeable Faith” based on Jeremiah 29:10-14. He says “At times such faith has to be a conscious choice.” This Scripture tells us that God has good plans for us, plans for good and not for disaster. So why did a 17 year old girl die? I don’t know, I just know that God has His reasons and His plan and Sierra’s time on earth with us was over. It is very hard to accept this loss but I choose to have faith.

Every discipline is explored in four ways
• Everyday Matters. Two-page articles introduce major themes and focus on an essential part of understanding and practicing a discipline.
• Everyday Profiles. Profiles of twenty-five Biblical women highlight a particular discipline.
• Everyday Q & A’s. Short articles delve into a difficult aspect of the spiritual practice and offer practical help on incorporating the discipline into your daily life.
• Everyday Reflections. Selections illustrate ways to personalize and apply God’s Word to your own situation.

More than 300 articles and features by more than 140 of today’s most well-known Christian leaders and writers, including: Kay Warren, Priscilla Shirer, Elisa Morgan, Nancy & John Ortberg, Richard Foster, Liz Curtis Higgs, and Lauren Winner.

Special Features include . . .
• 4-color throughout
• Color-coded icons identify each Spiritual Discipline addressed in contributors’ material
• How to Use This Bible in a Small Group Study
• Index of Spiritual Practices
• Resources for further reading

I have enjoyed using this Bible, so has my puppy she chewed up the dust cover and the back cover LOL! The things i don’t particularly like are the very thin pages. You can see through the pages easily and it makes reading difficult, especially with old eyes like mine. The pages are also too thin to really highlight or write on, which I like to do. I also wish this Bible had a concordance, as I use mine all the time while studying the Bible.

Find out more about this Bible on Hendrickson.com.