Book Review: NIV Beautiful Word Coloring Bible

​No more exam preparation means I can do what I love, COLORING and reading my stack of book reviews. 📚🖍📚🖍📚🖍 

Book Description:

With hundreds of inspiring verses illustrated in detailed, ready-to-color line art, the NIV Beautiful Word™ Coloring Bible employs the proven stress-relieving benefits of adult coloring to help quiet your soul so you can reflect on the precious truths of Scripture. 

Perfect for all ages, the thick white paper with lightly ruled lines in the extra-wide margins, provides ample space for your own artistic expressions and journaling.
The NIV Beautiful Word™ Coloring Bible is a perfect gift that will become a cherished keepsake full of personalized creative expressions of faith.

Features of this treasured Bible include:

  • Hundreds of verses illustrated in ready-to-color line art 
  • Thicker white paper for enduring note-taking 
  • Lined, wide margins for notes, reflections and art 
  • Full text of the most read, most trusted modern-English Bible – the New International Version (NIV) 
  • Easy-to-read black letter text in single-column format
  • Lays flat in your hand or on your desk 
  • Ribbon marker.

Book Review: Initial Impressions of “Jesus Always”

I’m so excited to share my initial impressions of the soon to be released text, Jesus Always.  

First, let me start with a quick nod to the earlier text, Jesus Calling.

That book still speaks to my soul, DAILY. This really amazes me because I’ve been re-reading the book for years. I have it in a hard copy version; a Kindle e-book that I can access from my phone, laptop, and various Kindle apps and devices ; and a desktop calendar that sits in the guest bathroom (aka, “my bathroom”) in my home.

Yet and still, every time I turn those familiar pages, the words fall fresh on my heart EACH and EVERY time and something will speak to the depth of my exact situation with THE EXACT encouragement I need. Long story short, I love that little book!

On top of all of this, Sarah Young has written SEVERAL BOOKS over the years, but this is her FIRST 356-day devotional since since Jesus Calling was released in 2004, so I am tooooo excited to add this new book to my devotional collection.  

Initial Impressions of Jesus Always:

The Cover:

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (Did I mention, LOVE?) The purple cover! Purple is one of my FAVORITE colors!

The cover has an irredessecent sheen that is actually very subtle (I really only noticed this as I attempted to take a photo and caught a glimpse of the book aganst the light from my the flash on my phone).

Photo of the Cover (Fresh Out of the Box)!

The Content:

While, Jesus Calling is a filled with uniquely inspired treasures from heaven for every day of the year written from Jesus’ point of view (thus the title Jesus Calling), Jesus Always invites the reader into a new way of living—a life of joy. 

The new 365-day devotional was written as part of Sarah Young’s exploration of the promises of joy in scripture.

It continues in the style of Jesus Calling and is written as if Jesus, Himself is speaking directly to the reader with joy-filled reminders from the Word of God.

Each devotion includes companion scriptures that will intimately and gently connect you with Jesus—the One who meets you where you are.

Today’s Devotional Page (Note: the Ribbon Bookmark on the Left 😉🖒)

Other Things I Like! 

I’m a sucker for a book with a ribbon bookmark.  I’ve even started hot gluing my own ribbon bookmarks into books.

Little known fact about me: One of my first jobs at UNC was in the Walter Davis Library as Book Preservation Specialist. As a result, I can deconstruct and reconstruct a book in 30 minutes flat!

That also means that I can be a stickler on book construction.  I really am a fan of the pocket-friendly size of Jesus Calling and I was happy to see that Jesus Always remained in that same vein (and had the bookmark ribbon 😁)!

The Inside Cover


You Can Reserve Your Copy, Now!

The text will officially be released to the public on October 4, 2016.

You can pre-order it now on Amazon.com and get their price guarantee!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: 30 Days of Goodness, Love and Grace

This insightful 30-day, eBook Bible study contains selections from the Faithgirlz Secret Power Girls Bible Study series.

I am less familiar with this series, but I enjoy reading books like these because of the work I do with the youth ministry at my local church– specifically our Girls of Destine mentoring program.  I know I’m getting older and more removed from things that younger girls are doing and reading, so I try to take advantage of review opportunities like these.

This text was written especially for girls between the ages of 8-12 years old. In the text, author Susie Shellenberger shares deep truths in each daily devotional that will challenge, inspire, and nourish a reader’s growing soul.

I’ve included a few selections from the publisher’s description that provide a good example of how the text takes classic bible stories and uses modern day examples to connect them to more common day stories/movies that young girls may more readily know and understand (like Cinderella):

  • The Secret Power of Love (book of Ruth),
  • The Secret Power of Grace (1 Peter), and
  • The Secret Power of Goodness (Colossians).

The Secret Power of Love: Like Cinderella, sometimes it’s easy to feel left out and ignored. Maybe things with your family aren’t right, or you don’t feel very lovable. But something amazing happens when you discover God’s love. Journey through the book of Ruth and study one girl’s real-life “Cinderella story,” and see how God transformed her world.

The Secret Power of Grace: You probably want to achieve great things. You probably want a happy life. And you probably want to look incredible every step of the way, sporting a style that makes you sparkle. For a girl like you, that’s no problem—because you’re about to discover the secrets to true success, lasting joy, and a killer style you’ll never outgrow. Cruise through the book of 1 Peter and learn God’s ideas about a beauty and style unlike anything money can buy at the mall.

The Secret Power of Goodness: Sometimes it seems everyone has a different idea of what is true. Some people say that truth is simply whatever works for you. But what if you found reliable truth—as solid and real as the ground you walk on? What if it changed your life? What if it changed you? Come explore the book of Colossians and learn to sort through what you hear about other’s beliefs while discovering what makes our faith special and what it means to be a Christian.

While, I do believe that this type of approach is very effective for the target age group (8-12 years old) I think that it should also be partnered with a “real talk” dialogue that also addresses the issues that these young girls are facing at an increasing rate in this day and age.

Overall, I think this is a great text and approve of the author’s move to create an e-book bible study guide for young girls.  Much of our work and social activity is conducted using electronics and an e-bible study will be a great method for attracting an already captivated audience.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: The Color Code Bible

I still remember the first time I saw a Rainbow Study Bible.  

I was still in elementaty school. I’m guessing I was about 7 or 8 years old. The Bible was my mom’s, of course, and I was obsessed with the color coded notes and highlights throughout the text. It was like an encrypted mystery and I wanted to decode every page!   

I love reviewing Bibles and was so excited to review this one.  I’ll share more of the details below, but I’ll start with a general review.  Due to the level and amount of text, I would see this being most appropriate for a 7 or 8 year old (or older) or for parents to use to study with their children. 

As described by the publisher, The Color Code Bible from Thomas Nelson Publishing is packed with bright colors, memorization aids, and the never-ending truth of God’s Good News.

64 vibrant pages in the beginning of the text provide a thorough explanation of the color system and offer expanded study features catered to a child’s creative and imaginative mind! 

With topics arranged by color, any reader can learn about salvation and how to put God’s word into his/her daily faith walk.  

The topics and colors are:

Gold: God 

Navy: Sin, evil 

Red: Jesus 

Orange: Washed clean from sin, new life 

Green: Growth in your new life as a Christian and Faith Walk

Blue: Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving 

Purple : Heaven

The large, readable typeface, bold in-text subject headings, and color-highlighted verses all make this Bible a fantastic purchase for any child (or adult)!

I love adding bibles to my library and this one did not dissapoint. I can see this being a valuable tool to use with my church’s children’s ministry and as a wonderful gift for a new baby or christening event. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: NKJV Teen Study Bible

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NKJV Teen Study Bible Review On FixItWithFran.com

My Bible collection is ALWAYS growing.

I’m still dedicated to my Life Application Bible that has been with me since my teens, but I love the feeling of a crisp new book (blame all those years of working in libraries! 😊😂😄).

This text is in the New King James Version (NKJV), which many choose as their preferred text.  I am more of a fan of the New Living Translation (NLT),  but I do see value in reading from multiple versions and I usually review the NKJV during my personal study time.

I see this being a great resource for those working in church youth/teen ministries or as a bible to offer as a gift to a teen (maybe for graduation, a birthday, or “just because”).

I really appreciated the hardcover version as I’ve had much more success with these holding up to repeated use over the years.

Other features of this text include:

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