Book Review // Writing in the Margins

One of my goals for the month of January was to read two books, which has been completed. One of the titles I chose to read this month was Writing in the Margins by Lisa Nichols Hickman.
This book has been an amazing resource in opening my eyes to a new form of studying and connecting to God's written word through writing in the margins of my Bible.
Did you know that writing in the margins of your Bible could be a form of worship?

We don't always think about the different forms of worship that exist. Yeah, we always think of praise and singing as a form of worship and often reading our Bible and praying as forms of worship.

What about writing in the margins of your Bible and personally connecting to the Word, writing prayers and more of the art forms of worship?

reading a book should not be a passive exercise but rather a raucous conversation.

Reading God's word can become a conversation with the writer of it because, as Hickman described:

Scripture is a living text-intersecting all of life with words of prayer." 

I loved this book because it encouraged me to personally connect with the text and gave real life examples of other individuals who wrote in the margins of their Bibles and had a continuous, daily filled communion with Christ. When you are taking time to really interact with the text, it really impacts you and will cause you to think on Him more. 

It encouraged me to write questions in my Bible of the sections of scriptures that I was confused about. It encouraged me to write down deep prayers based on my personal journey.

One of the things I loved the most that described the Bible was the way the Bible was described, 

as place for our restless hearts to find their rest and to be called home.

Some of the things that can be written in the margins of your Bible include:

 ~names of people
 ~lists (journey's, seasons, struggles, faith development, year)
~discernment (what kind of daughter, sister, friend, etc. does God want me to be?)

~songs

 ~prayers for other people

~attributes of God

 ~blessings and thanksgiving 

Not only did this book encourage me with writing in the margins of my Bible, but it also encouraged me with one truth overall that stuck with me:

Acknowledge whatever conflict, doubt, frustration or anxiety that ate at your day and name it in a realized prayer, not pushing it away as a hassle." 

I loved this book and the way it opened up a new form of worship that I had never thought about before. I would highly encourage you to check it out and see for yourself the many ways we can use the margins of our Bible's to grow closer to Him and to create a vision statement for living. 

I did think that some of the sections were kind of boring with some of the history and very specific details of this art, but besides that, I felt like it was very worthwhile. 

What books have you been reading this month?

Have you read Writing in the Margins?