New pals

I have great friends. But my bestest friends have always been books.

I read practically every genre, however, deliberately avoiding romance (because I can't bear it). I don't like romance novels, not because I don't like a good love story, but because I don't have the patience to read unrealistic prose descriptions glorifying each other more than what they're worth. I'd rather read a cryptic romantic poem ;)

My favorite fiction authors are Jefferey Archer (I like his choice of words) and Robin Cook (He helps me delve inside the world of Medicine which is where I once wanted to belong to).

My favorite genre is the Christian one. But then, it's easy to write a Christian book, and very easy to write a bad-bestselling Christian book. Because of this, I am very choosy about the Christian books I pick. In the ocean of the millions of books out there, I have few authors whose books I've picked and never regretted. One of my future posts would be about these authors, and why I like them, and why I like their books.

My favorite authors

1. King David
2. The unknown author of Job
3. Dr.Luke (The one who wrote the Gospel and the Acts)
4. Apostle John
5. Selwyn Hughes
6. CS Lewis
7. Ravi Zacharias
8. A.W Tozer
9. Bill Hybels
10. Carole Mayhall
11. Tommy Tenney
12. J.N Manoharan

While I have many favorite books, I do have a very personal book.

And that's my Bible.

Let me confess, I haven't got up every morning, reading the Bible and always feeling like I had a helping of honey. Sometimes, I dread having to read the Bible, sometimes I sleep when I am reading it, sometimes, I frown; sometimes, I cry; sometimes, I'm enlightened; sometimes I laugh out loud, and sometimes I'm just too amazed for words.

Nevertheless, it is my Bible and it is God's personal message for my life.

I love scribbling on the pages of this Personal book, my deepest thoughts, and penning my insignificant words near the Words breathed by God. You can find smiley faces, angry faces, question marks, exclamations, stars, and so many different remarks in this Personal book of mine. My Bible is unique to me, and my bestest friend.

I've grown only 2 Bibles old until now. The first Bible that I started reading was my parents' gift on my 13th birthday. It was an NIV Teen Study Bible. I've written audacious notes on that Bible such as "Today, God cheated me :( ", "Is God over-reacting here ?"

I started growing up, and my Bible started falling apart, so I wanted something that would give me more insight when I read a verse. So, I asked my daddy to buy me an Amplified Bible. With this Bible, I could never read more than 2 chapters a moment. Simply because, there was so much in the brackets. But this Bible was my closest confidant, especially because; in this phase, my life was racing across different terrains. This Bible helped me see and saw with me the faithfulness of God. There were times when I hit rock bottom unable to talk to anyone. Those days I would curl up in bed hugging my Bible close to my heart. It was also during this time in my life that I was introduced to studying the Bible. And so you would find, many papers stuck on the pages containing exegetic and hermeneutic notes.

I now discerned that I needed to further mature my understanding of God's Word. I so believe that the Master wants me to step into another dimension that I haven't yet explored. I therefore wanted a fresh start, a cleaner Bible :) with more fresh space to scribble. So, almost after a satisfying 6-year journey with my Amplified, I bought a TNIV Bible last week. I actually bought two, a pocket size one and a bigger one with lots and lots of margin space.

I signed my name on my new bibles, thanking God silently for the tremendous sacrifice of the numerous people who labored to bring God's Word to an ordinary person like me. I tucked my older bibles back to the bookshelf, contented that the Master in His grace let me hear His voice. Each of those bibles bring memories of a life now left behind.

I am ready to continue running with my new Pal, my new BIBLE.

Hoping to hear more of the Master's Voice,

Callie