And I just bought a new Bible

It's my first new Bible since before my kids were born, so it took a lot of thinking about what features I wanted. Almost as much thought as Jeff put into the computer purchase, which is so bizarre, that I live in a country where Bibles come with "features".

I wanted an NIV. With a concordance, and I thought I wanted verse references but the first one I bought distracted me with all the extra superscript reference marks in the middle of the verses. So I returned it and swapped it for a second choice. I wanted large print but not a big clunker because I carry it around a lot. I took my second choice back because it was just too thick and heavy to fit in my bag. So now I have my third choice and I think I’m going to stick with it happily for the next five or ten years. Not least because I cannot face the 45min drive across the city again.

While I was there, I bought a NIV for Joshua as well. It has Anglicised text. (Hooray! Australian spelling for Saviour!) Also large print so it is easier for him to read. It has a concordance and lots of helpful things like maps. Inside the front cover, there's a picture of a bookshelf with the books of the Bible on it in order, seperated out into their classifications (eg history, minor prophets). Actually, I was tempted to get one the same for me as well. In the end it came down to not wanting to pick up the wrong Bible all the time, because as this is a new release from the Bible Society, it doesn't come in too many colours yet.

Joshua's Bible will be his reward for reading through all the Bob Books (when he finishes the last set). At this stage, he'll only be reading it with Jeff, not carrying it to church or anything. I bought this one to last - well, that's the plan.