The Kickoff

First, I must admit something. I am afraid to start this journey.  It's going to take a long time, and it's going to take discipline. Why does that bother me? Well...because I know me pretty well, and I know this is going to be tough to stick with. In fact, I am setting up this blog not to brag about my journey, but in hopes that I will have some accountability.  I appreciate your help in this area.  I can use all of the prayers and encouragement I can get.

So, why am I hand writing the Bible (or scribing...or even better re-scribing)?  I have no idea. : ) But, here's how I ended up on this path.

As I was thinking of a New Year's Resolution...because that's what people do at the end of the year... I realized immediately that I needed more focus and dedication with regard to my Bible reading and prayer time, but more importantly, I needed to start journaling.  I haven't really taken to the discipline of writing down or otherwise documenting my walk with the Lord, but I wish I have.  He has done so many amazing things in my life, and blessed me in so many ways that it is enjoyable and encouraging to think back on it all.  I just wish I had written it all down.  It's so hard to remember everything.  A good friend of mine said that he journals, and it changed his life. Hmm...that sounds like something I should be doing. So that is where it started.  Journaling. This is much bigger than journaling...so how did I make the leap? Well, I have to assume it's a God thing.  I hope so, because it's a crazy idea. This could take YEARS...and I am not that type of guy to commit to something that will take years to complete. My attention span is much shorter than that! : )

I decided to kick off journaling the right way.  I bought a decent notebook to journal in, and invested in a new fountain pen and some ink to get me going.  I actually enjoy writing, even though my entire life is pretty much electronic.  But I find that if I have a cool pen, I enjoy writing even more.  So to give myself the best chance at success, I finally bought a fountain pen which I had been eying for quite some time. It's not about buying an expensive pen...in fact this one is very inexpensive as far as fountain pens go.  It was about getting a pen that motivates me.  There is something about fountain pens that sing to me in such a way. I'm not sure if it's the manual re-filling of ink, or the history, or the smoothness in writing, or seeing wet ink on paper and watching it dry as I write...  Likely, it's a combination of all of those things.

During this process of getting my journaling gear in place (pens, ink, notebooks, etc) and specifically looking for information as it pertains to keeping a journal as a devotion during Bible reading and prayer time, I ran across a post on a forum (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com) that was discussing hand writing of the Bible.  Wow! I thought to myself. What a crazy idea. It is crazy, but I couldn't shake the idea that maybe I should do it. How cool would it be to have a complete Bible, handwritten and bound?  How much more detail could be given to the Bible reading than to have to meticulously re-rewrite every scripture, word for word?

So here I am...hand writing the Bible. I am not the first, and I won't be the last. I have begun the journey, and hopefully it's one I can accomplish.  I WILL ACCOMPLISH. I need to set that in my head. I have started and stopped many things in my life.  Let this be the one that surprises me and all those who will witness this effort!