I pulled my old quiet time binder out a couple of months ago – the one from those ten years of well-digging and Scripture-studying through my Search the Scriptures quiet time companion book. It’s certainly not the prettiest thing in the world – there’s a printer-paper copy of a photograph I took in college of some prayer journals tucked into the see-through plastic cover. And it’s filled-to-the-gills with pages of handwritten notes, all separated by index dividers marked with handwritten books of the Bible. Here, take a peek:
Suddenly, I wanted a do-over. This time, in a really beautiful binder designed specifically to hold the kind of legacy-holding Bible study notes that my grandchildren would read someday. Sure, I had big plans, in the beginning, to have those pages leather-bound into a book for that purpose. But here it is, four years later, and I still haven’t done it.
That binder is a treasure for me, but I have to be honest: the binder itself makes me cringe. I want something that I could at least display those notebook pages in proudly, out on a shelf, left on the corner of my desk, or even on a coffee table. But all those beautifully designed binders you see in stores? They are only 1” thick (maybe 1.5” if you’re lucky). Nowhere near thick enough for all of my notes through every verse of the Bible. And binder dividers specifically for books of the Bible? They are nowhere to be found.
As I hashed out the heart-pulling desire on my prayer journal pages, it was one of those “this feels silly” kind of acknowledgments. But then I realized: if I wanted a beautiful quiet-time binder, surely other design-minded women like me did too. That’s about the time the lightbulb went off. And the Spirit of God whispered:
make it yourself
“But… how?” I prayer-wrote. “How do I even find the base product to start from? Where would I even go to find a manufacturer? Where do I even begin with something like this?? It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
But that’s the funny part about asking very specific questions in prayer. When you do, God tends to give very specific answers. He quickly dropped a friend’s name in my lap, I sent her a quick email, and within two business days, I was in a virtual meeting with a Jesus-loving manufacturing company.
What the what?!
With big ideas like this, it seems as if people tend to hold them close to the chest. But I’m letting it all hang out from the very beginning.
Friends, meet my new “baby” (or, at least the brand for it):
Dig Your Well is a quiet time binder that will be designed specifically around my tried-and-true study-Scripture system, all tucked up in a beautiful design that you can’t help but be excited to dig into (pun intended). 🥳 Estimated release? Fall 2021.
Because it will hold all of your handwritten study notes through every book of the Bible, it will be a 2” or 3″ binder (that I need to have manufactured). But that’s about ten steps down the road. First, I have to make a prototype.
I’ve begun gathering all the necessary prototyping tools and will be taking you along for the ride in my Instagram stories throughout the process. But I couldn’t wait any longer before letting you in on the secret!
Also, thank you so much for taking a minute to vote on the color scheme! Over a thousand of you chimed in on Instagram, in my story, and on the blog post, and the color family in the photo at the top of this post is the clear winner – accounting for just over 50% of the votes! (Confession: it was my favorite too! 😍)
Ahhh, the secret is out! Now, tell me, what do you think??
I can’t wait to hear! And, as always, thank you for being a part of this crazy journey! All for the greatness of His glory.