I’ve met so many women who think the Bible is about as exciting to read as the phone book. Yet they feel they should read it to better understand God’s love and plan for them, so they either sleepwalk through boring "fill-in-the-blank" studies or struggle with guilt about it. My hope in writing this series is to communicate the truths of scripture in an engaging way so that women like that will put down People magazine and pick the Bible up again; that they’ll begin to see how very pertinent, compelling, and personal it really is. Because it’s anything but boring!

On the Road is intentionally informal. Although it’s basically a Bible-study-disguised-as-a-book, it’s not formatted like a classical study. "Blanks" have been replaced with questions to wrestle and wonder with so readers will move toward God instead of just memorize facts about Him. And the DVD component facilitates honest interaction, whether you’re reading it with a friend in Starbucks or with a large group of well-dressed women in church.

Definitely both. The best comment I’ve heard thus far about the first book came from a young believer who calls herself "Biblically illiterate." She said that one of her friends— a pastor’s wife who’s been in more Bible studies than most and is a bit burned out— loved it and learned something new; while she learned a lot about God’s immutable mercy and faithfulness through Hebrews (which she didn’t know was in the Old or New Testament when she first picked it up!) and never felt stupid or got lost while reading it. I was thrilled that a young Christian and a jaded pastor’s wife could read the very same book and both walk away loving God more.

Hebrews is one of my favorite books—but then again, every book in the Bible becomes my new favorite when I’m studying it! I do think the theme and context of Hebrews is very interesting in that it closely parallels what we’re experiencing in American culture, and I really like the way the author brings the Old and New Testaments together.

I have a standing date with my laptop at the local Starbucks, plus deadlines are a great motivator!

Much of it is done in seminary, along with extensive reading of ancient church fathers and Biblical scholars (I like to study the "old dead guys"!), as well as long talks with some living theologians in Nashville who respond to my endless questions with great grace.

For those who are disenfranchised with organized Bible studies—I can relate. Even when I worked in a church, there were many times I was frustrated by the seeming superficiality of small groups and the cheesy, religious material. Bible studies can be boring—but the Bible isn’t! Don’t stop drinking Living Water just because you’ve tasted some from a rotten filter.

Just finished The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes and am currently enamored with the Pottery Barn sale catalog.

I don’t watch much television, but I do like the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" and those scary Discovery Channel shark shows! And I just watched "I Robot" with my friend Kim and her two boys last night. We viewed it through a "cuss box" (which removes bad words and replaces them with "clean" dialogue through subtitles), so I spend most of the movie reading, punctuated by a few hearty screams when the robots attacked Will Smith in the tunnel!

Michael MacDonald’s new Motown record, Josh Groban, Jill Scott’s "Beautifully Human" and Rita Springer and Kim Hill worship CD’s.