I recently found the quad I used during my 4 years of seminary. It was hidden away in my cedar chest that is currently bursting at the seems with things I want to keep. Actually, 85% of what’s in there are journals I’ve written over the years.

Journals are HEAVY!

When I want to move my cedar chest it requires a push-with-my-back-while-sitting-on-my-butt maneuver. Not an easy task, let me tell you.

Someday I might need to digitize those journals.

But I wonder if seeing my own handwriting is a big part of what makes those journals so special. I’ve switched to digital journaling now, and it’s just not the same as being able to see what you’ve written all bound together in a handy book.

That brings me back to my scriptures. I flipped through the pages of each book, Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price and found so many treasures. I was hard pressed to find a page that DIDN’T have markings, glue-ins or scripture stickers all over it.

It reminded me how hungry I was for gospel learning in those days.

It reminded me it was during those 4 years of my life that I built the foundation of my testimony of Christ. It was those pages where I first learned of the Goodness of God and felt a desire to be like Jesus.

Of course, I’ve learned so much more since then. In fact, I’ve built a much deeper relationship with my Savior than my teenage self even realized was possible.

Still, as I flipped through my scriptures I felt a tangible sense of grief that my kids likely won’t have the same experience in the scriptures as I did.

At church and at seminary they can all too easily hop on their phones for their studies. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not that the quality of the content or the study is any worse on a phone, I don’t believe that at all—but there is something so special about holding and marking a set of physical scriptures.

I mean, think about it, in 20 years when our kids are my age and they go through their cedar chest, they aren’t going to find a set of scriptures that contain experiences and memories of growing up in the gospel. They aren’t going to have anything tangible they can see or touch that chronicles the journey of their personal discipleship.

Well, it may not be popular, but I think I’m committing right here and now to encourage my kids to bring their physical scriptures wherever possible. (I can just see them rolling their eyes at me and “forgetting” them regularly).

And they’ll probably be able to win all the seminary scripture chases.

Wait, those probably aren’t a thing anymore either! How tragic!

Do you have a set of scriptures that have been meaningful for your spiritual growth as well?

Do you study digitally now? Do you have ideas of how to visually track or see notes you make in the Gospel Library App in a way that you could look back on one day?

Love, Abby