I live in North Rocks with three great housemates, and go to Guildford Anglican Church.

What was the first book of the Bible you ever read?

When I went to university I found myself rediscovering Jesus at the gentle urging of a kind friend. She encouraged me to open up the Bible again after a hiatus. The first book I read was Colossians. We would sit in the uni bar each week with a coffee and biscuit, read a few verses, discuss and pray. It was life-changing!

Name a Bible character you resonate with and why.

I often think about and want to identify with the thief on the cross, who is promised paradise with Jesus. There was really nothing he could do to earn his way into paradise. I want to know that truth daily – that it is only through Jesus that I can look forward to paradise.

Where do you read the Bible?

Anywhere comfortable at home or on public transport, and whenever possible at the beach – my favourite place to read.

What’s one thing from the Bible that’s stuck in your brain at the moment?

For quite a while I have been pondering and loving Psalm 84:10 – ‘Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere’. Recently I read the Message version which says, ‘One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.’ When I read that ‘elsewhere’ was an actual place that I loved, I was challenged – did I really believe that the Lord Almighty’s courts were better than the beautiful Greek islands?!

Name one part of the Bible you keep coming back to again and again and why.

I have found myself reading Philippians 4:4-7 and 4:10-13 a lot this year, at youth group, with friends and by myself. Was Paul deluded and just convincing himself he was content in distress and suffering? No, he acknowledged the hardships, but could nevertheless be content and joyful in God’s strength.

Describe one of your Bible reading failures and what you learnt.

For a time I thought that unless I read at least a chapter or two each time I read it, it wasn’t worth opening the Bible. Whilst I cherish the times to get into larger chunks of the Bible, it’s so much better to read whatever I can regularly, rather than nothing at all.

What advice would you give someone struggling to read the Bible each day?

Go for a verse or two a day, enjoy it, meditate on that part over the day.

And just for fun, if you were a monster what would be your defining feature?

Even though it’s a superpower, can I go with teleportation!?