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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Illustrate the meaning of "Actions Speak Louder than Words" (without using the actual phrase). (02/21/08)
My Bible is showing its age. Purchased in 1984 it has some rips, stains, curled edges and a few lost index tabs. Margins and most available white space are crammed with notes, dates, cross references and events of more than two decades of life. Clippings of favorite hymns (Beautiful Savior, It Is Well With My Soul, O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go) assure me that I won’t forget meaningful lyrics. Bright blue stickies mark passages where I’m asking God for clarification. Yellow highlighting is everywhere.

I really should get a new one. My pastor once suggested purchasing a brand new Bible when your present one becomes worn. Replace it and start fresh, he said. Now, I love my pastor but I thought about that idea for two seconds and then promptly dismissed it.

Because this is the Bible that I want to companion with for the rest of my life. We’ll grow old together. My spiritual life is encapsulated within these pages. If I can’t recall an exact chapter and verse I can often find what I’m looking for because I know where it’s located on the landscape of my marked-up Bible. Left page bottom right; right page upper left. I visualize where that verse or passage is and, boom, I’m there.

Retiring this particular New King James version is totally out of the question. It even has LARGE print (purchased years before I had Lasik eye surgery) and I’ll definitely appreciate that feature the older I get!

But here’s the main reason. This is the Bible I’ll leave to my daughter Hannah after I’m gone. She’ll have tangible physical evidence that I read this book “all the days” of my life, just as Deuteronomy 17:19 states. Will this venerable Bible become one of her most prized possessions, emblematic of what God’s majestic Word meant to her mom?

She’ll just have to turn its pages rather gingerly. And as she does, she’ll see the frayed and faded green piece of paper titled, “12 Steps To Use in Praying For Your Daughter.”

“Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)
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This article has been read 1347 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Dianne Janak
02/28/08
ahh.. Love this... How true that we need to show not just tell...act not just talk.. and this worn out Bible says it all.. IT GOT USED! Thanks for this.. great take on the topic
Sylvia Hensel 
02/29/08
I love this story. It is well written. I feel the same about my first bible which i purchased in 1972. I still read it the most and after all these years, I am still underlining passages that speak to me anew.
Beth LaBuff 
02/29/08
What a treasure will be given to your daughter with all your notes and collected papers. I smiled when reading that your pastor suggested you get another Bible. I know what you’re talking about when you don’t remember the chapter and verse, but you know where it’s located on the page. Yes, your daughter is blessed…she had you to pray for her. I like your Psalm 119 quote. Your title is very good for this.
Jacquelyn Horne
03/03/08
Beautiful legacy. I'm sure your daughter will be proud. I have my mother's Bible, and I am very proud of it.
Hanne Moon 
03/03/08
I like this take on the topic. And I'm with you on this one! I even had my bible rebound (which cost more than a new one!) because I couldn't bear to get rid of it! Your daughter will be blessed to have it.