I would imagine tradition dictates that every Baptist woman of my age has a goodly number of Bibles. I have one from my birthing time, one from my baptism, and many for different occasions in my life. I will always hold on to and treasure them all.
In this post, I am speaking of the Bible I read on a daily basis. In fact it's been my most read Bible of the past many years. I don't even have a given by name or date in it, just my name in my own handwriting so I'm guessing I just bought it for myself. And if I guess why I bought it for myself, it would be because it is called an "Open Bible" brand AND more importantly, it has BIG print for my aging eyes to read better.
This Bible is burgundy or deep deep red. It is a Bible that began to show wear and tear, pages on edged are faded, cover is tearing, and the inside cover had to be taped. Is this because I've treated it badly? I can honestly say it is not because of that, it is because I have used it usually daily to read and study. The inside has some things written I want to remember, notes in the margins, yellow highlighted verses, and so on and so forth. This Bible is a treasure to me....a true treasure.
So you see, this Bible is a great treasure of mine. It's a way that my Heavenly Father speaks to me and leads me and guides me in the paths of righteousness. Believe me, I 'm still on that path. It's a long way for me to reach righteousness. I love my Bible....it comes close to the top of the list right under my family who come right under my Jesus.
I have longed for a while now and have been saving my $$ for a rebinding of my precious Bible. I found a company with wonderful reviews and a good plan of mailing and returning so I began to decide specifics and then get a slot. The inside pages will not be changed, just the outside cover and inner covers. It was a big decision for me to choose a leather kind and color and extras. I decided on an unusual color and fixings. Then I decided to ask the advice of The Grandbaby. She looked at all of them then she chose the purple. I'm not talking a plum purple, I'm talking a real purple. Not lavender, real purple. I asked her which colors for the 5 ribbons. Of course it was hot pink, teal blue, purple, and two more that she let me choose, one being gray.
Yesterday, I mailed the Bible away to the rebinding company. I was surprised at how weird my heart felt as I covered it with Saran Wrap and put it in a plastic ziplock so it wouldn't be ruined if it got wet and then sealed it in the box. Then as I carried it into the post office, I still felt weird. I finally realized that the weird was just a bit of sadness that my precious treasure would be gone for two or three weeks. The attendant asked me about insurance for the package and I decided there wouldn't be enough money to cover the loss. Then I realized I still had this treasure as the Word was hidden in my heart. For always.
As for when my Bible returns, it will be purple. Not plum purple, but purple purple because when I asked The Grandbaby what color she liked and she chose purple, I said, "THAT'S the same color I chose!" Her eyes lit up like sunshine and she was so excited. I told her that one day hopefully a long time from now, that would be her Bible as I planned to give it to her. She could remember that the two of us chose the color and the ribbon colors.
I will write her a note to go with the Bible when that day comes. In the note I will tell her that I hope she will always remember that her Neema read and carried this purple Bible. Not a plum purple, but a purple purple. And I will write in that note that the scriptures in that purple purple Bible are true, they are comforting, and they are the Words of our precious Savior. And I will write how much I love Jesus and how much I love The Grandbaby.
Some day, I pray that purple purple Bible will be The Grandbaby's greatest treasure.....right under her family who are right under HER Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I trust that it will. God keeps HIS promises, you know? His Word says so.....
Amen.
Now I'm crying.
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