My Bible

About this time last year, we experienced "Flood #2 of 2009". This one, as some of you may remember, was outdoors (#1 was in our house). On a camping trip. Our van was totaled. Many of the items in our van were a complete loss, and one of my prized possessions was in the passenger's seat: my Bible.

Just a word about this particular Bible. I bought it for myself with graduation money upon completing high school in 1987. It's a "kids Bible" -- Precious Moments to boot. These little children with the big heads and big eyes were quite the thing back then, and I loved the pictures and extra devotionals scattered throughout. I documented special verses and sermon notes in the margins and extra pages; in the "record keeping section", one finds my salvation timeline, family births, dedications, baptisms, marriages, etc. It's history. It's the book that stuck with me through college. It's the book that sat on my bedside table in our little apartment when first married. It's the book that bore my grief and fed my faith as we dealt with infertility. It's the book that has shared my joy and struggles as our family finally grew. It's a part of me.

Gingerly, I rescued it from the water-soaked van when at the impound lot. I laid it in the sun to dry ... for weeks. Once all was said and done, my Bible lost its spine, the adhesive had dissolved, many pages were stuck together, and evidence of water damage and mold were evident in the seams. The pages make a unique noise when turned now, and every one of them are crinkled, bumpy and rough.

But ... all of my writing, note-taking and underlining is fine. Perfect actually. All of my keepsake notes, bookmarks, and hand-made treasures tucked in the pages -- fine. A flower Hudson had picked special for me -- still in its place. And most of all, the printed pages were all in tact; readable; Jesus' words still a gleaming red; God's Word -- unharmed.

Not long after the flood, I replaced this Bible with one that had been given to me a couple of years ago (still unused). My old one is just too damaged to carry to church or to even use at home on a daily basis. I bought it a new cover and plan to keep it under my side of the bed. Not too far away. For now, though, I'm going through it -- page by page -- transferring every underline, note, reference, and thought to my new Bible. Which, by the way, does not have any pictures of cute big-headed, big-eyed kids in it.

I've completed the Old Testament, and today I finished Luke. Should have the rest of the New Testament done before long. While working on this today, a verse in Matthew came to mind prompting this post.

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away." Matt. 24:35.

The flood may have done a lot of damage to things I held as important -- our van, favorite beach towels, my crock pot (!). But it didn't take God's word from me. It's in my heart, and it's still in my favorite Bible from 23 years ago.

Here are some pics of the damage. Notice the water marks and mold spots on the picture page, then note the unharmed handwriting on pages of Scripture. My camera didn't focus very wide, so some of it looks a little blurry, but it's clear as can be in real life: