My first Bible

I was going through some files today and found this that I wrote several years ago:


"In 1956, when I was 5 years old, I received my first Bible from my grandmother, who also happened to be my Sunday School teacher at the time. On the inside page, in her handwriting she wrote, "given to Jackie by her grandmother and Sunday School teacher for learning the Ten Commandments." I remember that the prize for learning the Ten Commandments and saying them in front of the church was a beautiful, white, illustrated, King James "Holy Bible," with gilded pages that you could enclose by zipping the entire Bible shut with a shiny gold cross zipper pull. I also remember that I did memorize the Ten Commandments, but was too shy to get up in front of the entire church and say them, so my grandmother let me recite them to her and she awarded the Bible to me anyway. Inside were beautiful color pictures - and a place to record family births, deaths and marriages - and there in the center of that Bible, in my childish handwriting, is recorded the death of my parakeet Cindy and my cat Smoky… and my mother.I used this Bible throughout my childhood and well into my adult years, finally storing it away as it was literally falling to pieces. With the passage of time and much use, the white leather turned yellow, the gold cross zipper pull tarnished and all the gold wore off the pages. But I will always treasure it - and to me it is priceless. It reminds me of a godly heritage - of two Christian women who taught me about God and Jesus and the Bible. I treasure it because my grandmother gave it to me - and, because my mother used it, also. I remember my mother reading to me each morning before school from this same Bible. My mother had made notes in the margins and underlined passages and this makes it all the more special to me because she died when I was only 13. I do not remember a lot about her, but these notes and underlined passages give me some insight into who she was and what scriptures were meaningful to her.

I am being still...

I am SO sick! I don't know if I didn't get over my cold from a few weeks ago or if I picked up a new virus...but I have ended up with bronchitis.

I guess I needed more time to be still...

Pursued by God

Yesterday the valve on the main water pipe into the house burst. I went out to get the newspaper in the am and there was water all over the driveway. (Thank goodness the water was outside not inside!) I called the plumber and he couldn't come until the afternoon, so I shut the water off at the main valve and waited. I was so frustrated; I was to go to lunch and the mall with Jen and Kate and now I had to forego that fun time and sit here and wait on the plumber. I couldn't shower, do the dishes or flush - it is amazing how dependent we are on the convenience of plumbing and take it for granted until it's not there.

Fearfully & wonderfully made

We went Monday to the Bodies exhibit at MOSI. It absolutely left me in awe.

"I am fearfully and wonderfully made!"

I came home and re-read Psalm 139. After viewing this exhibit, I was overcome with emotion. To see the intricacy and interworking of all the systems of the human body, only affirms my belief that an Almighty God created man - the creative genius of the human body could not have just evolved from a "big bang.""God did form my inward parts! He did weave me in my mother's womb! My frame was not hidden from Him when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought. His eyes did see my unformed substance and in His books are written all the days He has ordained for me!"

Rest

"Rest is a spiritual disciple. It's something we must make room for. "

Someone just shared a devotion on rest with me just now and thought I would pass on some of the verses and the link to the devotion:
http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/devotionals/encouragement/

"…Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace." Matthew 11:27-28 (MSG)
Deuteronomy 33:12, "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders." (NIV)