Dad's Bible 1.23

It has been almost eight months now since my dad passed. We have begun the exhausting process of going through all the tangible objects he left behind. His photos, collections, everything. Among these things was a box of bibles that he saved throughout the years. A few of them he inherited from my grandparents and the others were his own. They ranged from different stages of his life starting with the one he received as a young boy from Sunday School.

As we set them out, I began to flip through them, analyzing each one cover to cover for clues regarding how he had acquired it, and for those that were his personal bibles, noticing particularly any pages that he marked or anything he had written in them. I weighed the value of each by the notations in my dad's very recognizable block handwriting; I was not all that concerned with the versions or dates of the bibles themselves.

My first choice pick of his bibles was the one he received on July 19, 1989, a 20th anniversary gift from my mother, his first wife. I have to admit that when I read the personal note from her on the inside cover I closed my eyes and cringed. Ouch; again the reminder of the divorce and those hurts that have faded over the years but in some ways will never go away.

So why would I want this bible? In 1989 I was in middle school, this was the bible that he carried each Sunday to church during my adolescence, and I remember it (the divorce was in 1998). I looked at the worn maroon cover and recalled how it looked firmly grasped in his hand, whether he was carrying it at his side as he walked or how he gestured with it in his hand while conversing with someone.

Tucked in the cover were several devotionals, all marked with a single check at the top, and judging by the size of each I assume were torn from "The Upper Room" devotional that our church provided and he read faithfully each day. I find the titles of interest:

"For Life" A good marriage requires the determination to be married for good
"Above the Circumstances" As you go along life's weary road, let Jesus lift your heavy load
"The Pain that Perfects" A Christian's character, like a beautiful gem, is formed by pressure and polished by friction
"Raising My Ebenezer" God's help is ours in all situations
"Don't Let It Get to You" Yield to the spirit, and you won't be conformed to the world

Also special to me were the two pamphlets he had tucked along with the devotionals, they were from Twin Lakes Christian Center, the church camp that I worked as a summer job between years of college. Both pamphlets were from 1997 and had my pictures on them, I'm sure he probably picked them up at the camp during one of his visits to see me (or move me in or out)!

Above everything else, I wanted this bible for the list of verses in the back cover that he liked enough to write down. There are no notes, just a list. He was such a perfectionist, I know he would not have written it on the bible itself had it not been very important to him-making a mistake in writing it would have been upsetting (yes, I can relate...)! I am convinced they were his favorites. I believe it was these verses that got him through the most difficult time of his life. Of course I want this bible.

So here are my dad's top 23. Quoted from his own "The Living Bible" (Paraphrased - A Thought-for-Thought Translation). I'm sharing one a day for the next 23 days and it is my prayer that anyone who reads this will be encouraged by it.

#1...at the top of the list, text underlined and marked with the bible's attached ribbon.

Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble.

PS. His bible smells a little musty. I think a spray or ten of Nascar Cologne might do the trick.