The Bible that Falls Apart...

Ever heard that pithy saying? The Bible that falls apart belongs to the person who doesn't.
I haven't made that my life motto or anything, but my Bible has certainly fallen apart. Literally. I am very sad about this. But, this week I purchased a new NET Bible and have put it in the case and have slowly began my transition. It's a different translation than what I've used my whole life, and it's just... different. New Bibles have this great feeling. They smell like leather and book, and the thin pages crinkle with every fresh turn. The silver lining on the outside hasn't worn away yet, so it's shiny. I like it. But not as much as that old little Bible my parents gave me when I was ten. It was a birthday present, and through the years (eighteen freaking years!) it has accompanied me on retreats, conferences, weekend getaways, vacations, church services, pretty much everywhere. Which explains its wear.

It has been an instrument for change in my life, the words have been my solace and fortitude in hard times, my strength in the day-to-day, my hope and peace and joy. None of that will change, of course, but saying goodbye to it has been sort of difficult for me. Now I will have to search for those passages anew every time, instead of remembering which side of the page I read it on and having that advantage.

I taped a penny on the inside cover because I won it playing simon Says on a retreat, where the spaker was talking about not doing what everyone else does. I also have my name in Russian on a name tag from a missionary potluck when Cindy Howard first got ready to leave. It's held important ipctures, postcards, sayings, letters and sermon notes over the years. Opening its pages is like going thrugh a time capsual. The notes I took at age 12 seem so insigificant now, but they mattered then.

Change is good, though. I look forward to the next twenty years in the NET Bible, experiencing new ways of wording things and fidning more life scriptures. All of the underlining, highlights, notes in the margins and color coding will not transfer with me to the new Bible. Which gives me the goal to read through the whole thing again. I haven't done that since college. I think the new Bible is motivation for many new things.

But I'll still keep that old friend of mine handy. I can't get rid of it. It's like a keepsake, a record of my spiritual journey through my growing years. I'll always treasure it for those memories it keeps, and thank God for making His word available to me through that little Bible and so many other ways.