Approximately about maybe 18 years ago, give or take a couple of years, I found myself at Lifeway in the midst of a sale and picked up a Bible on the clearance table.
It was, shall we say, inexpensive even at full price, and I think the final charge was in the neighborhood of about nine dollars and ninety-nine cents.
plus tax.
Also of note, it was a "Living Bible" and while I was a touch exhilarated by my foray into paraphrasical Scriptural renderings I also felt more than 65% naughty for spending even $9.99 (plus tax) on a purchase of something that was not the Traditional King James.
Isn't it interesting how these things sometimes go?
That inexpensive impulse buy became my very best friend.
I still have my good ol' King James, and my kids bought be a lovely study Bible which I've really enjoyed.
...and don't tell but I just might have recently purchased an NIV edition with rather large-ish print.
But the difference is kinda like comparing new friends you hope will be in your life for a while to the best friend you've had for like, a hundred years.
Apples and (less emotionally-attached) oranges, my friend.
The pages started falling away from the binder years ago.
I left it on the (covered) front porch when living on Plymouth and it rained. No direct hits, but it was crazy windy & I can still find the pages that got wet that day.
I can also find the pages blurry from all the crying.
...and I remember like it was yesterday sitting in my bed all night long unable to focus on words.
So I just sat there holding it open to my chest, sometimes praying.
and occasionally breathing.
...and that was enough. He was enough.
This beloved Old Friend is all marked up from heartbreak-y times and joyous discoveries alike.
Page after page is covered with Truth...and precious memories of how God revealed Truth to me as I opened them.
I take my new Bible with the larger words to church and Bible study, and I pull out the study Bible when digging in the Word,
but when I just want to visit with my Father for a bit it's my old, falling apart inside the used-to-be-popular-mauve-ish zip-up-cover Friend that I reach for.
This fake-leather-bound paraphrasical rendering is more precious to me than I know how to articulate.
...and I'm so grateful for all the learning, and growth, and wonderfully tender comfort I've received from these pages...and The Author who gifted me with them.
**To read more of the 31 Days of Things I Love just click right here
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