Mom's Bible

Lord willing, my mom will live to be 120. (That's old.) If she should get to meet Jesus before I do, there is at least one thing I would love to have of hers. Her Bible.

It has the same words as mine, but her margin-scribbled commentary is different. That is where she has recorded her thoughts, notes and pieces of her heart. It's the Bible from which much teaching, correction and encouragement have come.

I wonder if my kids will write "Mom's Bible" at the top of a list someday? I pray they do. So, in the spirit of "mom is a referee" I'm settling the argument now.
For Mother's Day this year I received a Bible from each of my boys. They wrote short notes inside the cover to me. From now until they leave home I will write notes to them in the margins -- things I'm praying for them, my thoughts on a particular passage or advice I want them to have.

Like this, for example: John 1:41-42

The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.

In the margin of Kid One's Bible I wrote this:

"When he first found his brother..." Son, your brothers are a priority. Pray for them and encourage them in the Word.

My prayer is they will know and be able to see my heart for them - long after they leave home.

Maybe then they will get a glimpse of the countless days I go to the Father on their behalf. Maybe they will even add to it and pass it along to their children. Maybe it will change the lives of my great grandchildren when I'm not around to pray for them personally. Maybe one of them will preach the gospel to a lost and dying world someday, holding the Bible I prepared for them...