When we packed to go to Kenya, space was at such a premium only one Bible made the cut. We left my old, beloved NASB in Raleigh along with Lily and Silas’ NIV Adventure Bibles. I justified this decision by contending that we were adopting a more traditional stance, returning to the nostalgic era of the family Bible, using father’s Bible.
Lily soon complained about not having a Bible of her own. We found an old paperback NIV “Teen Study Bible” abandoned on our dorm bookcase. The original owner is probably a senior in college by now, if not married with several children, so I had no remorse about taking it. It had obviously spent at least one afternoon in a torrential Kijabe downpour at some point in its life, but, now long dried out, a little packing tape fixed it right up.
Lily’s taped-up Teen Study Bible made the return trip to Raleigh while Paul’s big NIV did not. He doesn’t write in Bibles like I do, and marks and notes are what give certain Bibles sentimental value. We gave his Bible to the RVA outreach committee to give to a Kenyan family who needed a Bible.
Again in Raleigh, I enthusiastically leapt back into my women’s Bible study. While I’m quite partial to my 25-year-old NASB, I like using the NIV for Bible study because the teacher reads from that version during her lectures, so I’ve used Paul’s for years. Without that option, I borrowed Lily’s NIV Adventure Bible, and she continued to use the stolen, repaired Teen Study Bible. My friends laughed each Tuesday morning as I pulled the Adventure Bible from my bag. I really didn’t care, “I’m on an adventure.” Week after week, I sat among my friends with their leather-bound NIV Study Bibles while I contentedly read from Lily’s Adventure Bible.
I imagine that most 10-year-old girls want to be more grown up than they actually are, imitating the fashion and lingo of Miley Cyrus or Ashley Tisdale. Not Lily. A Tom boy by nature, she is a little girl at heart. Kenya was such a perfect fit for her. She could climb trees all day long, get filthy, and hunt for chameleons, lizards, and mongooses with her friends. She never cared much for the “Teen” part on the cover of her “Teen Study Bible.” We got her a cool Kenyan kikoy cover for her Bible, but she still wasn’t crazy about it, knowing the target audience was teenagers.
One Tuesday during my women’s Bible study, I sat beside my friend Donna, as I often do, for the lecture. I rustled around to get settled, putting my purse on the floor under the chair in front of me, taking a big swig of my Diet Coke, finding a pen that worked, and finally pulling Lily’s Adventure Bible from my bag. Donna said suddenly and a bit strangely, “I’ve got a gift for you if you’ll accept it. I was only going to give it to you if you still had the Adventure Bible today.” She handed me a lovely medium-sized brown leather NIV Bible. I cried. I always cry. She said that she was shopping for other things, and she just felt God’s leading to buy me a Bible.
When Lily got home from school that afternoon, I showed her the new Bible Donna had given me, and I returned her Adventure Bible. She was much happier than I had expected. Come to find out, she had missed her Adventure Bible quite a lot, but knew I needed it for my “big” Bible study.
Chantal has been a bully since she arrived in Lily’s class in the second grade. For the most part, Lily steers clear of her, but Grace has earned Chantal’s respect. Grace may have stood up to her early on, and Grace’s mother is always kind to Chantal, even praying with her once on the playground. Grace has been one of Lily’s best friends since kindergarten. Grace’s church coordinates evangelical outreaches designed specifically to include the children of the church, and they sometimes visit Chantal’s neighborhood. Within a day or two of Donna presenting me with my new Bible, I received an e-mail from Grace’s mom, “Did you hear the news that Chantal accepted Christ at the outreach this weekend. I just spoke with a friend who confirmed it, but said they didn’t have any follow-up material to give kids! I am going to see if we can get a Bible for her.”
I asked Lily if we could give Chantal her Teen Study Bible. She was more than happy to give it to a new believer. Grace’s mom thought it was fabulous the Bible was “from Africa.” Well, it probably wasn’t originally from Africa; more likely Grand Rapids. Lily took Chantal the Teen Study Bible the next day. Often understated, Lily said nothing of the Bible being one she used while in Kenya or anything about Chantal’s new faith. I can picture Lily handing her the Bible, certainly not hesitantly nor with any sort of anxiety, but quietly and confidently, saying something to the effect of, “I had an extra Bible. Would you like it?”
Lest you are concerned about Paul’s Bible-less state, worry no more. I fully intended to buy him a Bible for our anniversary or for Christmas, but both passed without that particular gift. We just returned from a visit with Paul’s dad in Waxhaw, North Carolina. He is sorting, throwing away, packing, or giving away everything he owns, anticipating his move to Holland, Michigan where he will live with Paul’s sister Marcia and her husband. Among the items in the piles designated for us were not one, not two, but three of Paul’s mother’s Bibles. Two of the three are NIV Study Bibles (Paul likes the notes included in that version).
While God’s sovereignty is one of His characteristics I cling to, claim, and declare most often, I’m still awed when I see Him acting sovereignly in the day-to-day activities of my life. Seemingly random decisions like leaving Bibles in America and Africa, borrowing discarded paperback Bibles, and Donna buying a Bible at Wal-Mart – all orchestrated by a loving, sovereign God. Was it all for Chantal? I do believe God loves her enough to have gone to this much trouble and more just for her. And I wonder what became of Paul’s old Bible. I pray it’s fate was as sweet as the one that belonged to that now grown RVA student. I wonder where she is, where she went to college, where she lives. I’m sure she has long forgotten the Teen Study Bible she cast aside in Kedong Lower West. And I thank God that, in his sovereignty, He gave me a mother-in-law who valued and loved the Scriptures as she did, leaving a godly example and legacy for us and our children.
God’s word is living and active. I’ve always understood Hebrews 4:12 metaphorically, but in this case, a literal interpretation is appropriate.
So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.~ Isaiah 55:11
Paul later commented that if God had really told Donna to get me a Bible, why didn’t He tell her to get a large-print version? My over-40 vision seems to deteriorate daily. The very week Donna presented me with the new Bible, I had bumped up my reading glasses from +1.25 to +1.5, so I’m able to read my new Bible with relative ease, at least for now. And this weekend Grandpa (Paul’s dad) gave me a pair of +2.0 reading glasses for when the +1.5s fail me. ~ cck
3 Comments
December 30, 2008 at 4:36 pm
not that you asked, but I recommend you get Paul the Renovare Study Bible. A killer translation with amazing essays on each book AND many of the individuals. Includes the Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal texts.
http://www.renovare.org/readings_renovare_bible.htm
And, there is always the Message version. Does a good job of shaking up passages and providing language that is as hard hitting as the original was meant.
December 30, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Paul doesn’t need a Bible – he’s got it all memorized.
I believe Reader’s Digest makes a lovely GIANT PRINT edition of the Bible. I’ll get you that one when you move to The Villages in Fla. or Paul puts you in Shady Acres. (Or has you put to sleep.)
p.s. Translations sometimes go where angels fear to tred, you know. Careful, careful.
m
December 30, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Solution to translation anxiety: Learn Greek, Hebrew — and Latin.