I’ve been spending most of my spare moments proofreading this book that I’ve been writing. Proofing is hard work, not because of grammar issues (I hope!) but because I’m trying to make footnotes. I am pulling much of what I’ve written from the Bible. Each chapter has a section of Scripture associated with it, and much of what I write comes from within those verses. But sometimes I’ve made mention of things found elsewhere in the Bible. I decided I wanted to know where every bit of it was located – partly for any reader who would need to know and partly because I wanted to make sure what I was writing lined up with the Bible and not just my imagination.
This process takes a while, and if it weren’t for my new best friend, biblegateway.com, I’d probably still be back on chapter one, sitting at my desk with my NIV Bible, my KJV Bible, and my KJV concordance, trying to find my passages. I’ve had to call for reinforcements a couple of times. Once, my friend Kari’s husband (a brilliant Bible scholar) sent me a page and a half of amazing help. I know he has many better things to do with his time…I was so impressed that he took that much time just to help me! And once I had to call Dad, who promptly sent over a couple of really old reference books that explain the general culture in Jesus’ day. Found my answer right away!
But though I am not a connoisseur of Bible references (which is why we have biblegateway.com, I guess), I do have a newfound thankfulness for the people who laid a great foundation for me. I told Mom (while trying to reach Dad for the help on life in Bible times) that I know a lot of things…and I don’t know why I know them. I had written details into my chapters that I knew were true…but I didn’t know how I learned them. I just can’t remember a time when I didn’t know them.
Though a frustrating problem when writing a book, what a great problem to have!
During my formative years, I was quite a vocal protestor of the lack of cable TV in our home. “Everyone else had it” and I found it quite unfair that my TV viewing was limited to 5:00 reruns of Little House on the Prairie. But since I couldn’t watch TV, I read. Before I was old enough to be introduced to the world of fiction, I read Bible stories. Tons of them. Actually, even before I knew how to read, I would listen to Dad’s version of Bible stories every night before I went to bed.
And I had dozens of cassette tapes of the Children’s Bible Hour; I listened to hours of Bible stories dramatized on those tapes. In fact, this past year when I watched the movie One Night with the King (the story of Esther), I remember thinking that the guy who played Xerxes in the movie didn’t put the emphasis on the right part of one of the sentences pulled from the Bible. I had remembered that one line from a Children’s Bible Hour tape all these many years later!
Dad taught me early to love a good bit of trivia, and I loved to take on both my parents in a rousing round of Bible trivia. I don’t know that I won all that often, but I held my own for my age! Sometimes I’d just sit and read the trivia cards so I could be prepared for next time. (Even today, I’m not sure I could win against Dad. How about we just not play and then I won’t have to know for sure!)
My Mom did a great job of teaching me Bible verses – one for every letter of the alphabet. Just this year I’ve started implementing alphabet verses for people that I pray for, and it’s a concept I learned from Mom when I barely knew how to read! And even though I have yet to know where many of the verses reside, I know the words they say.
And all of the teaching didn’t fall to my parents. I remember sitting around the ultra short (for adults, anyway) table in the second grade Sunday School classroom with my brand new red Bible, learning how to look up Bible verses. All of us had matching Bibles. Well, the boys’ Bibles were blue and the girls’ Bibles were red, but otherwise, they matched. And June Jackson taught a bunch of second graders how to look for the book first and then the chapter and then the verse. I’m sure that had to be an exhausting task for her. (Teaching Sunday School to second graders in and of itself is a medal-worthy cause.) I still have that red Bible tucked away in the attic. I had to keep it. It held a memory.
Just this week at work, I ran into the man who taught me the books of the Bible. He came into the pre-Sunday School assembly every week and taught us all sorts of songs. Among them were the songs for the Old and New Testament books. I still sing those songs (silently) every time I get to the easily mixed-up books. I didn’t think of it when I saw him…I was so shocked to see him for the first time in 20 years that I am afraid I handled the meeting none too gracefully. But if I see him again, I’m going to thank him for taking the time to teach us those songs. They still come in handy for me.
I say all of that to say thank you to the people who took time to teach a kid some stories, some songs, some Bible navigation skills. I don’t have kids…and Kaegan and Braeya’s Bible involvement begins and ends with sleeping on top of it while I’m trying to read. But for those of you who do have kids, make sure you start them early.
And it can be done! Today when I had lunch at Faith’s house, her two year old was munching on a French fry and singing “The B-I-B-L-E” – and she had it all right! Every word and most of the notes!
This process takes a while, and if it weren’t for my new best friend, biblegateway.com, I’d probably still be back on chapter one, sitting at my desk with my NIV Bible, my KJV Bible, and my KJV concordance, trying to find my passages. I’ve had to call for reinforcements a couple of times. Once, my friend Kari’s husband (a brilliant Bible scholar) sent me a page and a half of amazing help. I know he has many better things to do with his time…I was so impressed that he took that much time just to help me! And once I had to call Dad, who promptly sent over a couple of really old reference books that explain the general culture in Jesus’ day. Found my answer right away!
But though I am not a connoisseur of Bible references (which is why we have biblegateway.com, I guess), I do have a newfound thankfulness for the people who laid a great foundation for me. I told Mom (while trying to reach Dad for the help on life in Bible times) that I know a lot of things…and I don’t know why I know them. I had written details into my chapters that I knew were true…but I didn’t know how I learned them. I just can’t remember a time when I didn’t know them.
Though a frustrating problem when writing a book, what a great problem to have!
During my formative years, I was quite a vocal protestor of the lack of cable TV in our home. “Everyone else had it” and I found it quite unfair that my TV viewing was limited to 5:00 reruns of Little House on the Prairie. But since I couldn’t watch TV, I read. Before I was old enough to be introduced to the world of fiction, I read Bible stories. Tons of them. Actually, even before I knew how to read, I would listen to Dad’s version of Bible stories every night before I went to bed.
And I had dozens of cassette tapes of the Children’s Bible Hour; I listened to hours of Bible stories dramatized on those tapes. In fact, this past year when I watched the movie One Night with the King (the story of Esther), I remember thinking that the guy who played Xerxes in the movie didn’t put the emphasis on the right part of one of the sentences pulled from the Bible. I had remembered that one line from a Children’s Bible Hour tape all these many years later!
Dad taught me early to love a good bit of trivia, and I loved to take on both my parents in a rousing round of Bible trivia. I don’t know that I won all that often, but I held my own for my age! Sometimes I’d just sit and read the trivia cards so I could be prepared for next time. (Even today, I’m not sure I could win against Dad. How about we just not play and then I won’t have to know for sure!)
My Mom did a great job of teaching me Bible verses – one for every letter of the alphabet. Just this year I’ve started implementing alphabet verses for people that I pray for, and it’s a concept I learned from Mom when I barely knew how to read! And even though I have yet to know where many of the verses reside, I know the words they say.
And all of the teaching didn’t fall to my parents. I remember sitting around the ultra short (for adults, anyway) table in the second grade Sunday School classroom with my brand new red Bible, learning how to look up Bible verses. All of us had matching Bibles. Well, the boys’ Bibles were blue and the girls’ Bibles were red, but otherwise, they matched. And June Jackson taught a bunch of second graders how to look for the book first and then the chapter and then the verse. I’m sure that had to be an exhausting task for her. (Teaching Sunday School to second graders in and of itself is a medal-worthy cause.) I still have that red Bible tucked away in the attic. I had to keep it. It held a memory.
Just this week at work, I ran into the man who taught me the books of the Bible. He came into the pre-Sunday School assembly every week and taught us all sorts of songs. Among them were the songs for the Old and New Testament books. I still sing those songs (silently) every time I get to the easily mixed-up books. I didn’t think of it when I saw him…I was so shocked to see him for the first time in 20 years that I am afraid I handled the meeting none too gracefully. But if I see him again, I’m going to thank him for taking the time to teach us those songs. They still come in handy for me.
I say all of that to say thank you to the people who took time to teach a kid some stories, some songs, some Bible navigation skills. I don’t have kids…and Kaegan and Braeya’s Bible involvement begins and ends with sleeping on top of it while I’m trying to read. But for those of you who do have kids, make sure you start them early.
And it can be done! Today when I had lunch at Faith’s house, her two year old was munching on a French fry and singing “The B-I-B-L-E” – and she had it all right! Every word and most of the notes!
3 comments:
Ahhh, Children's Bible Hour - brings back memories!
I never learned Bible book songs as a kid, but at some point I figured out the New Testament so I can find those books without trouble.
When I was in Bible Study Fellowship (as a grownup), I learned a song for just the Minor Prophets, so I have them straight. Most of the rest of the OT I know pretty well, except sometimes I misplace Ruth or Esther. I think women tend to wander more than men, so they're harder to find...
Amy - I can't remember if this was for Children's Bible Hour or some other radio show, but my parents took me to a taping one time. That was pretty cool!! I was so gullible that I thought they would have the whole stage set up with props - like a play. I had no idea they really just stood around a microphone and made sound effects with other things.
Skyepuppy - my problem with the books of the Bible mirrors my problem with the alphabet. It's the part in the middle that I always mix up. At least with the songs (Bible AND alphabet) I can start singing anywhere in the middle and not start RIGHT at the beginning.
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