New Bibles

** Before getting down to business....I need to mention that in this post a couple of weeks ago, I MISTAKENLY reported that my friend Diane came up with the clever line about the new cook at the restaurant, when in fact, the person who said that was JIM. My apologies for mis-remembering that very important bit of info. Retraction printed!** ;)

Many years ago, I read that Billy Graham advocates getting a new Bible each year - and letting that Bible be the chronicle of your spiritual journey that year. Thought it was a very cool idea, but 1) I couldn't afford it at that time and 2) I like to live in my Bibles for a little longer than a year. Takes me about that long to get to know it.

Even so, I decided to periodically get a new Bible - more with the changing of life seasons than the calendar.

When Isaac and I started dating, and I knew he was the one I would marry, I decided it was time for a new Bible. So one day during my lunch hour, I drove to the bookstore and purchased my beloved Key Word Study Bible. He and I would study it together when we were together - and he loved the idea of a new Bible for a new journey so much that he bought a new one too. I loved it that he was on board with an idea I had and the whole thing was just one snuggly warm memory.

Until our relationship ended, of course. That Bible is littered with highlights and scribbles and dates that verses came to minister me - and sometimes the names of the people who GAVE me the verses, so I would remember who had carried me through the excruciating journey.

In recent weeks, I haven't enjoyed reading the Bible. (That is a terrible thing to say. In Little House terms - it's probably even wicked. But it's also true.) And until a few days ago, it never occurred to me that the reason I don't enjoy reading is that my darling Bible holds memories that tie me to a past that clearly has no future.

Every time I open it, I'm reminded of what was and won't be...and I see the scars of what strengthened me, but they become more like fresh wounds each time my eyes fall on them.

So this past weekend, when I stopped in the bookstore to look for Christmas gifts, I wandered over to the Bibles just to enjoy the smell of a new Bible. (Yeah, I'm weird like that.)

Tucked on the shelf amid all the choices was one brown leather Bible with a little strip of fru-fru fabric on the cover...marked down to under $40. And if the sign on the shelf didn't lie - all Bibles were also on sale.

I picked it up and flipped through it - debating a bit, because it was the New Living Translation. I was raised on King James and finally broke into the NIV in junior high and have clung tightly to the NIV ever since. It felt somewhat risky to try a different translation for regular study, but God tapped me on the shoulder and suggested perhaps not only fresh, unmarred ink on a new page would help, but maybe reading familiar verses in slightly different wording would also pull me back into deep study.

Though I hadn't planned to spend on myself, I tucked the Bible under my arm and made my way to the cash register, where after all discounts and taxes, I spent a mere $25 on a thick, study-note-laden, gilded-edged, good-smelling fresh start to my spiritual journey.

Found it rather appropriate, Sunday morning, when I pulled it out to read before church, that the first verse I turned to was Isaiah 55:8 - and the slightly unfamiliar wording to a verse I've known forever said, "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine."

Teach me, Abba...to trust Your thoughts.