Since Henry’s death, Josh and I have started reading the Bible daily.  It has been such an incredible blessing and it was something that we had neglected for too long.  Scripture I learned in my childhood and youth have come alive in my life once again and I am hiding it in my heart. I keep thinking about Corrie ten Boom’s statement in “The Hiding Place” about how the Bible, something she had read or had read to her everyday of her life, had become new in the midst of her intense suffering.  “. . . so mysterious had it become to me.  It was new; it had just been written.  I marveled sometimes that the ink was dry . . .”

I recently had to transition from my slimline, small print, easy to carry Bible to an older larger one so I could read the words without squinting.  It’s the Bible that my grandmother “Maw” gave me on my 18th birthday, just before I started college.  Yesterday, on my birthday, I was showing my Mom the inscription in the front of the Bible.  Usually when my grandmother gave me a card, a book, or the other two Bibles she gave me in my life, she always cited either 2nd Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”  or Philippians 4:13  “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”  But the scripture reference in this inscription was different.  It was John 14:1-3 and I did not have this one committed to memory.  We quickly looked it up.  It immediately took my breath away.  It was scripture with which I was familiar and have heard even recently, but never before had it seemed so appropriate – so piercing to where I was emotionally and mentally.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

I’ll never know why my Maw cited that verse in the front of the Bible that day, but I’m so thankful she did.  I’m sure she knew that there would be many times in my life when my heart would be troubled, but I wonder if she wondered just how troubled it would become.  I’ll never know why it never registered to me in the past 20 years that this citation was different from her usual scripture recommendations or why I never bothered to commit these verses and their reference to memory.  I’m not sure how I’ve survived for so long without reading His word daily, but I am so thankful that His word is alive and relevant to us everyday.