Thursday, 09 February 2012

• Richer Than I Thought: In Love, Money and Bibles

  By Amy at Make Me a Mary

  The kids and I are on a hunt.

  Our task is to gather up all the Bibles in our home, stack them all up, and show you a picture. I’ve decided that for every Bible we find, we’re going to donate $5 to the effort of translating God’s Word for the Vidunda people.

  I’m taking you with me on our hunt, even though it shames me to do so. Alright, here we go …

  First stop—my 18-year old’s room. Please disregard the Christmas tree which she has still not taken down. (As you can see, she’s ready to go to college and Africa).

  
  Next, my 15-year-old’s room. At least the Bible is on top of the X-box.

  
  Here’s where we found Twin A’s Bible (she’s 12). Please disregard Lulu’s nose sniffing out something yummy to chew on in the shamefully messy drawer.

  
  Here’s where we found Twin B’s Bible. Looks like he’s been reading more Diary of a Wimpy Kid than Jesus.

  
  Next is my room, but I’m only showing you the Bibles on my bookshelf—not the two on my nightstand or the one I found in a drawer. (It might be scandalous to have a Wicked book on the same shelf as God’s Holy Scriptures, but I haven’t even read it yet.)

  
  Finally, I’m in the front room now. One shelf holds each of my four kids’ baby Bibles, plus one of my own from when I was in first grade.

  
  Another shelf holds random Bibles we’ve gathered over the years from I don’t know where all. One is in Spanish (???), and another is entirely in pictures.

  
  And here’s the one that made me cry. I repented for this. (Yes, it’s the filthy/disgusting/humiliating floorboard of my vehicle. I never said this hunt would be pretty.)

  
  So we’ve gathered every Bible in the house that we can find, and now I’m struggling with a sick feeling caused by several different things, including but not limited to:

  1) the various horrifying places we found them

  2) how many we actually have

  3) how little they get read.

  It’s embarrassing to show or tell you the final count, but I said I would, so I’m gonna …

  Here’s View #1:

  
  And here’s View #2 (the “stack”):

  
  That’s twenty-five Bibles. Twenty-five!! If I hadn’t stacked them so carefully, the whole pile would’ve toppled over. I actually have to scroll down on my computer to see the whole stack on this page.

  So these twenty-five Bibles, plus the Bibles on our five cell phones, plus three more on my two daughters’ and my Kindles, equals …

  thirty-three Bibles, total, in our home.

  

  I feel so selfish for buying Bibles because of the soft leather or the cute color or the language it’s written in on the rare chance I might be able to use it at some point twenty or thirty years down the road on some obscure mission trip.

  This is just way too much. Apparently, I’m richer than I thought. But oh, how I wish I could box all these extra Bibles up and send them to some of the millions of people who have no access to God’s Word. I want to share my Treasure with them, and I would if only they could understand my language.

  
  

  Lord, I sow this seed. Raise me up in a holy passion to end Bible poverty. Move me to do all that I can to spread the message of Your love to those who’ve never heard it.

  OneVerse is a program of The Seed Company, a Wycliffe Bible Translators affiliate. It costs just $26 to sponsor a verse. But just one verse can save a life because His Word does not return void.

  Would you consider a monthly sponsorship?

  Go ye therefore and teach all nations. Matthew 28:19

  _________________________

  Would your stack of Bibles be as tall as mine? Care to gather them up and take a picture? If so, you can link up here at my friend Meredith’s blog, where you’re sure to find lots more great reading.

  What went through your mind as your stack grew taller? (If you don’t want to link up, you can still leave a comment or post to the OneVerse Facebook page!)

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