Creating a Bible Keepsake

When I was a little girl, I remember my great-grandmother showing me a well-used family Bible.

Perhaps you have one in your family? This very well-used Bible was not only used for reading scripture, it was also used to record all the important events that happened in the family – marriages, births, baptisms – there was a wealth of genealogical information written in beautiful script on the pages of this Bible, and I was definitely fascinated by it.

It was evident that this book had been well-used, but was also treasured because of the personal content it contained. I'm not sure where that Bible ended up, but I know that I have thought about it a lot when I consider the feelings I want my children to have about their own Bibles.

My church has a tradition of giving children their first “grown-up” Bible when they begin third grade. All third graders go through a 3-week class with parents and kids together learning how to use their Bible. This class ends with a blessing and presentation of those Bibles in worship.

The class and the blessing are great things (I teach the class, I'm kind of a fan), but when my oldest got his Bible I still found myself thinking about that Bible my great-grandmother had and I was lamenting the fact that we were missing this kind of “heirloom” to pass down. The brand new Bible seemed so sterile. I began to think of ways we could make their Bibles something to treasure, a keepsake.

Perhaps this is something some of you have thought about too.

Here are some of the ideas we came up with to create a keepsake Bible:

• Have family members and other significant influences (Pastors, Sunday School teachers) sign your child's Bible and write their favorite verse or story in it. Amazing discussions can happen when they look up these stories/verses and discuss them with these important people. Someday, having these verses/signatures in these special people's own writing will be a very precious gift. (As a side note, the holidays are coming up – bring your Bible to Thanksgiving and have many family members share during that time; give them a heads up before hand so they have time to think of their favorite verse or story!)
• Highlight important verses or stories for your family – and note why. Highlight the scripture that was shared on your wedding day. Highlight the verses read when a family member was baptized.
• Do you remember how you felt when your parents hid a note for you in your lunch box? Think about “hiding notes” in your child's Bible. Highlight favorite verses with notes about what you find helpful about them. Write them love notes reminding them that they are loved by you and by God – no matter what!
• Record important events in your child's faith journey in their Bible – things like their Baptism, First Communion, first day of Sunday School, first time at Bible Camp – let the Bible serve as a history of their faith journey.

If we put some effort into it, we can create a beautiful keepsake Bible for our children that will be treasured for years to come.