Memories of the Bible.

When I was a child, I loved visiting doctor's offices that had magazines and books to read. I was a voracious reader, and the doctor's offices always had such interesting things to read that I had never seen. What I remember most about these stacks of books and magazines, though, was The Bible Story.

The Bible Story was a compilation book of various stories of the Bible, set to brightly colored, extravagantly detailed pictures that went along with each story. In my creatively focused child's mind, they were characters in an epic fictional tale that made me feel alive. Jonah in the Whale, Daniel in the lion's den, Esther defending her people, Jesus and his betrayer. I loved them all.

I didn't have a Bible of my own until I received my Good News Bible in third grade. It was harder to read, though not nearly as hard as my mother's pocket King James Bible that she was given as a teenager. I searched for the fabulous, fantastical stories I had treasured from The Bible Story. But I had trouble finding them, there was so much more boring stuff in between, and even the updated language of the Good News Bible made it hard to stay focused.

When my children were born, I wanted them to begin to know the stories that I had loved from The Bible. I bought them cardboard picture books with simplified versions of the stories I loved. One had a handle and a velcro closure, and my son carried it around with him like a little briefcase, a favorite treasure for a while. I wanted my boys to be just as familiar with these stories as they were with the tales of Bob The Builder and Sesame Street. I wanted them to have a road map of faith that they could understand, even at a young developmental age.

I like to think my efforts made a difference in the faith of my children. For a school project, my oldest son put that he believes in God as part of a self-portrait description, without any adult prompting. It's something he wants people to know. It's a part of who he is, and he wears it proudly. As do I.

Jenny Meade

Walking The Road

Jenny Meade is the Director of Family Life at Asbury. She often finds Starburst candies stuck to the inside of her children's pants pockets in the dryer. Email her at jennym@visitasbury.org.