Favorite Verses and Marginal Notes

My mother’s Bible sat on her dresser. Unopened. Collecting dust. For all of her adult life, she’d faithfully read it as part of her daily quiet time with the Lord. Inside, countless pages had verses underlined, along with marginal notes jotted during Sunday sermons, sometimes even including the date and the preacher’s name. She’d faithfully attended women’s Bible studies over the years. As a Sunday school teacher, Mom could motivate her preschool-age students to memorize Scripture. Most letters she wrote included an appropriate Bible verse.

All those years spent meditating on Scripture and yet it seemed a thing of the past. She suffered from mild dementia. Was it a case of forgetfulness? Could she no longer concentrate? Whatever the reason, I grieved this change, and I began reading the Bible aloud to her. Favorite verses, especially from the Psalms, calmed her confused emotions and troubled thoughts.

As I read, my eye fell on the instructive notes and inspiring quotes in the margins. Occasionally I spotted my name and a date written beside a passage—proof she’d been praying for me during the trials of my life.

Hearing the familiar words of her beloved Scripture, Mom found peace while I grew in gratitude.