Tonight's blog for April 11, 2013

I enjoy spending time with an old stack of papers and pictures and emails that I have printed to hard copy. Sounds exciting to you? Most of the pictures are family or friends from years in the past. Most of the emails are significant, at least to me. Just a couple of thoughts are rummaging around in my mind tonight and I thought I'd share them with you. 

This picture is a cute little child from Marion Illinois. The date on the back says it is from August 1960, and was taken by Hood's Studio. What a cute child. I found it in a book in South Dakota, along with 9 other pictures. There are lots of questions that come to my mind, like these.  "Who is he?" "What is the family name?" "Is he still alive?" "How could I find out who he is?" "Would His family want this

picture and the others back?" "Is he still as happy as the picture makes him look?" Through the years, I have enjoyed being a detective, trying to deduce the notes in used books, or the writings in the back.  As I read those precious pages, I love to know that my used books were once enjoyed by others. I especially enjoy the comments that show the people who have agreed or disagreed with the material that I am reading. There is a mystery involved that can usually add to the value of the book, at least to me. 

When I find various items in books, like the pictures that accompanied the one of the "Mystery Baby," these become a part of my best memory of the book. Years later, I find that those notes, with dates, give a framework to my life, and to the people who I pray for each day. I remember birthdays in my Bible and write down prayers for my wife, my children, my mom, my siblings (even if i don't send a present or a card, I remember to write their name down and to pray for them, goofy, huh?) I even write down the people I may see, in a restaurant or in a store, if they appear to need a prayer. You might try that sometime, it gives you a different perspective on the folks you see, but don't know. 

Anyway, this blog started with the picture of the "Mystery Baby." When I found it, it helped me to understand a part of my obsession with writing notes in my Bible, in the passage I am reading on any given day, and in the back as I write ideas for sermons or to share with others. Like the "Mystery Baby," I enjoy passing on Bibles to my friends, and books I have read and written in so they will be able to see a part of my heart in the pages.  I have been told that this causes the books to lose some value if you do this. I still see the usefulness. 

One of the key problems in our society, as we discussed this last weekend, is the problem of aloneness. You can't feel alone when you have friends to remember, people to pray for, and notes in your Bible to remind you of one important fact. That "Mystery Baby" named thusly because I only have a picture of him but don't know his name. He is no "Mystery Baby" to our LORD. Jesus knows him. HE knows me. HE knows you. TONIGHT, you aren't alone. If you are reading this tonight, or tomorrow, or in 23 years… know this, that HE loves you, and I prayed for these words to be hidden away, or opened quickly if you ever need a reminder of the love of our Father, of the care of our LORD Jesus, and the comfort of our Holy Spirit. GOD Bless you tonight, big marv