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Donna Perugini Children's Author

Would You Call Me A Bible Destroyer

 
 
 
 

Bible Destroyer or Future Generations Lover?

 

 Am I A Bible Destroyer?

To be more precise, I underline, write all over and date those scriptures with ink, pencil and  highlighters. The real question is, am I destroying and have lack of respect for my bible by doing those things?

 

 

I’m Involved With My Bible

What you are seeing is an adult who is involved with her book. The book is my bible and in the long run I believe that my bible will be passed on down to grandchildren or even in to the great-great grandchildren. What’s so interesting about what I write in that bible? It’s my own personal commentary, miracles, blessings, revelations of a life spent with Christ. Wouldn’t you have loved to know more about your roots in the faith? What about that grandmother who spent time in prayer and wrote about it in her bible…your name next to her prayer times? Sounds fascinating and full of revelations, but for some it’s a boundary line they can’t pass over.

The Book Destroyer in Your Home

When you were a child, your parents told you DO NOT SCRIBBLE IN THE BOOK…RESPECT YOUR BOOKS. What if all you wanted to do was leave your mark because the story impressed you with creativity. Are you getting uncomfortable yet? There is your child absolutely giddy with delight in the story you read her, the illustrations he sees and all she wants to do is be a part of the book. Out comes the crayons, stickers, pens, pencils…whatever they can get their hands on to create. You see their ‘creation’ and come unglued, the book is removed from their possession, they are branded a ‘book destroyer’ and left in tears. 

Spin forward twenty years and you find the ‘trashed book’ while your child is now starting their own family. Do you look at the book the same way you did twenty years ago…destroyed and useless…or do you go, “Awww. This is where he first learned to write the letter ‘A’.” 

Try a Planned Scribbling

What’s the point here?  Here’s a suggestion:  Buy some used books, give them some crayons, etc. and let them write their ‘love notes’ or author their own ‘first books’ within the used books’ pages. What could it hurt? Just be sure to designate which books specifically belong to  Mommy and Daddy or brother and sister. Also consider age appropriateness and have one book for that toddler to color. If they cannot understand the concept of ‘only this book for marking’, then don’t start this idea until they can understand. If they happen to get to a book before you can establish this idea, don’t go to pieces and let out the ‘wrath of mommy’ on them. 

You  Say, “I Don’t Want to Raise a Destructive Child”

You’re worried about raising a destructive child or being a permissive parent. She’ll be an artistic, thought provoking dreamer that has been given the chance to excel. All that from allowing them to color in a used book? I’m not recommending a permissiveness that allows them to color all your walls or your own books, but a ‘sanctioned’ place for them to grow. Think beyond their age now. Do you know how many women I meet that won’t even mark their bibles due to the built in constraints from being pounded with ‘respect  your book’

Painting by My Father

A vivid memory I have is one of my father taking us to his abandoned childhood home. On the bedroom walls under torn wallpaper, he saw an airplane he’d drawn as a child. He was very proud of that drawing. He grew up to be a mechanic on airplanes in World War II, eventually saving a life after the sinking of their aircraft carrier.  Did drawing on his bedroom walls make him a hero later in life? There might have been some connections, but what it showed was his interest at the time, and his creativity. He also grew up exhibiting beautiful artistic and storytelling/writing abilities.

Let Your Child be THE ONE

This is a call to action! Give your child opportunity to be the one…the one who is freed up to write, color, visualize and celebrate the stories they love. If you want to be a part of this with them, ask them to retell the story to their liking and reprint their responses in the book with them.  Let them make some marks too while they see you writing in the book. Sometimes a coloring sheet apart from the book is just not enough!  Look at what this artist is doing with her books!

Do you mark up your bible and read what you wrote years later? Has your child created vivid memories for you by writing in books?  We all want to see your stories, so share with us through comments.

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12 Responses to “Would You Call Me A Bible Destroyer”

  1. 1
    Kipp says:

    Any book that belongs to you is yours, make notes, highlight as you see fit to help you understand what you are reading or what means a lot to you. The problem arises when you are drawing pictures in books that do not belong to you. (not that I ever did that as a child just sayin’ =))

    I would love to see more people reading and studying their Bibles!!
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    • 1.1

      Kipp,
      If you did draw in books as a child, I’ll bet your mother kept them as treasures!

      I remember when we were given books from our school, we were told it was ‘death’ to put any marks in them. I believe they meant it!

  2. 2
    Rachel says:

    Oh, the best Bibles are the ones that are worn out and barely holding together. They’re the ones that are loved the most.

    The thick study bible I have from college was probably the one that was best loved. It was then that my heart first grew on fire for Jesus, and I consumed and ravished every Word. I love looking back and reading those notes.

    I carry a much smaller Bible these days, and you can tell it’s a little less loved by how pristine it remains.

    But my husband and I are doing this 2-year Bible reading plan (courtesy of The Gospel Coalition), and I am happily underlining, circling, highlighting the Word again.

    http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/files/2010/12/TwoYearBibleReadingPlan.pdf

    I love the story of your father’s drawing.

    • 2.1

      Rachel,
      I’ve been through a few bibles and it’s sad that notes can’t be automatically transferred. I don’t think I’d like a Kindle version and my phone app is not used as much. There’s no way to keep notes on it!
      A two year plan to read the bible sounds more realistic than one year. Thanks for the URL. I’ll check it out.

  3. 3
    Kerri says:

    I absolutely mark up my Bible. What if I forget something that God was telling me specifically as I was reading something? I try to date it as well so I can remember what was going on at that time in my life. For my high school graduation, my Uncle gave me a gift certificate for Baker Bookhouse (Christian bookstore). I got a leather (teal!) NIV Study Bible, and I use it to this day. And I write in it til this day. My hubs and I are in TOTALLY different camps about stuff like this. Jacob is very creative, and like to invent things, change things, “write”…Doug wants everything pristine and saved for 100 years. I’m like, Dude, he’s a 4 year old BOY. NOTHING he has will last 100 years!
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  4. 4

    Kerri,
    The ‘respect your books law’ has been around a long time! Some how we forget it’s just paper that’s for our use.

    The story of your uncle’s gift certificate is awesome. The Christian bookstore was picked…it could have been any bookstore, but he was deliberate in his choice. Love it! Looks like his choice really paid off too.

    I mark up everything…even my hands for notes! So glad I’m ‘grown up’ and don’t get in trouble for it!

  5. 5
    Becky says:

    Oh, Donna! I am a Bible marker…but other books?! Lol! You may have convinced me to think differently about my children’s creative attempts. I guess now is a good time to let you know that somebody marked on Orville’s nose in pencil! I tried erasing it, but it just made it worse, so I left it. 🙂
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    • 5.1

      Becky,
      Hahahahaha! I almost put ‘but do not mark up my children’s books’ in the posting. Orville’s nose is so big and red, it’s an attraction to a child. Of course they marked his nose!

      You really don’t mark other books? How about any informational books? When I mark them, I remember where I put a specific notation. For some reason it sticks in my mind as a visual and I can usually turn right to it.

      Hope someone’s child gets to scribble in a book with less momma-drama. Try it with your children and let me know how it turns out…hee! hee!

      • 5.1.1
        Becky says:

        I guess I do mark the occasional informational book. Not very often though! I think I don’t usually read w/pens & highlighters handy…they tend to slow me down. That and I just never really developed good study habits. I guess I need to work on that! I’d probably get a lot more out of the books I read!

        Next time somebody gets a hold of the crayons I will remember your words! 😀
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        • 5.1.1.1

          Since I’m teaching every week, I mark up a lot of things as reference material.

          If parents get anything out of this posting, I’d hope it would be a more relaxed response to the ‘scribbled book’. Too often they lose their cool with a meltdown.

  6. 6
    Renee says:

    I write in my Bible and my kids used to write in their books. I recently found a stack of books that were full of drawings and words. They are all grown now and I treasure the memories 🙂
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    • 6.1

      Renee,
      What a freedom to write in your bible or books all you want! I always warn my friends when they want to borrow a book….you might get distracted by all the scribbling I’ve done.

      I only desire for someone to come up with a way to transfer all my notations, underlings, etc. from my old ‘love-worn’ bible to the new fresh ones!

      Your children sound very creative… :O)

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