It was just early September but two of my friends were busy with Christmas crafts. Then there was me, a genuine klutz. All thumbs, no imagination.
Georgia, with her eye for pattern color, worked on a beautiful fabric-covered photo album. And Betty was painting ceramic figures for a twenty-one piece nativity scene. I always admired the professional looking gifts these two women turned out so easily. I knew their friends and families would be surprised and delighted with the handmade items.
Their enthusiasm was so contagious I started thinking about Christmas, too. But what could I make?
A few days later the bright ideas came. My excitement could hardly be contained. This year there'd be a special gift under the tree for each member of my family.
No, it wouldn't be a handcraft with loving stitches and lacy ruffles like my nimble-fingered friends created. But it would be something even a klutz could make: a booklet of favorite Bible verses.
Now, before you moan and say, "Oh, I could never do that; I can't write," let me tell you how easy the project was. It's a gift that anyone could make.
I envisioned a booklet with one page written by each of us Anderson kids. It would be fun to find out our favorite verses and the story behind our choices. I figured all I'd have to do was to write my sisters and brother a little note requesting a single typewritten page. And in a few weeks I could type it all up and get it to the quick print shop.
Well, my timetable turned out to be unrealistic—good thing I started before the end of September. But the rest of the plan worked out. It was exciting to see each part of the booklet come together.
While waiting for the other verses to come in the mail I got busy and wrote about my own favorite Scripture. Since becoming born again at the age of twelve I'd read the Bible many times and had a lot of special verses. But the earliest verse I could recall had a special story behind it.
In order for our children to share, too, I decided to ask the older ones to contribute a verse and the younger ones to tell about their favorite Bible story. Under the heading of the "upcoming generation," some more pages took form. From my brother's two-year-old Andy who declared, "Jonah and the Whale" to be his favorite because "the whale spit him out on the ground," to my son Peter, the oldest of the grandchildren, more of the family would be represented in this family memento.
I pictured this booklet as a tribute to our parents who were both deceased, so "Legacy of Love" became the title. And with a border of clip art, the cover design became a simple job. I wrote up a little introduction for the first page of the booklet, explaining my idea for sharing our favorite verses as a gift to each other.
Since Mother and Dad were both gone, we mounted a search for their favorite verses. A couple of verses on a slip of paper written in Mother's handwriting were found in a family Bible. And I put, "God Knows," a poem that Dad had written, on his page.
For the last page of the booklet, I quoted Psalm 112:1-2, "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall he blessed." I expressed my belief that God would bless us, our children, our grandchildren, and even the following generations according to His promises.
Then I outlined simply the plan of salvation. I challenged us all to he faithful to the Lord, to diligently pass on our faith, and to pray for each other's families. In closing, I encouraged everyone who might read this little booklet to turn to the timeless pages of the Bible and find God's legacy of love.
Laying out the pages two to an 8 x 14" sheet of paper, the finished size was an attractive 7 x 8 ". With five sheets, a sturdy card stock cover, and extra charges for collating and staples, the cost came to under $2.00 apiece for 50 copies. That gave me enough for my sisters and brother, our children, our aunts, and uncles, our only living grandparent, and some old friends of the family.
At last the printed booklets were in my hands. They looked so "official"! Excitedly, expectantly, I prayed over etch one. I claimed salvation and spiritual victories for everybody who would read them. Finally on December 20 they were mailed.
Christmas came, and God's Word was shared. My little idea had expanded like a kernel of corn in a hot air popper. Who knows how many will read our testimonies and he blessed! "Legacy of Love" became a special gift to the world from me, a genuine klutz.
