In which I share our tinies' Life Verse

When I was a teenager, my parents chose a passage of the Bible and christened it my 'life verse'. By "life verse", they meant that it was meant to be a blessing to me, to speak life over me and to help me. It was meant to be something I turn to, something that I memorize so that at least one Scripture would always be hidden in my heart whenever I needed encouragement and focus.

The verse they selected was Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope."

I just typed that out from memory. Evidently, it worked.

I've found over the years since then that it has indeed been my "life verse" in ways that they couldn't have foreseen. When I struggled with direction in my life, when I lost my babies, when I was confused, angry, lost or afraid, this verse would rise up out of the ashes of my heart and remind me that God had plans for me, good plans, and that I have hope. It amazes me how many times in my life I have turned to these thirty simple words for comfort and hope.

So when we discovered that I was pregnant with Anne, I informed Brian that we decided that our babies would each get a life verse. In the evenings, I would pour through the Bible, praying, and wait. Wait for that quickening in my spirit when I was reading, that jump in my heart as if to say, "Ah, yes. THIS is it." We did the same thing with Joseph. I always knew when I found the right verse...it just fit.

Then we would begin to pray this verse over our babies. I whisper it into their baby hair when we rock in the middle of the night.  I write it in their baby books. We put them on the walls in their rooms. We even put the references on their Christmas stockings, for heaven's sake. (Maybe we overdo it? Us? Overdo something? Never.)

Anne's life verse is from Ephesians 3:17-19 - Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

And Joseph's life verse is from Colossians 1: 9-12 - So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.

We chose verses that contain our hopes, prayers and dreams for their lives. We pray, hiding the Word in their heart - and our own, praying that we are setting them on a path so that when they are old, they will not depart from it.