My Bible is falling apart.  The pages are falling out.  Many of them are torn.  Tea and coffee stains are on half the pages.  And I've got the cover bound together with duct tape.  I would get a new one, but there are so many notes on the edges of the pages that I would spend the rest of my life trying to transfer them.  I guess I will just keep picking up the parts when they fall out onto the floor.

I have another one exactly like this it,  and I had started to transfer some my notes, but just when I would make some headway, I would teach another lesson, write some new notes and forget where I was in the transfer process.  I think that one of these days, if I outlive this Bible, I will have to do something because like I said, it is falling apart.

Also it is like a diary.  Important dates are recorded.  When something happened in my life, I turned to scripture and noted the event and date.

And some verses are so unique that I underlined them.  Like Jeremiah 12:5 "If you have run with footmen and they have made you weary, how can you contend with horses."  An interesting piece of philosophy.  My interpretation:  "If you can't deal with two children, how in the world are you ever going to deal with four."  (And I didn't plan on four.  God planned for me to have four.)

And then there is:  "The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge." Jeremiah 31:29  My interpretation:  "Whatever I do, it is going to affect my children.  Especially when I do something wrong."

And then there are the Proverbs with verses like Proverbs 27:17 "Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."  My interpretation:  "You need to choose friends who have personal qualities that are good.  True.  Kind, faithful, honest and solid.  They will make you a better person."  

If you aren't becoming a better person, you need to ask yourself, "Why?"  Because God promises to change us from the inside out.  Our part is to choose good friends.