Dear Grandparent:  This is a complete list of 66 faith-building Bible verses that I’m memorizing with my granddaughter. The whole idea was born out of my desire to leave behind the ultimate spiritual legacy inside the heart of my first grandchild and any who might follow after her. But don’t get the wrong idea. I was a very reluctant grandmother. In fact, I went into it kicking and screaming like some kind of spoiled two year-old.  Here’s the story of the 66 verses that pitched me off the pity train and placed me onto the right track. 

The Story of 66 Verses 

The parenting pain we had gone through with her mother had worn me down. I was so battle weary and just wanted to move on to some sort of greener emotional pastures. Her dad and I had made tough decisions that sheltered the other two kids, but had built some mighty high walls between us and our beloved firstborn.

My Heart Was Empty and My Brain was On Overload

Truthfully, the thought of becoming a grandmother while I was still driving our fifth-grade son to school every day really threw me into overload. I cried out nightly to God from a bathtub filled with Texas-sized tears and a heart completely filled with angst.

You know what else bothered me? What would she call me? I felt far too young to be called Mamaw or Grandmommy, the names I had called my own dear grandmothers. But “the name” seemed so important. It couldn’t be generic, and it had to be fun, but I was in such turmoil, it seemed I had lost all inspiration for anything fun.

Suffice to say, it was just a tough ol’ time in the life of one ol’ short-sighted sista.

Our Pastor Warned Us 

He said he’d seen this very thing time and time again. God bless the pastors who spend parts of every living day counseling their people back from the brink of whatever cliff they’re on. Nothing new gets cried about in the pastor’s office, I’m sure.

Be careful, he instructed. This baby will likely be the apple of your eye. Everyone’s hearts will change with the arrival of the baby. The joy will return, and your focus will be new.

What a Goober I Was

Our pastor was so right. A baby changes everything. My granddaughter is totally the apple of my eye. Truly, there’s definitely not a day that goes by without thoughts of her smile. I even visualize her toes and how they wiggle when she’s watching TV. If we get to FaceTime, and I can hear her voice while looking into her eyes, all the better. I just love the sound of her voice.

Those First Six Weeks Flew By

I was able to shift gears, stay home and change those wee diapers while her momma worked and went to school. The goober in me never anticipated how much I would enjoy the routine of a baby’s day once again, but, boy, I sure did. We rocked together in slow lullaby rhythm, and she napped in my arms. I packed her into the infant seat and took her with me to pick up her uncle at middle school. What once seemed like it might do me in had now completely undone me in a purely miraculous way.

I was smitten with my granddaughter and totally enamored with my new life.

I Started Thinking About the Future

As God healed my heart and restored the relationship with our daughter, I started to think forward. The failures of the past were, well, in the past. I couldn’t change any of that one iota, but I could start formulating a plan for a better legacy. So I began to pray about what that might be.

A Book and a Group of Women Had Challenged Me 

For several glorious years before we moved to Austin, I was in a Bible study group with some women who were older and wiser than I. They were lifetime learners of the Word, unwavering in the faith they had fortified over time, and they were dedicated to the memorizing of scriptures that helped them to take every thought captive.

One morning, a lady named Kathy shared with us that she had found a book that was taking her spiritual life to a new level as it challenged her to memorize 100 Bible verses! I immediately downloaded the book and started reading the incredible accounts of people for whom a memorized passage of the Bible had had a life-altering effect. It was inspiring, to say the least.

Then I Remembered One Small Verse

When I was in 2nd grade, my parents divorced. My mom, my brother and I moved from Wichita to Amarillo to live with my grandparents, and mom started taking us to First Baptist Church. With all the other kids my age, I sat in a little wooden chair at a child-sized table and listened to Bible stories taught by women who knew their stuff. Oh, gosh. Excuse me while I get a tissue. I’m getting plenty choked up right now, remembering the love and stability I felt in that room every Sunday morning.

One Sunday, the teacher had prayerfully searched her Bible for a specific purpose. She wanted to give each child in the class a verse to memorize, so she found one that started with the first letter of our names, wrote them out for us as a bookmark, and instructed us to take those words deep into our hearts. She had taken the task seriously, and she wanted us to know that she felt God had specifically directed her. Brenda – here’s your verse, she said.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

These 10 words were part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, and I honestly will never forget hearing them for the first time. As the teacher bent down and gently squeezed her left arm around my shoulder, she handed me the bookmark with “my” verse on it and read the words to me slowly. Brenda, your name starts with B, and so does this verse. Take it to heart, memorize it, and apply it to your life. God wants us to be meek.

Their Legacies Inspired My Own

As I finally began to see grandparenting as the most fun of all jobs on earth, I took the memories of that Sunday School teacher, mixed it with the influence of the ladies in my Bible study group, and started dreaming.

My dreams included an apron, a cookie sheet and LOTS of water fun. But I also started dreaming about what it would look like to instill a hallmark type legacy of faith in the heart of my little munchkin. Memorizing scripture together seemed like the perfect way to do it.

Then Came the List

Over time, I felt the Lord leading me to set a big goal to memorize 66 Bible verses with my granddaughter. These are the verses I chose. Some have been determined by scholars to be the key verse of the whole book, while others are just the ones that meant the most to me.  However, all are woven together into a thread that I hope leads the apple of my eye to follow Jesus with everything she’s got.

1. Genesis 1:1
2. Exodus 34:14
3. Leviticus 20:7
4. Numbers 14:18
5. Deuteronomy 6:5
6. Joshua 1:8
7. Judges 21:25
8. Ruth 1:16
9. 1 Samuel 16:7
10. 2 Samuel 14:14
11. 1 Kings 4:29
12. 2 Kings 8:19
13. 1 Chronicles 29:11
14. 2 Chronicles 7:14
15. Ezra 3:11
16. Nehemiah 6:15-16
17. Esther 4:14
18. Job 1:1
19. Psalm 23:1
20. Proverbs 3:5-6
21. Ecclesiastes
22. Song of Solomon
23. Isaiah 9:6
24. Jeremiah 29:11
25. Lamentations 3:22-23
26. Ezekiel 33:11
27. Daniel 3:17-18
28. Hosea 6:6
29. Joel 2:25
30. Amos 4:13
31. Obadiah 1:15
32. Jonah 1:3
33. Micah 6:8
34. Nahum 1:7
35. Habakkuk 3:17-18
36. Zephaniah 3:17
37. Haggai 1:7
38. Zechariah 8:16
39. Malachi 3:10
40. Matthew 1:21
41. Mark 1:17
42. Luke 21:33
43. John 3:16
44. Acts 1:8
45. Romans 8:28
46. 1 Corinthians 13:8
47. 2 Corinthians 12:9
48. Galatians 5:22-23
49. Ephesians 2:8
50. Philippians 4:13
51. Colossians 3:2
52. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
53. 2 Thessalonians 3:13
54. 1 Timothy 2:5
55. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
56. Titus 2:1
57. Philemon 1:6
58. Hebrews 4:12
59. James 4:10
60. 1 Peter 5:7
61. 2 Peter 1:3
62. 1 John 1:9
63. 2 John
64. 3 John
65. Jude 1:25
66. Revelation 4:8

At this writing, we have memorized the first 39 verses! She’s a memorizing whiz!

My Heart is So Full

I’m really embarrassed about the way I acted and the way I felt back before the lullabies and 66 Verses. I truly am.

In the words of C.S. Lewis: The truth is, of course, that what one regards as interruptions are precisely one’s life. I wish I would have more quickly risen to the Grammy occasion!

But, by the grace of God, here I now sit, a relaxed grandmother of one, looking forward to more. Here I am with a full heart and a refreshed brain! I’m so thankful for how God has worked all the bad into something so very good.

Have I Inspired You?

What would happen if we all started memorizing scripture with our grandkids? At what time in the future life of our little beloveds will they most need the mental recall of God’s word to get them through? Will they have those words at the ready? Can we as grandparents actually initiate a lifelong love of learning the very words of Almighty God? I think we sure as shootin’ can.

When Kynzie was here this summer, we went all over Austin – shooting short videos with my iPhone.

Memorialize What You Memorize

As we went along, she really got into it and enjoyed being on camera. My “directing” was so minimal, and I was amazed at how well she described what she thought about each verse. I’m sure she’ll look back on our 66 videos someday and think she looks silly, but I’m also sure she’ll remember how much fun we had making them together.

And if my dream really, really, really comes to pass, she’ll never have to look back and call herself a goober!

Encouraging intentional adventure of a legacy-leaving kind,