Bible Marking Tutorial Series: Marking for a Memorial

Dear Lissy,

We've covered some basic pencil marks in our last two tutorials, and today I'm heading into more familiar territory.  Almost everyone marks verses they like in some way.  Daddy often prepares homegoing funeral services for believers using their Bible.  He wants to share passages that were significant to them during their memorial.  Here's what he usually finds:

• Verses they like or find beautiful.
• Verses that promise, convict, encourage, or instruct.
• Familiar verses, like the Beatitudes.
• Verses they've memorized
• Chapters they've read. 

Guess what?  I mark memorial verses, too, just not in anticipation of my homegoing service.  I use them as signposts of times and places God has shown Himself mighty on my behalf either through illumination or during prayer.
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Illuminated verses

During times of physical or spiritual trials, the Holy Spirit often uses a particular verse or passage to minister to my heart.  This illumination always results in a change of heart and action that bring my life into a closer walk with Jesus.   I want to remember the strong hand of the Lord in a big way.  I choose to drylight these verses in fluorescent yellow and then frame them in hot pink drylighter. I may pencil the date and a few words in the margin to bring the event back to mind.   For someone who marks very conservatively, these verses are like tropical birds on the page.  They are memorials for me, a remembrance of what God has done in my life that I run across in my regular study and devotions.  And if they happen to show up at my homegoing service, that's ok, too.

"One of the best things for your spiritual welfare is to keep recounting the wonders God has done for you: record them in a book, mark the passage in your Bible and continually refer to it, keep it fresh in your mind." --Oswald Chambers, in The Place of Help

Date-significant passages
When I pray a verse for a particular person or situation, I jot down the date, the name, and a one or two word description next to the verse in my Bible. 
Example:  Next to Psalm 113:9, I penciled in 4/1997 Nate -- the date I found out I was pregnant with my first baby after suffering over three years of infertility and begging God for a child.  
Dozens of these dates and words pepper the margins of my Bible, just like they did my grandmother's.  Each time I read the Word, I remember God's faithfulness and lovingkindness on my behalf as I prayed.

Don't just mark for academic use in your Bible.  Choose memorials that you will come across time and again to remind yourself of God's goodness and work in your life.

Love,
Momma

The first tutorial starts here and the series continues here!