Rev. Ray and Pat Amos

The Book That Takes Me Places

One of the early books that I remember was titled, “If I Were Going.” Each chapter took you on a trip to another country. My teacher at Pearisburg Elementary School read a chapter a day, and I loved it. I never forgot that book that had a blue cover with a lad in a sailor suit.

Several years back I was visiting a very special lady who had long retired from teaching school. We were talking about children’s education and I told her about that book. She left the room and came back with an old copy of a blue book with a lad in a sailor suit. “Take this home with you,” she said.

I have another book that was given to me in 1965 from Mom and Dad. It tells of places where Jesus walked and the people he met. I was young, but it must have really gotten hold of me because I wrote notes all over it. The last note said, “I will walk before the Lord in the Land of the living.” Psalm 116:9

That was my first Bible and it has taken me places that I could have never imagined going. I discovered that it wasn’t only a book that told of far-away places, but it was a Living Word that invited me to come and follow Jesus on an incredible journey that is lasting an eternity.

I was visiting at the Med-Center when I turned down the wrong hallway. I made a quick U-turn and heard a laughing nurse say to me, “Don’t you go getting lost around here with that Bible in your hand.” As I walked away I suddenly went back many years in thought. I heard a guitar and a voice that was distinctly my Father’s: “I’m using my Bible for a road map…My last stop is Heaven some sweet day”

Grace and Peace, Rev Ray