It has been more than 24 years since my maternal grandfather, Papa, went home to be with my Lord Jesus. The older I get, the more poignant my memories of him become. I am so proud that he was a Baptist pastor and that he faithfully served the Lord until his death at age 70.
A few years ago, my grandma lovingly gave Chad some of Papa's books and materials he used for the decades he taught and preached. Chad refers to them as needed for his Sunday school lessons and discipleship classes.
I received my Christianbook midweek markdowns email this morning and a book caught my interest. I ran it by Chad to get his opinion and he paused. "I think I have that book," he said and then went straight to it on his bookshelves. "Oh, that's the 7th edition," I said. "This one is the 13th edition." Then after looking at it for a moment, I recognized it and opened the cover. "Austin Rissmiller, Shelbyville, MO - 3/84" was written in Papa's distinctive handwriting. I don't know if he received it as a gift or if he picked it up out of interest. If my memory serves me, he had already been diagnosed with colon cancer and I am sure knew his tasks were nearing completion. A newspaper clipping had been tucked into the inside cover with underlined passages.
For some reason, that has stayed with me this entire day. It brings a smile to my face to know that I was drawn to a book that my Papa owned. I don't think he ever had a chance to read it. The binding has not yet been broken. I plan on reading it as my time permits. What was the book, you might ask? The Handbook of Denominations in the United States.
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