Papa’s Big Bible

“God gives the lonely a family to belong to.” — from Psalm 68

Corrie’s father was called Casper. He was a watchmaker, like his father before him. He was gentle and funny, and he prayed a great deal. Every day the whole family gathered to read the Bible and pray, and at mealtimes Papa read aloud from the big family Bible.

Papa was kind to everyone. He was just as polite to the children who came into the shop, and to the poor people who knocked at the back door, as he was to the richest people in town. Sometimes he spent more time talking to a customer about God than mending the customer’s watch! He loved the Jewish people, too. He believed they were God’s chosen people, loved by God ever since the days of Abraham. One of his favourite sayings was “The best is yet to come.”

Corrie’s mother, Cor, had been a teacher. She was warm and generous. She made up baskets of food for poor neighbours and remembered everyone’s birthday. But she was not strong. When Corrie was twenty-nine, her mother became very ill and died.

When Corrie was a young woman, she hoped to marry a young man named Karel, a friend of her brother Willem. But Karel’s family wanted him to marry someone rich, and in the end he married another girl. Corrie was heartbroken. She went up to her room, very sad.

Corrie remembered that Papa came up the stairs to her. He did not tell her to stop loving. Instead, he told her that she could give her love to God, and let God show her where it should go.

That is just what happened. Corrie never married, but God gave her a bigger family than she could ever have imagined: children, friends, and people all over the world. When our hearts are sad, we can give our love to God too, and he will show us whom to love.

Dear God, when I am sad or disappointed, help me to bring my heart to you. Show me whom I can love today. Amen.