liked and the ones he liked were not the same (some things
never change!). So we decided to check out the frames at
another eyeglass store. Before leaving the first store, I wanted
to be sure that we could relocate the “cool” frames I liked
(which he considered “too far out”), just in case we were
unable to find glasses we both liked at the next store. In order
to do that, I looked for an inscription on the inside earpiece of
the frame, near the temple. Inscribed on the frame was this:
COL 3.
I said, “Roger, look! Maybe God is giving us a verse—
Colossians 3!?” Granted, it had been less than twenty-four
hours, we weren’t studying in our Bibles or sitting in church,
but hey, it was a reference to a Bible verse. I began to rifle
through my purse, but my trusty pocket Bible was not there.
How strange. I was really excited to see what verses were
located in Colossians 3, but without a Bible, I wasn’t going to
find out until later that day.
We left the store, got in the van, traveled only three blocks,
and walked into the only other eyeglass store in town. The
older gentleman who had owned that establishment for
decades warmly greeted us. To this day I remember his face
and his name—Mr. Farkas. But more significant, I remember
what he said and did that impacted Roger’s and my life. He
said, “Hello. Thanks for coming in today. I am a Gideon. Do
you mind if I give you EACH a little pocket Bible?” (The
Gideons—an association of Christian businesspersons—have
distributed millions of Bibles to hospitals, hotels, and
individuals since 1899.)
Did I mind? I snatched that little 3" x 4" emerald green
Revised Berkeley Version Bible (1976 edition) from his hand