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Walking across the campus at UNCG one fall afternoon in my freshman year, I remember being handed a little green New Testament Bible outside of the cafeteria. It was given to me by Paul Martin, a longtime member and deacon of the church I had attended my whole life up to that point.

Martin was handing out Bibles that day as a member of Gideons International, a group of professional men who work towards sharing Jesus Christ through their witness and the distribution of Bibles around the world.

Most of the Gideons' work is accomplished by local businessmen. They are very effective because they know the area well, including high-traffic spots as well as the customs and language of the people within the communities around the globe.

Knowing that the Bibles were meant to be a way of outreach on my college campus, I offered the Bible back to Martin so that he could give it to someone else. He waved me off and told me to take it anyway. I tucked the tiny green Gideons New Testament in my book bag before continuing on to my destination that day.

In our time at college, my husband and I ended up with a couple of these little green Gideon Bibles.

Time passed, and my husband and I married. We had our daughter Hannah and moved out here to the countryside. Shortly after the move, as I was unpacking boxes, I ran across the tiny Bibles again.

Hannah was beginning to grasp going to church, talking to God through prayer, and what a Bible was. She loved to sing songs she had learned from us and her Sunday school teachers about God.

I placed this tiny green Bible in her tiny toddler hand. It was the first Bible she could just carry around and do with as she pleased.

If she spilled milk on it, got peanut butter on it or crumpled a page, it didn't matter. I consider it her first Bible.

She often carried that Bible around in her little play purse. She would flip through the thin pages as she "read" the words. I often would find her lying on the living room couch with her Bible open as she sang "Jesus Loves Me."

When my son was born, we gave him the second of the little green New Testaments that were tucked away. He would mimic his big sister's actions and lie on the opposite side of the couch, "reading" and singing or humming songs with his sister. I imagine this is one of those times they really were "precious in His sight."

Later, they would bring me those Bibles and ask, "What does this say, Mommy?"

A passage in Deuteronomy 6: 6-9 comes to mind when I consider those days with my two preschoolers as they incorporated these Bibles into their play:

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."

Both of my children, now older teenagers, keep those beloved little green Bibles nearby in a drawer. The are visibly worn, having been carted around the house and handled many times, with the front cover and many pages crumpled.

My kids have fond memories of holding their tiny Bibles near as they played on the floor with other toys.

When I was handed a little green Bible so many years ago, I had no idea what I was going to do with it.

But God did. He knew that one day I would have little children to train up in his ways, and these little Bibles would play a part in their growth.

God knew, as it says in Isaiah 55:11: "So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Linda Vestal is a wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend living in Gibsonville. Contact her with comments or story ideas at lindavestal@triad.rr.com.