$150 worth of Bible... FREE!

One of my favorite Bible's that I use now-a-days is the English Standard Version (ESV) Study Bible. Before it came out a year ago I pre-ordered it and once I got it in the mail I have cherished it as a useful aid for Bible study (and I like the translation of course).

Last month something happened to my Bible that rendered it inoperable (details on this later) so I was trying to win one from a Sovereign Grace Ministries giveaway that they had on their blog.

I followed all the rules and entered the giveaway, then I sent my wife the link so that she could enter.

A week later it came time for the drawing and this is what happened (you only need to watch the first 2 in-a-half minutes of the video below to hear about the giveaway & the first winner which was my wife, even thought she didn't follow the rules... also how my original ESV Study Bible got messed up is talked about):

ESV Study Bible Giveaway from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

So, I was thrilled cause I found out that my wife had won me a ESV Study Bible (which was alot nicer than my original hardback version that I had) a day before my birthday!

They needed our shipping info so when my wife emailed it to them she did her "official entry" for the contest (even though it was not over and she had already won). Sovereign Grace Ministries wound up blogging on this, here it is:

Vanessa’s Story
by Tony Reinke 11/17/2009 8:12:00 AM One of the winners in our ESV Study Bible giveaway was Vanessa. How could we not give her a new Bible in light of her original entry?

Hi, my name is Vanessa and I would love to win this for my husband. He left his ESVSB on top of his car on his way to men's study. Not knowing he had done this I left the house and drove over his Bible. He called me later to tell me he thought he had left his Bible on top of his car and at that moment I knew what I ran over. On the way home I picked it up off of the road and, well, let’s just say it was broken. So I hope I can win one for him.

Vanessa
Haltom City, TX

Last week C.J. chose Vanessa’s entry as one of the ten contest winners. Upon hearing that she had won (despite not writing anything about her pastors or church) she was eager to share a second story.

We were so deeply moved by her follow-up email that we wanted to post it so you could read for yourself the important role her church and pastors played during a critical season in her life.

Vanessa writes:

I'm so excited I won even though I entered wrong. I had no clue I had done that until I saw the video, which made me laugh really hard. This is also perfect timing as my husband's birthday is tomorrow.

I don't want to miss the opportunity to honor my pastors. They have been such a huge blessing in our lives. We had been attending our church for a little over a year when we discovered that I was 19 weeks pregnant with conjoined twin girls. We learned that our girls were facing each other, joined from the chest to the stomach. They shared one liver and one heart (which had only one ventricle). They had a zero chance of survival. In fact my doctor believed I would miscarry.

We continued with the pregnancy knowing that is was God who was forming Melody and Madison in my womb. He created them and He would decide when they left this earth. I am so thankful for our pastors because they taught us the hard truths of God's word. Because of their teaching we were not scared that Satan was controlling our lives but rested knowing that God was sovereign over our babies' lives and my life. Everything that was happening God was allowing for His glory and our good.

I ended up going into labor when I was 32 weeks pregnant on November 11, 2008 and—glory to God!—our daughters were born alive and lived for one hour. We were able to spend that time with them and we have a ton of pictures. The mourning process has been hard but a blessing at the same time. God has used our pastors to encourage us and stand alongside us during this most difficult time in our lives. I don't know what we would have done without them. Thanks for the opportunity to honor these men that God has placed in our lives.

To our pastors, Jay and Emilio, we love you guys and praise God for allowing us to sit under your teaching.

I am now 27 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby and we continue to praise God and give Him all the glory!

Vanessa
Haltom City, TX

After reading my wife's "entry" C.J. Mahaney emailed my wife and told her to pick a Bible for herself! So we got 2 $75 ESV Study Bibles for FREE!

Here are some pics of my original ESV Study after the accident:

On the outside it doesn't look too bad:

It's the inside that is all messed up mostly,... and this is after I straightened out lots of the pages:

After straightened more and more of the pages out the best it will close is like this:

The main problem is that the binding is busted so if I use it it will only be a matter of time till the pages start falling out:

Even after flattening out alot of the pages it was still hard to read:

But now I am thankful my wife and I won some new ESV Study Bibles!:

Thanks Sovereign Grace Ministries!

soli Deo gloria!

Jason D.