The Gifts of Words and God's Word
One of my happiest childhood memories is listening to my mother read a story before I took an afternoon nap. The animation of her voice and the fact that she let me nap in the “big bed” (my parents’ bed) was always a treat. I am certain that those stories began my love of reading.
Learning to read was magical. Escaping into the world of characters opened a world much wider than my little piece of the universe. In the early 1970s, it was safe to pedal my bicycle with a white basket to and from the Lebanon-Wilson County Public Library every week. My bicycle basket held treasures of books that included both fiction and non-fiction.
I was given a Bible as a fourth grader from Lebanon FUMC after our family transferred from Gladeville UMC. I had just missed the honor of getting a Bible as a third grader, so Linda Halbert (Director of Christian Education) graciously provided me a Bible as a fourth grader. Though I had been given a Bible as a little girl, this big blue Bible was the first that opened my world to the creation story, the beautiful Psalms, and the teaching stories of Jesus.
Reading continued to play a part of my life as I traversed the academic world and during a particularly tough engineering school year at Tennessee Tech, I decided to read through the Bible in its entirety for inspiration. The study Bible footnotes helped with the difficult passages, and there were verses that seemed to jump out for me as though God Himself had suffered through engineering classes at Tennessee Tech. I began to use the Bible as a tool for navigating life.
As a working adult, wife, and young mother – my reading for pleasure days were few and far as life became a whirlwind! However, the joy of daily reading to our children also included Bible stories at night. These nightly readings awakened my desire to read. I began sneaking to the gym to read while working out on the elliptical and found ways to read a few minutes here and there.
As my children became more independent in their reading, and in their lives in general, I renewed my reading for study (using yet a “newer” study Bible) and for pleasure. I learned that Bible passages brought new meanings for me depending on the comfort I needed at that time. Fiction authors recommended by friends provided new imaginary friends that gave me a break from the “real world.” Reading is truly a lifelong gift.
My mother’s gift of reading to me led to my personal discovery of all kinds of amazing things including the adventures tucked inside the Bible. Her gift of reading to me was something that I passed onto my children, and I know that it will be a gift that will be passed for generations to come. While I enjoy all types of books, the Bible is the book that continually intrigues, challenges, and brings comfort to my world!
Thank you, Mom, for that early gift of reading to me, and praise God for the gift of the Bible!
