The Power Of The Written Word

The kids and I went to an Abe Lincoln re-enactment this week. He said something in particular that caught my attention. He was talking about having a few books in his house and when his dad brought home a new book for him, he was awake all night. He wasn't reading though. He was awake b/c of his excitement about what the book had it store for his education...all the new words and ideas and phrases he'd be able to learn.

Isn't that the truth? Books have been one of the biggest shaping influences in my adult life. I love learning from those who have gone before me and enjoy each individual writing style. Books enable me to "meet" thousands of people I would otherwise never have known.

When my daughter was about 7, she was enamored with Dolly Madison. She loved getting the Vision Forum catalog to see if there were any more DM items available. She read the books and longed for the outfit. In one of the VF catalogs, it listed in the description of the book several character qualities of Dolly Madison. Meg slept with this catalog and memorized the words and made it her goal to try to adopt one of these character qualities every day. At that time in her life, Dolly Madison was a wonderful shaping influence.

I've been thinking of my favorite authors and books. My Bible is at the top of the list. I'm ashamed that I don't have more of it memorized than I do. I'm working on memorizing more but Oh, it comes so slowly! I love to look at my G'daddy's old tattered Bibles and see his notes and think about how it changed his life. And while my Bible looks nothing like his, it is starting to come apart. Bad news for me since I'm not so fond of change.

There are others that I love too. Henry Blackaby and Anne Ortlund are 2 of my favorites. I also love the Debi Pearl book (no hissing and throwing tomatoes please!). There are others like Tedd Tripp, Pam McDonald, and Elisabeth Elliot that have been especially helpful over the years. And new "friends" like Elizabeth Krueger and Voddie Baucham.

As I'm typing, my little boy comes in and announces with triumph that he is on chapter THREE!! He's so proud of himself to have read so far in his new library book. He is adopting my love for the written word although our tastes are quite different.

I'm not so crazy about Star Wars.