I am a lover of books, it's true.
I don't exactly know when or how I learned to read, but I did it myself and when I was very young. I recall tucking myself into a nook of my room, sometimes under the bed, and reading my sorrows and lonliness away. You see, I was the daughter of a single-mother at a time when single-motherhood was still shocking. As a result of the abandonment which left her marked by shame, my mother was a deeply wounded woman by seventeen years of age, and I received the bounty of her pain through emotional neglect. From as early as I can remember, I spent hours and hours alone in my room and books were often my only friends.
Books nurtured and guided me through many years of murky waters, and I love them for it.
Books continue to nurture me, broadening my mind's horizons and deepening my heart's connection to this world and the next. There isn't a cranny of my life that a seriously good book cannot touch.
And so, I read. Not as often as I once did; I just don't have that kind of time anymore, and, most thankfully, I don't have those deep wells of sorrow anymore--not since Christ. And I set goals for each year, both spiritually and intellectually, leaving myself room to add just one more recommendation from a friend or something my Lord firmly hands me. It's my way of actively partnering with my own Author as we together change my life by bits and slivers to look a wee more like His.
Reading Goals for 2011
Age of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp
Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas
Treasures of Encouragement by Sharon W. Betters
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyun
...by E.M. Forester:
Where Angels Fear to Tread
The Longest Journey
Howards End
A Passage to India
...by Evelyn Waugh
Brideshead Revisited
Men at Arms
Officers and Gentlemen
Unconditional Surrender
TELL ME: Has a book ever changed your life? I know ONE continues to change me as I read and reread it ... can you guess?
Yes, ma'am...His Word, thankfully, continues to convict me, prompt me, encourage me, and change me!
ReplyDeleteI love to read also - I try to keep a few things going - often something HS related, spiritual, and I've recently tried to add some others - I'm almost done with all of Jane Austen's books.
I love that books have been your Friends along the way...
Books can take you into another world, can't they! I am really enjoying reading my way through classics that I've never read before.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear of your comfort in books as a child. I am reminded again of how thankful I should be for my own upbringing.
Thankyou for sharing some of your deepest thoughts :-)
Laura Lou ~
ReplyDeletecrying...that's what I'm doing after reading your post...crying. = ) It was when you said, "--not since Christ." and I lost it. = )
I'm just remembering Jane Eyre and her many hours hidden in the curtains reading. I don't read novels because I get taken away from reality TOO much and get obsessed and can't put the book down. I do remember one book when I was a teen that I couldn't put down...Let me see if I can remember the name. I just remember it being Christmas and I just read and read. Then found out it was a movie made in the 30s and the movie was JUST as good as the book.
Thank you for sharing!
Cheryl
oh books. I'm thankful you had them :)
ReplyDeleteamy in peru
Melissa, that's one book I cannot live without! All others are just dim reflections of the true narrative of God's glory.
ReplyDeleteRachael, I just love how God redeems! My own children cannot imagine a life in which Mom doesn't reach out mind, body & soul. And I'm glad they laugh and yield when I enter their circle of friends, announcing, "Mommy's come to smother you with kisses!"
Thank you, Cheryl. There have been a few books that long haunted me after turning the final page. And, Jane Eyre is one of my fav!
Books are amazing, and I'm glad I had them too, Amy! I also had some awesome grandparents... more on them later than soon.
After Christ, I was able to see my mother through His eyes: the deep wounds that lay covered with a impenetrable armor, wounds that shrouded the deep love she had for me. She showed it most through sacrifices she made for me throughout my life. I only wish I had been called disciple BEFORE she died, but I must trust His will and not my own heart. I must.