A Peek Into the Parsonage

I wish so much I could remember details of the past better.  They say the short-term memory is the first to go, so what is this saying about me?  I think I’m in trouble!  =)  I’m so thankful that I kept a journal during the years our girls were home, because it is serving as my memory.  It wasn’t written in daily, but I have highlights of things through the years.
Recently I picked up one of the journals and was reminded about how much our family read together.  My mom instilled a love for books in me and my sisters, and I longed for my girls to love to read too.  I began very early taking them to the library to check out books and attend the story time for their age groups.  We read at the dinner table after our meal was finished.  We read in the car.  We read at bedtime.  We read out in the yard on a blanket.  We read while on vacation.  We read while waiting for appointments.

We read a variety of books.  Some were just for fun books –  Mr. Popper’s Penguins, The Wizard of Oz, many of the Boxcar Children books, as well as Laura Ingles Wilder and Mandy series.  We read the Henry and Ribsy series by Beverly Cleary that were favorites of mine when I was a little girl.  Who wouldn’t love reading about the mischievous boy, Henry and his dog, Ribsy?  What fun we had imagining all the scenes in those stories!

We also read some books of missionaries, such  the story of the five American missionaries who ministered to the Auca Indians and were martyred.  The book telling their story is called, Through Gates of Splendor, by Elizabeth Elliot.  We read The Hiding Place; the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her imprisonment in the Concentration Camp during World War II.  We also read other missionary’s biographies, and also read of some evangelists. 

What a blessing reading together as a family is!  If you aren’t doing this, start small and work up to reading bigger books as your children get older.  Even if, like me, you don’t remember all the titles you read, the blessing of spending that time together and the impact of godly people that loved the Lord will impact your children the rest of their lives.

Above all books is the Book – God’s Word.  Does your family love it and read it together?  It’s the only Book that will hold your lives, your very world together when everything comes unglued. 
Love it. 
Read it. 
Memorize it.
It is the Mind of Christ.  Don’t neglect it…make it the first thing you read each day!

I’m trying, by God’s grace, to read a book a month right now.  So far I’ve read:
Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman 
Disciplines of the Home
(Re-read) The Hiding Place
His Word in My Heart – one more chapter to go!

What are you reading – either for yourself or with your family?  Do you have any recommendations of books to read that would strengthen our walk with God, our marriage or our home?  Why not share the title with us?

With love,