Sharing an Adventure

In my last blog, I shared the importance of books in the life of a family.  Stories allow us adventures we would otherwise miss.  And sharing those stories with others creates an even deeper memory.  Reading aloud binds a family together around a shared experience.  The characters reach out and touch us and become a part of our family life.  We discuss them as old friends.  Their experiences become a part of our family experience.  Meaningful conversations ensue as we talk over the thoughts and ideas that have been introduced.  Every person in the family can enjoy a good read aloud.  Any book of interest can become a family read aloud.

I asked my children which books they enjoyed reading aloud.  All of my girls remembered Jane Eyre as their favourite read aloud.  Jane touched each of their lives in memorable ways.  After reading the book aloud, we watched several movies and discussed which ones were the best representations of the novel.  How did each one portray the novel correctly?  Where did each one fail?  The Count of Monte Cristo was also among their favourites along with The Chronicles of Narnia.  Who would not enjoy hearing the adventures in Narnia read aloud?  Understood Betsy, Little Britches, Pollyanna, and Just David were also a part of the list.  And I can’t forget to mention The Little House books.  Each one of the above books holds a place in the hearts of each of my children.

The lives of my children were also touched by the Christian Heroes:  Then and Now series published by YWAM.  These stories of missionaries and the work they did in other countries provided us with powerful visions of goodness and showed us moral heroism in action.  As a family we were transported to past times and faraway places.  We saw missionaries in action.  We traveled with Amy Carmichael to India at the turn of the century where we were able to experience not only the caste system, but also the misuse of girls in the temple worship.  We exulted in this single, missionary woman who dared to rescue young girls from the temple life and to touch the Indian lives around her with the hope of the gospel.  We have enjoyed most of the books in this series and my children highly recommend them.  Maybe this is why my children all have an interest in missions and foreign lands. 

Reading aloud has other benefits as well.  It allows children to experience an adventure that is written above their personal reading level.  It helps children to become better listeners.  Studies have shown that children whose parents read to them regularly and at length are far more capable of listening and understanding what they hear than are the children whose parents don’t read to them or read to them but little.  Reading aloud also helps children to become better readers themselves.  A 1985 report by the United States Government Commission on Reading concluded that “the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”  And the publication What Works:  Research about Teaching and Learning by the U.S. Department of Education stated that, “The best way for parents to help their children become better readers is to read to them.” 

Gladys Hunt reminds us, something happens when we read aloud “which is better experienced than described – a kind of enlarging of heart – when we encounter passages full of grand language and nobility of thought.”  Great books are meant to be shared!  I encourage your family to share an adventure.  Savour the time together around a good book.  Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt is a great place to find books that will touch the hearts of everyone in your family.  Choose one today.

Thank God for Books!

When I walk into a room filled with books, my first inclination is to browse the titles.  I long to pull down a book and to look inside its covers, to read a few pages and to sample the adventures that it holds.  There is something very magical about books.  They charm us.  Whether one homeschools or not, good literature should have a prominent place in everyone’s home.  Books should be the decor of every room.

Susan Schaeffer Macaulay writes that good books contain the throb of human life.  Good books embody living ideas that make the mind come alive.  They transport us to unknown places and introduce us to unfamiliar people.  They set alight our imaginations and open the doors of interest and curiosity.  The stories that we read in the pages of a good book inform us and trigger us to ask questions. 

Ever since the beginning of time stories have been a part of the human experience.  The Bible from the book of Genesis on is largely a book of stories.  It contains true stories that show us God’s relation to man.  Jesus knew the importance of stories.  Much of His teaching comes to us in the form of stories that are filled with vivid imagery.  They teach us the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.  “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.”  “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.”  We remember the prodigal son and the good Samaritan.  Flannery O’Connor comments, “A story is a way to say something that can’t be said any other way, and it takes every word to say what the meaning is.”

Just as the stories of Jesus move us to a higher level, so do other stories in our possession.  A story like Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte introduces us to a complex moral situation and prepares us to make wiser decisions.  We don’t blame Mr. Rochester for his deception.  But we know in our hearts that he is wrong in what he has done.  We admire Jane for the decision she makes.  We know that she has chosen wisely.  Her character makes us think.  She inspires us and evokes us to make decisions with deeper conviction.

Stories not only move us to higher levels.  They also allow us to experience the pains and humiliations of the characters involved.  We learn to empathize with characters like Edmund Dantes and Mercedes from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.  We feel his pain and humiliation when he is arrested on false charges and then imprisoned.  We pity him as he spends long years in solitary confinement.  And we understand his reasons for revenge.  His experience helps us to develop a greater sensitivity for others and the actions they take.  

With stories we can better understand the people around us.  We can also better understand ourselves.  Stories often touch our hearts in places of vulnerability.  In The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, we can see ourselves in many ways.  Haven’t we done or felt some of the very things we read about?  When Aslan admonishes Shasta from The Horse and His Boy, “I am telling you your story, not hers.  I tell no-one any story but his own,” or when he reminds Lucy in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, “Child, did I not explain to you once before that no one is ever told what would have happened?”  we see into our own hearts and we are admonished and reminded ourselves.

The merits of good literature are numerous.  Books are one way that we are able to learn about and experience the world around us.  As James Freeman Clarke said, “Let us thank God for books.  When I consider what some books have done for the world, and what they are doing, how they keep up our hope, awaken new courage and faith, soothe pain, give an ideal life to those whose homes are cold and hard, bind together distant ages and foreign lands, create new worlds of beauty, bring down truths from heaven – I give eternal blessings for this gift, and pray that we may use it aright, and abuse it not.”  Yes, let us fill our lives and homes with good literature to be read day after day.  Let us learn from the lives within the pages.  And let us thank God for His wonderful gift of stories.

Be Still and Know

Be still and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!

-Psalm 46:10

A mother’s life is a busy life.  I know; I am a mother.  This week has been especially busy, so busy that when our furnace broke yesterday, I told my husband that I did not have time for the furnace repairman to come and fix it.  What was I thinking?  I hate cold and a sleety storm was happening outside the window!  How does a mother handle the busyness of her life?  My mind turned to the poem often quoted by Elisabeth Elliot, And Do the Next Thing.  Yes, trust the resultings to Jesus and “do the next thing.” 

Even more important than doing the next thing is focussing on the right thing.  Not on the “right thing” really, but on the “right One.”  In all that our daily lives require, our focus must stay on the One who really matters, the Lord.  Be still and know that I am God.  To place it all at His feet, to be still, to know that He is God.  And then to rest in Him, knowing that He is in control and that He will give me all the time and strength that I need to complete the tasks that matter most.  He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  He is a help not in trouble only, but also in the times when we feel overwhelmed. 

In Psalm 42, the psalmist writes, “As a deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”  Later he laments, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?  And why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God.”  The peace and quietness of this scene fills my soul.  I desire to drink deeply from the refreshing water that only He can provide.  I want to rest in Him even when the busyness of being a wife and homeschooling mother threatens to disquiet me.  Why am I disquieted?  I only need to hope in Him.  What a blessed thought!

The furnace repairman came in good time.  I was able to get many of the things done that needed doing.  And I marvelled at the One who worked out all the details.  Indeed, why was I disquieted?  I am left wondering when I will learn that all important lesson of focussing my attention on Him and resting in His plans for my life.  When will I learn with Martha, that I am worried and troubled about many things, but only one thing is needed.  

I leave my reader’s with the anonymous poem

And Do the Next Thing

From an old English parsonage, down by the sea

There came in the twilight a message to me;

Its quaint Saxon legend, deeply engraven,

Hath, as it seems to me, teaching from Heaven.

And on through the hours the quiet words ring

Like a low inspiration – “DO THE NEXT THING.”

Many a questioning, many a fear,

Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.

Moment by moment, let down from Heaven,

Time, opportunity, guidance, are given.

Fear not tomorrows, Child of the King,

Trust them with Jesus, “DO THE NEXT THING.”

Do it immediately; do it with prayer;

Do it reliantly, casting all care;

Do it with reverence, tracing His Hand

Who placed it before thee with earnest command.

Stayed on Omnipotence, safe near His wing,

Leave all resultings, “DO THE NEXT THING.”

Get in the Game!

Exercise yourself toward godliness.

For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

-1 Timothy 4:7-8

And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

-2 Timothy 2:5

God doesn’t have fans; He has players!  Get in the game!  With these words Charles Ware concludes Special Forces for the Savior in the Demolishing Strongholds series from Answers in Genesis.  The players are on the field playing the game while the fans are sitting in the stands.  And although the fans cheer wildly, eighty percent do not understand the game at all.  They understand when a goal or basket is made, but they have no understanding of the rules of the game.  If they were put on the field to play, they would be lost as far as the regulations and terminology.  The other twenty percent physically can’t play the game.  They are not in physical shape.  If they were put on the field, they would fall panting before the game was over.  Players know the rules.  Players are in shape for the game.

Parents and teachers are not only individual players; they are also coaches.  Coaches know the rules.  Coaches play the game.  But their influence goes deeper.  They develop the players.  Without the coach, the team players lack direction, instruction, and training.  Without the coach, the team players are limited in what they can achieve.  A good coach knows, advises, and motivates his players.  He demonstrates strategies of the game.  He challenges his players to play harder and better.  A coach is an important part of the team.  He can’t drop the ball.

Let us therefore run in such a way that we gain the prize.  Let us not run with uncertainty.  Let us not fight as though beating the air.  Let us discipline our bodies and compete according to the rules.  We must run with endurance the race set before us.  We must coach our children to be winners in the game.  We must endure hardship and expect challenges.  Our goal is the prize and our focus is Jesus.  As Charles Ware reminds us, it’s a game.  People like a good game that is played with skill and proficiency.  Let’s play the game to win!

Answers in Genesis has produced a resource to assist teens in the game, Demolishing Strongholds.  These DVDs feature four “highly engaging” speakers, Ken Ham, Bill Jack, Charles Ware, and Carl Kerby.  The topics include Counterfeit Reality, Answers to Difficult Questions, War of the Worldviews, Evolution of Pop Culture, Special Forces for the Savior, and Simple Tools for Brain Surgery.  Each one is produced to “prepare your students to stand firm on the authority of God’s Word” and to “challenge them to activate their faith.”  Best of all, each can be watched online free at answersingenesis.org.  Simply search video on demand, demolishing strongholds.

A Mother's Example

Strength and honour are her clothing;

She shall rejoice in time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom,

And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

She watches over the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praises her:

“Many daughters have done well,

But you excel them all.”

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But the woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands,

And let her own works praise her in the gates.

-Proverbs 31:25-31

A mother is a woman of influence.  She imparts values, stimulates creativity, and nurtures strengths.  She opens the world to her children.  Ellyn Sanna writes, “As mothers we have an awesome opportunity:  the chance to plant seeds, kindle fires, and impart a legacy of wealth.”  What could be more significant and more glorifying to God than to raise our children to walk in His ways and to take their God-given place in society?  Raising children is a great privilege; it is also a profound responsibility.  Whether we realize it or not, a mother’s example is one of the greatest teachers that her children possess.

A Tamil proverb says, “As the thread, so the garment; as the mother, so the child.”  Just as the grade of the threads determines the quality of the garment, so the example of the mother instructs the character of the child.  We see this strong influence of a mother throughout the Scriptures.  Consider Hannah and her godly influence on Samuel.  Study the kings and their mothers.  Read Paul’s acknowledgement of the faith which first dwelt in Timothy’s grandmother and mother and which was now in Timothy as well.  How a mother lives her life and faith before her children is a significant contributor to the way her children will live out their lives and faith.    

How can a mother fulfill this awesome responsibility?  How can she be the godly example that she desires to be?  Paul gives some excellent advice to Timothy.  He instructs Timothy to be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.  We, as mothers, must also take heed to our ministry and be examples to our children in these same six areas.  Do our words encourage and uplift?  Is our conduct godly?  Do we show love to those around us?  Are we faithful to the Lord in our spirits?  Is our faith in the Lord growing and thriving?  Are we living pure lives in what we watch and read?

Paul goes on to instruct Timothy to give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.  In our ministry of motherhood we must also give attention to these matters.  We must faithfully read God’s Word on a daily basis.  We must be consistent in our exhortations of our children.  We must know what we believe and we must diligently teach it to our children.  Paul then tells Timothy that he must meditate on these things and, in fact, give himself entirely to them.  His progress should be evident to all.  Do we meditate on these things?  Do we give ourselves entirely to them?  Are we progressing in our faith?  Is our progression evident to all?

As mothers our lives are constantly before our children.  They perceive more than we often realize.  Our ministry as mothers will have flaws.  At times we will fail.  But we can rest in the fact that the mother who fears the Lord will be fruitful in the works of her hands.  The children of the mother who follows after the Lord will rise and call her blessed.  Her husband will also rise and praise her.  Let us then focus our attention on Him as we go about our daily duties.