I enjoy putting people in touch with books that benefit them. I've likened it to the satisfaction a matchmaker must feel when he or she sees a happy couple whose meeting they arranged. In part, my joy comes from having someone else share in what for me is a source of great delight. Sometimes I consider while reading that I'm reading for others as well as for my own pleasure and edification. We never know how the ideas that we take the time to pour over will prepare us to be of help to others. Therefore, reading is a stewardship of sorts. It can be a means of equipping us to be better lovers of God and our neighbor.
Though I think of it often, today I'm especially mindful of my great gratitude to my mother. My love for reading and learning is the result of her influence. She read to me often when I was growing up and went so far as to record bedtime stories for me on evenings when she had to be away. She saw to it that I had a subscription to "My Weekly Reader" early on and I eagerly looked forward to ripping open the new books when they arrived in the mail. When I get flustered by my children's persistent "Why's," I remember how patiently my mother endured my curiosity and even encouraged it. How glad I am that she didn't pour water on the flickering flame of my inquisitiveness.
My mother didn't become a follower of Christ until after I became an adult but in God's good providence she nurtured gifts and interests now employed in God's service. Through mine, her life touches others (including any who enjoy reading any of my ramblings) to the praise of God's glorious grace in Christ.
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