Books Waiting

Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 65: Today, I am grateful I have books waiting. 

What luxurious life we lead, if we have more books to read than time to read them.

Think about it. PBS recently ran a commercial about a young Native American girl who remembers with vivid emotion the first time a Bookmobile showed up near the fields were her family worked the local crops. She first peaked in a window and the gentleman saw her and invited her in to look. She chose a book on volcanoes... as she lived near Mount St. Helen... and one on dinosaurs. Everyone loves dinosaur books, right?

She obtained high degrees... and it all goes back to the moment she embraced that there were things she could learn because there are books waiting to be read. 

I love to read. I got in trouble for reading when I should have been sleeping. I, still, struggle with time management if I am reading a great book. 

Recently, I find myself using audio books for fun fiction reads, but if I want to really learn from a book, I want it in my hands to make notes and add post-it notes. If I love it, I buy it for gifting. Few books make it into that category... but there are a few.  

Of this I am sure, I will always have books waiting to be read. I can't keep up. I will always find reading a luxury, as it whisks us away to another time, place or even culture. 

The Bible has truly become my favorite book. Not just for the wisdom and learning between its pages... but for the mysteries that God continues to reveal when we seek him as we read it. My Journaling Bible has print that is too tiny, but I love it anyway for the markings, thoughts, song lyrics and "eureka" moments recorded. My youth/high school Bible I gave to a new believer. My college Bible has some class notes... it is large print and not fancy... but I love all the color in it after years of study and Bible class and sermon notes in the margins. 

The thing about the Bible is that every time I read it... it can reveal something new and profound. It is His way. 

I have a few Lisa Bevere books waiting to be read. "Girls with Swords" and "Lioness Rising" quotes keep popping up in Pinterest and I want to read a little more as her heart strikes a chord with mine. 

Paul loved learning, which is evident in his resume and his vocabulary. He longed to share the things God revealed to him on the journey. He enjoyed books and writing. Paul in a letter to Timothy writes this:

When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. -2 Timothy 4:13

What books? It  The books may have been the scriptures... or books by disciples who had already died. It doesn't clearly say. Still, I love that he "left his coat" - either forgotten or left intentionally to warm one who did not have a coat - and needed books and parchments.There was more to write to the young believers. 

Books to be read and books to write. Books are a luxury and a private getaway.

Today, I am grateful I have books waiting.