A Great Gift

From an early age my mom sought to instill in me a love for reading.  This was no easy task, for unlike Nicole, this love did not come naturally. I was even put in the “Slow Readers Group” in 1st grade, which did nothing to enhance my enthusiasm. During the summer months, when school was out, my passions were directed towards playing outside rather than reading.

But Mom was tenaciously committed to the priority of books for her children. She had a providential conversation with a family friend who said his parents made him and his siblings read for an hour a day when they were growing up. Now, he said, they all have an appetite for reading. This clinched it for Mom. Her kids were going to read an hour a day, whether they liked it or not! 

Recently, on the Together for the Gospel blog, Ligon Duncan quoted Thomas Chalmers: “Perhaps the great gift any father can bestow upon his children, apart from the covenant blessings of parish life and a comprehension of the doctrines of grace, is a passion for reading.  It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives a knowledge of the world, and it offers experience of a wide kind. Indeed, it is nothing less than a moral illumination.”

Reading still doesn’t come easy for me.  However, I still spend time each day enjoying “experiences of a wide kind.” I’m so grateful for my mom’s perseverance with me. She gave me a gift of worth I’ll never be able to adequately measure.

Today, I’m teaching my oldest son Andrew to read. If he was in school, he wouldn’t be in the slow reading group! Unlike his mother, he enjoys books and reading comes easy for him. I expect the ability and love to read might come more slowly for Liam. But regardless of their desires or abilities, I want to give all my boys the great gift of a passion for reading.