I do not believe a day goes by that someone has not pulled a book from our bookshelves. Our family library is a part of our lives and accessible as we live around those familiar shelves that line an entire wall of our family room.
Curiosity is satisfied, references looked up, medical questions answered, school reports accomplished, scriptural insights given and quiet bedtime stories are sought after. Books on poetry, history, geography, classics, nature and wildlife - even Shakespeare - share a place together.Family scripture reading has aided us spiritually and has also helped younger children learn to sound out words and increase vocabulary. Consistent scripture reading has built a spiritual bond between us as a family.
With four sons in our family, nature and wildlife books have been browsed through most often. The dictionary and encyclopedia are most useful. The family home evening manual is the most worn.
Our bookshelves overflow with books that fit too tightly and spill into other bookshelves in bedrooms and basement. Someday these familiar books will find their way to homes of grown children, and pages of happy children's stories will delight our grandchildren.
A book is to be shared. A book is to be discovered, even if every page is not read. A book is to be underlined and notes are to be jotted in margins. It then becomes your treasured reference.
Family travel time has become reading time. Miles fly by much faster as I drive and my husband, Douglas, reads aloud to our family. We have read from books of American short stories, biographies and fiction as the miles rolled by.
On holidays or while camping, we might sit and read together. One 4th of July weekend we read "Man Without a Country." Our boys sat spell-bound for two hours listening, soaking in a good story, weaving pictures in their own minds to fit the author's descriptive words. Sunday night often finds us listening to stories Dad has chosen from Reader's Digest, Church publications, the newspaper or scriptures.
Reading together is quality time. It says to our children or spouse, "I want to be with you, to share with you." One endearing memory of our son, Adam, was when he sat beside me as an 11-year-old boy. Together, tucked snug under a blanket in his room, we read Jack London's "To Build a Fire." The story was so compelling, it would not allow us to stop reading. We read long after midnight, finishing the story together. The book ended, but a memory of a few precious hours together lives fondly in both our hearts. On warm summer evenings, reading together on the front porch or deck can reflect peaceful happy times together with those we love.
I often think of authors - those people who are compelled to put their thoughts, imagination or knowledge into words on paper. I am grateful for their talent and the gift of knowledge that their books bring into our lives.
Our home is a source of learning, and our home library a source of fulfillment.
