The summer of. . . .

Books!

CJ really got into the summer reading program this year.  Getting credit for reading to her siblings was exciting for her, and so was being an independent reader!  I got a few books that would support her in learning the short and long vowel sounds along with the constants and blends.  This week is the last week to get credit for her reading time and one big prize left to go!

Sweetness and Kjetil enjoy being quiet and reading to themselves.  Sweetness will "read" the story to Kjetil who sits captivated. Especially if it is a book about trains.  Both are often the students when they play school together while CJ teaches them and reads to them.  Tag readers are also popular at our house.

Even I was able to get some reading done. In fact, I read 5 books in the past seven weeks.   I mentioned a couple of them before.  Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen was an excellent book.  I will not put the movie on my list.

The last two books I read were non fiction.  They challenged me, encouraged me, and made me question.  All of those are good things.  When our concepts are pushed, and we look at things from a new perspective, we grow and that is important. One of the many wonderful things about reading!

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent.
Have a tissue box ready, it is a gripping emotional journey, even if by the fact that this book is written, you know the ending.  Well at least part of the ending.  I'll even give you a clue. Colton at age 4 ended up getting very sick. His life was threatened, more than once during this illness.  He survives, and in bits and pieces shares with his parents what happened during his first surgery.  Another spoiler, he got to meet Jesus, he really did, and a few other notables, but I'm not giving it all away!

The imagery that this little boy described in four year old terms is amazing. And supports descriptions found in the Bible. Also, and this leads to the next book, through his experience, any preconceived ideas one may have about heaven are challenged and we are shown that God has a really big plan, our ideas of time do not pertain to heaven, and God's unconditional love is just that and we are loved beyond our own imaginations!

So what was the last book? One that was sparking controversy before it was even released. Love Wins, by Rob Bell.  Before I read it, I had been digging into my Bible a little bit more, for various reasons. Something that really struck me was how Jesus at every opportunity to judge or condemn instead responded with grace, mercy, compassion and LOVE.  The book is written in a conversation type of style. Bell asks lots of questions and they require you to consider them. So this was not a quick read as I had expected it to be.  Many of the questions are ones that people have a hard time asking or have been told, not to ask.

However, look at Jesus' ministry, he responded most often to questions, with another question.  With the ideas and questions that Bell presented, I did not feel as if he was saying we must suddenly believe in the (sometimes) radical ideas he was presenting. Much more of a philosophical, what if, what about this or what about that approach.

It was encouraging to read a book that doesn't shy away from tough topics. And at the same time, Bell left these topics open ended, with questions so that each reader might look within themselves and pray with God and grow spiritually. To read this after reading Heaven is for Real, I found my self often thinking about what the little boy saw and what the Bible says about Heaven and what Bell has discussed about Heaven and Hell, reaffirmed to me that God is really big, God really does unconditionally love us and that sets us free.  Free to make our own choices, free to live in Hell -on earth or not, or to choose to live in Heaven -which can also be found on earth as well as someplace else.

Returning to the Bible, over and over God gives us another chance. Jesus indicates that redemption is always an option.  While it is nice to put things into our (small) frame of reference, God has a much bigger picture, and that is exciting. I want to be a part of that bigger picture, and from what the Bible tells me, Love Wins!