There are many WONDERFUL books out there, but these are ones with positive messages that Lucy loves. I also try to find books that celebrate diversity. Anything by Debbie Anderson has beautiful pictures of children of all races (and includes children with wheelchairs) and we both just LOVE them! And, of course, the very best books point to God's truth.
I put a page on the top bar for favorite books, here. But here's a mini-list. These are the books we read every day:
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| Most of All, Jesus Loves You! (Piper) This books is an every night favorite--a beautiful message to send a child off to bed with: You are SO loved! |
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| God Loves You (Bostrom) This one is every night as well. I hope it's message sinks deep into Lucy's heart! It says it over and over again... God loves you just as you are. |
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| Jesus Storybook Bible (Lloyd-Jones) This is WONDERFUL! The stories are too long for her now, but we've skimmed and shortened our way through it several times. The stories are told so beautifully--they feed my heart along with feeding Lucy's. |
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| The Beginner's Bible This one has shorter stories, and Lucy likes being able to read it a few times, then flip through the pictures and retell as much as she can. We read this one or the Storybook one (above) every night with her two favorite books (above). It's so lovely! |
I am so thankful for these books.
I am thankful for the Bible, of course. I love that she's learning stories and that she is asking questions, and that she's memorizing (ish) verses. (I'll share more about our Bible learning in another post.)
I love books myself, so of course, I love to read with Lucy. But I'm realizing how very powerful words are.
The first book, Most of All, Jesus Loves Me, ties her up in a big bundle of the love her family and friends have for her. And then reminds her of the most important part--Jesus loves her even more! She reads this one herself (for the most part) now. I love tucking her in after she's been so assured that her people and her God loves her.
The second one, God Loves You, is so precious. It talks about different kinds of people... you can be messy or you can be neat. You can be pokey or fast on your feet... Then, it says in it about 5 times "God loves you, just as you are." We've read it at least once a day for almost 2 years... so my precious child has heard these powerful, true words thousands of times.
I think that important messages need to be soaked in, we need to be saturated in them. God knows this and told us to hide HIS words in our hearts and to weave them in our conversations (especially with our children) as we come and go and do life. I try to make sure Lucy gets the important messages about her--the truths--that she is special and wonderful and loved, just as she is. Life gets busy and time gets short and I am so thankful that she loves these books, and that they have been a medium for her to hear me saying these words to her thousands of times. I pray that they sink in deep and she never doubts or forgets them.
As I look at what a tricky world it is for teenage girls, full of all kinds of sources of feedback (positive or negative) from everyone they know about every detail they choose to share, I get a little antsy... Will these words of truths stick? Will she know what a perfectly crafted creation she is? Will she remember that MOST OF ALL (most importantly of all, and far more importantly than any facebook like, twitter follower, media, or boyfriend) JESUS loves her? I hope and pray so!
And I say, "Let's read it again!"
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