The Power of a Good Story

    (May you enjoy the pictures scattered throughout this blog documenting some of my reading times with the kids over the years.)

 Bedtime reading with Caleb, Danny and Miguel

      I love reading! And, I love reading to our kids! I read to them during devotions right after breakfast. Right now we are reading a Max Lucado book that highlights different Biblical characters in each chapter with discussion questions at the end. (If you imagine a great, deep, applying-Biblical-principles-to-daily-life, round-table type scenario, then you need to reset your imagination. Most days we finish morning devotions and I have only a glimmer of hope that some little seed of something landed on some half-decent soil in at least some child's heart that, by the grace of God, may bring some fruit in about 20 some years!) We read “Our Daily Bread” and its accompanying Scripture references for devotions after supper as a family (followed by several riddles or jokes to end the meal laughing together). The four youngest hear me read a storybook at bedtime, along with “The Bible for Little Eyes” (same one my parents read to us when my brother and I were little), as well as its accompanying comprehension questions. The middle kids get to hear “Don't Leave Your Brain at the Door” by Josh McDowell for bedtime devotions and discussion. As the kids grow they do more and more of the reading in each one of these situations.

  

Reading on the playground during recess.  

     However, one reading time that I don't give up to anybody, not even to a fellow teacher, is when I read out loud to the kids for at least 15 minutes during their morning recess at 11:00 a.m.  Those are some of my favorite 15 minutes of the day....all of the kids gathered on the front porch, several finishing up their mid-morning snack, and I get to transport us to another time, another place and tell a story!

Reading during recess in our schoolroom.

     Where did I learn the power of a story? First, from the Word Himself! It doesn't take long as one reads the Gospels to realize that Jesus loved to tell a good story, and not just for the story-telling sake of its telling! He knew that stories moved hearts and brought lessons home like no sermon on any mount would! I suppose He got his love for stories from His Father who, after all, named Him the Word!

Reading on the porch with Ruth, David, Ana and Caleb.

     My own father, also my pastor, and a master word crafter par excellence, taught me the power of a story. From my weekly perch on the wooden pew every Sunday for my first 18 years of life, I listened to his stories support, exemplify, draw us in and apply Biblical truths to our daily lives.  

     Then there was my mother. She loves reading and could never be caught without a Guideposts or Reader's Digest in her purse for those moments when you have to wait and wait on something. She could rewrite Mary Poppins' famous diddy to say: “Just a good little story makes the wait seem much shorter, the wait seem much,  shorter....” Growing up, our third address was the local library (after our home and church, of course). Preschool storytime and summer reading programs formed part of our routine. In fact, we spent many hours at the library each summer. Mom, of course, wanted to instill in us a love for reading, but could all the summer hours spent there also have had to do with the fact that the library had air-conditioning while our home did not?

Reading in the hammock with Ana, Danny and Ruth.

     Finally, Mrs. D'Alton, my fifth grade teacher, cemented in my being the value of reading out loud. I cried when my fourth grade report card informed me that I would sit under the strict tutelage of Mrs. D'Alton my entire fifth grade year. I begged my mother to go to school right away and get me transferred to a different classroom, as Mrs. D'Alton's reputation had preceeded her presence in my life. Mom wisely told me to attend Mrs. D'Alton's class for one week and then we would revisit the topic. So, the fall of 1986 arrived and I became one of Mrs. D'Alton's students. A week into school Mom asked me if I still wanted to change classrooms. “Not on my life!” You see, everyday after recess we would all stream back into the classroom, Mrs. D'Alton would pull her wooden stool front and center and begin reading out loud. “Where the Red Fern Grows”, “The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles” and other incredible stories transported me from that fifth grade classroom to new dimensions!

Reading in the office with Carolina, Ruth and Ana.

     So, now, everyday after recess, we gather on the porch and I bet on the power a story! We have read the entire Narnia series twice, “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh”, and several of the Ramona Quimby books, among others.  A few weeks ago, we began the classic “In His Steps” by Charles Sheldon from whence came the infamous question: “What would Jesus do?” It is a story that changed my life as an adolescent. I pray, and ask you to do so as well, that the Word and spinner of parables would use this story to touch the hearts and lives of my children, so that they may, in turn, touch the hearts and lives of others.

    So, go, find a good story and may its power transport and transform you!

Reading in the living room with Jocelin, Fidel, Ruth, Diana, Martita, Caleb and Martha.