Mom Heart Moments #266

The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WAYS we can love our children is by cultivating in them a love for learning, growing their intellect and giving them a broad base of education. Research widely indicates that a child who is read to will have a larger capacity for solving problems, possess a greater vocabulary, be more socially adjusted, test better, be more likely to become a leader, and the list goes on and on.

There is nothing more helpful for building the soul or drawing children to your ideas of faith than investing long hours reading together. A child does not just turn into a reader by chance; it is a cultivated habit, a discipline of life.

If you really want to give your children this profound gift of love, you must stop the other things you are doing and read every day. If you wait until you have time, it will never happen.

Delight in great stories, and teach the written word passionately. Treasure words and ideas and history in front of your children so that they will fall in love with language.

Plan a great list of wonderful books to cozy up and read with your children. Make it a daily ritual. Cuddle up on the couch. Use great voices. Get excited!

If we lose the gift of reading in this generation, we will lose the ability to reason, to understand God’s greatness, to think well, to have convictions. We must keep literacy up! It is one of the most important works of our lives. If children do not learn to love to read, they will not become readers of the Bible —the best words. They will love reading if you read out loud to them and cherish them and celebrate great stories together with them in peace and joy.

How is the habit of reading being cultivated in your own life? Filling your own soul is an important place to begin.