Thankful...Day 6

Anyone who knows me will not be in the least bit surprised about what I am grateful for today. I am thankful for books. I love books for so many reasons. Some of these reasons are listed below, in no particular order.

Some books help me to really recognize and appreciate how many blessings I have living in this land of freedom with relative wealth. Some books teach me how to do things such as be a better parent. Some books help me learn about history, science, geography, cultures or other topics.

Reading helps me connect with my children. We listen to books on CD together on the relatively long car ride to and from school each day. I read to them most nights before bed. Michelle is reading some fifth grade level books in Spanish this year, and it is challenging for her. So often I read the book in English and she reads it in Spanish and we talk about it.

Reading holds many pleasant memories for me from throughout my life, including with my parents and sisters growing up.

One of my favorite parts of being a teacher is reading aloud to my students and watching them learn to read better and catch an excitement for reading.

Reading has helped me develop friendships. I am in a book club and have come to really love the other women in my book club, and our shared reading as well as our shared lives have been a blessing to me. In addition, I have made online friends on Goodreads that I have never met but that I still feel a connection to.

But perhaps, the reason I am most thankful for reading is that after a long day of being a full time teacher, a mom, a wife, a friend, and a Relief Society President, reading gives me a chance to unwind, relax and energize myself. It allows me to refocus so that I can do it all again tomorrow, usually fairly happily.

And most importantly, in the eternal scheme of things, some books (and I think in many ways, most books I read even though not religious in nature) help me increase my love for the Savior and help me strengthen my testimony.
After all, Alma 30:44 says, "But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." All things denote there is a God. Including good books.

I am a bit obessed with them...so here's the stack of books I am reading/listening to either by myself or with my children. (And this doesn't include the picture books I read to Gabby daily and often to the other girls as well.)