Mom and words and the Word

Words are my favorite. Particularly written words. Without them there would be no Scrabble, no Shakespeare, fortune cookies would just be cookies and Ben Franklin would never have invented libraries. Written words are a significant part of my life and have been since I first entered the infinite and captivating world of reading. If Accelerated Reader programs had existed in the '80s, I would have been king of Byrdstown Elementary School. Although I'm not sure Tarzan and James Bond would have been on the AR list. Reading and writing words has defined me. Words won me couple of spelling contests, a high SAT score, and a wife. Yes, a wife. There's a good story in there about anonymous poems and lifeguard duty, but I'll save it for another post. Let's just say written words were instrumental in getting my future wife to date me.

And I owe this all to my Mom. She passed on to me a passion for words.

Remember Boggle? Mom taught me this game consisting of dice that had letters instead of numbers. you put them in a box, shook the box until the cubes settled, then looked at the letters, combining them to make as many words as possible. I loved it. I could never beat mom, but very few others stood a chance. An then came Scrabble, which I still play regularly, although my live-in opponent has become quite good and beats me often.
Mom introduced me to Charles Dickens. Not literally of course, that's not a crack about her age. But Dickens personified to me perfection in crafting phrases, descriptions and characters that came alive as I read. It was Mom who opened this door for me.
Mom always encouraged my writing. She delighted in everything I put on paper, whether it was actually good or not. She always made me feel like a great talent, a future Dickens or Frost.

I still read a few books a month. I still write fairly often. I am so blessed to inherit the gift of words from my Mom.

My earliest memories of church and Sunday School revolve around my Mother. Not only was she the one pinching me into submission during the sermons, but she was also my Sunday School teacher. Always. I was in High School before I ever had a Sunday School teacher who hadn't given birth to me. And I am so grateful for the incredible passion for God's Word that she passed on to me.

Early on I knew the 12 sons of Jacob in birth order, the Judges of Israel in chronological order, the 12 disciples, not to mention the Books of the Bible and dozens of other helpful details about the Bible. I'm certain she deserves credit for my score on the Bible Knowledge exam taken by Bible College freshman - second highest in my class (the kid who beat me had been preaching part time since he was 16).
I learned not only about the Word, but learned to treasure it, to hold it in high regard, and to trust it.
Today I enjoy an enthusiasm for studying and teaching God's word that has led me into a career in ministry and a life of fulfillment and joy.

And today, I still hold regular conversations with my Mom about the Word, how to understand it better and live it out more fully.

Thank you mom for passing on to me your passion for words and, most importantly, for the Word. These passions have embedded themselves into the GPS coordinates of my life to this point with no
recalculating in sight.