Before there was book on tape.......there was me!

I love to read aloud, especially to my family. It all started years ago when our family was traveling from Winnipeg to Kansas City. The children were small and so we decided to make the 14 hour trip through the night so that the children would sleep. We left our house at 5:00 p.m. ate our picnic dinner in the car and then got the children settled for the night. I had brought a book to read and so I picked it up to begin reading. It was "The Client" by John Grishom. Just to be a smart aleck I looked at Garry and began reading it out loud. He gave me a look to let me know that he was not impressed.......so just to be irritating I continued reading aloud. I finished the first chapter and decided that was enough and continued chapter 2 silently. All of a sudden Garry said, " Ahhh...I was really getting into that. Could you keep reading it to me?" I just looked at him in shock. So I kept reading and reading and reading.

After a few hours the sun was disappearing and I was struggling to see the print so I stopped reading. We were just entering a town and Garry pulled over to make a stop. We didn't need gas so I sat patiently in the car as I thought that he needed a "pit stop". Much to my surprise he came out of the convenience store with a flash light.....so I could continue the book. I couldn't believe it. I agreed to read to him only if he went back in the store and bought me a drink as I almost couldn't speak from the reading that I had already done.

To make a long story short I finished the book as we pulled up to my parents house at 8:00 a.m. I had read for 14 hours straight. It took me two days to get my voice back but we had a blast together listening to that story. Over the last 10 years I have read many books to my family and we have thoroughly enjoyed each one. It is a source of comfort to us. It makes us feel like a family.

This has been on my mind as I began reading a book to my son Trace last night. It is a long book and should take us most of the summer holiday to finish. The cool thing is that Trace is now 13. I would have never guessed that he would allow me to read a book to him at this age. I just left his bedroom where I was reading our daily quota of pages. As I finished the last few words of the chapter I noticed that he was sleeping. It was precious. I kissed him good night and told him I loved him and he sleepily said he loved me too. Life does not get better than that I have to tell you. Life may seem complicated in most aspects but nothing is more comforting then simply spending time with someone you love and a good book.

Thank you Jesus for the gift of time with Trace. What a blessing. He won't hold my hand in public but he will let me sit on his bed and read to him and this mom is extremely thankful for that .