Reading and Thinking

It's been over a week since I've posted and I want to thank the wonderful ladies who wrote to ask if everything was okay. Your friendship means so much. I've actually been fine, just catching up on some reading. I seem to start more than one book at a time, which is not the best idea, I know. With homeschooling, my reading time is limited anyway, so I just decided to catch up.

Both books had to do with Holland. It wasn't planned, it just turned out that way. The first one, "Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates" was written as a children's book, and I'd picked it up to see if I'd like to read it aloud to my kids. I loved it. Maybe some of you read it when you were a child, but I hadn't. Along with learning about the strong moral character of the Brinker family, I learned so much about the history of Holland.

This second book was "Anne Frank Remembered". It is the story of Miep Gies. She died in January of this year at the age of 100, and was one of the people who helped hide The Frank family. A wonderful book, this was another story that had me digging deeper into info on WWII and the terrible extent of hardship endured. I'm not sure I'd ever realized the extent of occupation that took place during this time, or how many countries were occupied. Since becoming a blogger, I've met several people from those countries, and realizing that their parents and grandparents lived through this, makes it more real. Maybe some of your own family did too.

My father and uncles were in that war, but occupation is something that I'd only heard about. We don't know what it's like, living here in America. When I was a teen, I heard Corrie ten Boom speak. I remember this little old lady walking up to the podium, and I also remember thinking that this was going to be boring. Oh my goodness, was I ever wrong! You could've heard a pin drop. She held the attention of everyone in that room as she shared about her life. Her book, "The Hiding Place" is one of my favorites.

Books get us thinking, don't they? Am I teaching my kids to work hard as Hans Brinker did, and not think that hand outs are something they are due? That even in the face of adversity, we are to do the right thing? I hope so. I'm also very thankful that I haven't had to live through these hardships. Not the hardship of the Jewish people. Not the hardship of the people living in countries occupied by a foreign dictator. Not wondering where my next meal will come from. I know I've been blessed. I hope that I teach my children never to take these blessings for granted.
Blessings,
Marcia