Thorn

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this
reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in
the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me- to keep me from
exalting myself!

Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave
me. And he has said to me, "my grace is sufficient for you, for power
is perfected in weakness." most gladly, therefore I will rather boast
about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
(Paul, 2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

At one time or another each of us has probably said that we have been
given a thorn in the flesh that we continually ask God to take away.
Today Has been a painful reminder of how weak I am, how vulnerable,
and how imperfect. On impact, my thorn temps me to blame God or
question his intentions for me. Does he really have my best interest
at heart? How many times have I asked Him to take it away? How many
times have I sought answers and come up empty?  But as I reflect more
solemnly on my condition, I realize that He is giving me the very gift
that I desire - to be less and less dependent on myself and my
strength and more and more dependent on his love and salvation. When i
give up on my own self-will and simply let Christ be my strength, I am
made perfect in my weakness through Him. This is all a mystery to
those who don't know him. It sounds foolish to a world that values
believing in oneself above all things. (Mark 4:11-12; Eph 3:8-10; 1Cor
2:6-16).

We don't know what Paul's thorn was, but he was wise enough to
understand that it kept him from glorifying himself as he made
diciples for Christ. The Spirit that was in him, and taught him is the
same Spirit that is in me and you, if you follow Jesus Christ. He is
the same Spirit that told Paul, tells me, and tells you that "my grace
is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Thank you,
Lord, for teaching me to trust you, for increasing my faith, and for
loving me so well.

Childrens Classics

If you have known me for a bit of time, you might know that I love classic literature. I greatly enjoy discovering the depth of old world language. Ah, the descriptions that Dickens can muster! However, I would not consider myself, by any means, to be “well read” in the classics. I pick and choose carefully. A literary buff (think of that scary high school Literature teacher) would likely scoff at my “must read” list of Austen, Bronte, Dickens and Dumas. For instance, the cultured among us insist that to love classic literature is to love War and Peace and the like. I’m sure its unfair of me to knock a book I’ve never read, but for all his touting, I’ve never been able to get through anything written by Leo Tolstoy. I read about half way through Anna Karenina and finally decided that the only reason I was reading it was to prove something about my keen ability to understand Russian sagas. Apparently, “my keen ability” was greatly overestimated and self-preservation from intense boredom eventually won out. I remember my grandmother telling me that she was reading Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. Her commendation of the book in a nutshell was, “It took me forever to finish it”. (what is up with these Russian writers?) No, thank you. Not I. I shall stick to my Jany Eyre and David Copperfield, as simplistic as they might seem to some (enter, in my mind, the face of afore mentioned Literature Teacher).

As you can see, in my humble opinion, some literature is too celebrated. There is another set, if you will, of classic literature that has perhaps been under-acclaimed. That is, classics originally written for children. For those new to the classics or those who enjoy vibrant stories with beautiful lessons, I encourage you to re-think the impact of chidrens classic literature. Books like The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain, Heidi by Johanna Spyri, and The Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald, will settle your heart with a simple gladness. If you read these as children, don’t take for granted what you could glean from an adult perspective. The child characters will humble you with their goodness, encourage you with their devotion, and boost your spirit with their trusting perseverance. Your children will certainly love these stories. But I would make a bet that you might just love them even more. 

As an aspiring childrens writer... well, aspiring might be too strong of a word...rather, as a want-to-be-one-of-these-days children's writer, its important for me to immerse myself in the books that have withstood the test of time. So feel free to tell me your favorites so I can add them to my list.

Want some additional recommendations? Here is a nice list from Amazon. Many of these are free to download on your computer, phone or ipad from either Amazon, ibooks or the Kendal app.

At the Back of the North Wind