Outcomes

When the girls were very young, we only read good books to them. Our reasons were entirely selfish, as we could not stomach reading the bubble-gum colored tripe the publishers were serving up. There was no fore-planning of any grand results of our self-centered book choices. So we read AA Milne, Beatrix Potter, Shel Silverstein, Arnold Lobel and oh my, yes- Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss. Over and over we would read the words of the dear Doctor, until the girls could finish any of the sentences that we started.

Soon it was time for The Little House series, shortly after that CS Lewis. And so it went. Fast forward a bit over a decade and the standard reading fare is now: Chesterton, Dickens, Austin, Tolkien, Gaskell, Cather, Twain, Hugo, Verne, Doyle, MacDonald. Nope, no Twilight for the 3 teen girls here.

We listened to good music (except my embarrassing affection for 80's music); they have taken music lessons for years and now they adore: Glenn Miller, Bach, show tunes, Scott Joplin, folk music, jazz, Mozart, and sweeping orchestral movements, Strauss, and Elmer Bernstein.

We have always been avid movie watchers, and we were selective about what they saw. They now choose to watch: black & white 30's/40's decade movies, Kathrine Hepburn, Gene Kelly, Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Judy Garland, Jimmy Stewart, 50's westerns, musicals, I Love Lucy and many BBC period piece series.

Okay, this totally sounds like a nauseating brag-fest, but that is not the intent. I am humbled to my knees at the grace of God. This is a recent realization- that our haphazard decisions, made without any grand plan of outcome, He has taken and used to give them discernment for things that are good and beautiful. He has taken our most feeble efforts and used them for our children's good. God has blessed us beyond all measure.