I love to read.
Even as a young child, I would read all. the. time.
When I was in Kindergarten, I was reading 4th grade books.
I was that kid who got in trouble for staying up past my bedtime trying to sneak and read with a flashlight.
I was that kid who would check out the limit of books at the library and have them all read in a week.
All the cliches, that was me.
I just loved reading.
It was always an escape for me.
I could disappear from my world and whatever was going on around me for a few hours and become absorbed in another world and whatever adventures could be found there.
When I was young, my absolute favorites were the Nancy Drew and Mandie series. I read every one of those I could get my hands on…and I still love to read those!
As I got a little older, it became The Babysitter’s Club, The Boxcar Children, The Magic Tree House… Anything like that.
When I was in high school, it became Jane Austen, Mary Higgins Clark and J.R. Tolkien books.
My scope wasn’t only limited to fiction, however.
I also love biographies.
I love reading about other people’s lives.
Not just any people though.
Missionaries.
The true stories of people who did something extraordinary for God.
A story that seems too incredible to be real, but it actually happened.
They gave the pen of their life to God and let Him write their story, and the result was more than anything anyone could’ve imagined.
My love for missionary biographies can be traced back to one book I read as a seven year old little girl in Atlanta, Georgia…. “Bruchko.”
“Bruchko” is the incredible true story of 19-year-old Bruce Olsen who went to the Motilone Indian tribe in South America.
If you’ve never read it, or even heard of it, please take the time to read this book.
It can be found here: Bruchko
This book literally changed my life.
It gave me more of a hunger and a thirst to know this God that could work such miracles.
I began to soak up every missionary biography I could find:
George Muller
Eric Liddell
David Livingston
John G. Paton
Amy Carmichael
Mary Slessor
Jonathon Goforth
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does give you the idea.
These people served God and depended on Him, not just in theory, but in reality.
They faced things that those of us who live comfortably in the United States know nothing about.
They faced trials and hardships and they had adventures….and they did it all for the sake of men, women and children who had never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I still love picking up a missionary story, even if I’ve read it countless times.
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the occasional novel (The Hunger Games, anyone?), but they can’t hold a candle to the stories God has used the lives of men and women to write.
If you have a child or know someone (or if you yourself!) who loves to read about daring adventures, please give them a missionary biography.
It may just change their life.
Living in the White House 
I think we’re pretty much twins. 🙂 I didn’t read Bruchko until I was older– but I had a worn copy of Jungle Pilot (Nate Saint). In fact, I still have shelves of missionary biographies. 🙂
Ah! This makes me smile. 🙂 I’ve often thought when reading your posts about how you love to read, “I bet we’d get along really well.” 🙂
When I was a pre-teen, teenager, on and on I was a “book worm”. I’ve always loved to read. Still do. I’m an avid reader. Hardy Boys, Rick Brant, Tom Swift, Tom Quest, and yes, even Nancy Drew. As I grew older my taste would mature as well(however I’m still a kid at heart). My children gave me a kindle for Father’s Day a couple years back and I immediately began downloading “freebies” of which the classics are fast becoming my favorites. However, the one single book, not withstanding the BIBLE, that has impacted my life more than any other book has been “The Life and Diary of David Brainerd” by Jonathan Edwards. Oh, how the dedication, compassion, and self-denial has put my life to shame. Thanks Sister Naomi for bringing back some very pleasant memories. Hope to see you and Brother Justin at Peachtree next week.