Are You There, God? by Glynis M Belec

This past weekend I had the privilege of being a vendor along with two other lovely writer friends, at the Wellesley Apple Butter and Cheese Festival in Wellesley. 

Attendance at the festival was not decided upon on the spur of the moment. I actually had to submit an application prior to June 1st so our attendance here was definitely pre-planned. We were told that there would be probably close to 30,000 people in attendance. How exciting. 

Not all visitors came into the arena where we were located, though. Some weren't really interested in crafts, quilts, cinnamon buns or (horrors upon horrors) books! But from 7am until 4pm there was a steady stream of people throughout the building - sampling and browsing; chatting and having a good time. I gave away hundreds of balloons to kiddos and we had many visitors stop by our book display and table, to chat. 

It was a bit of an eye opener as we interacted with different people. 

"I don't read." 
"I'm too busy to read." 
"I prefer the computer to a book." 
"I have never been interested in reading."
"I'm too old to start reading now." 

Sad to say, these were comments from some of the people we spoke to about books. Most of the time, they would smile and make no apology for not being a reader. Some almost wore it as a badge of honour - especially those who said they were too busy to read. 
I wanted to grab them by the shoulders, look them in the eye, and say,

                         "WHY?"

But I thought that might interfere a little with sales so I just shook my head and told them they were missing out. 

I can't imagine having access to so many books - whether in stores, at school, in libraries, online or at the Wellesley Apple Butter & Cheese Festival and not taking advantage of the written word. 

God blessed us with the gift of words. He gave us His Word. He gave us language so we can come up with stories and share our words. Someone once told me the only book we should read is the Bible. She told me that is the book that God gave us and it has everything under the sun in there. 

I agree that the Bible should be up there as the prime book to read, but I think if I didn't read other kinds of books, too, I wouldn't grow or learn or be whisked away or understand the heart of others.The Bible teaches that we should meditate on the words of God but it also teaches that we should put before our eyes, 

“...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). 

I'm thinking this includes books that encourage holy living or demonstrate love, joy, peace patience kindness, goodness, faith, self control and love can be a wonderful help in our walk with Christ. 

In my small mind I am thinking that God wouldn't press upon our hearts to write if were were not supposed to write. He wouldn't have blessed us with an appreciation for the written word if we weren't supposed to write. He wouldn't have filled our minds and hearts with overflowing ideas if we were not to share our words with others. 

It might sound kind of noble to say the Bible is the only book we should read, but I'm thinking that God was good with us going to the Wellesley ABC Festival this weekend and sharing our words. 

So we are thankful for the many readers who did stop by and share their love of reading with us. And to those who did browse and buy books, I am thinking they are expanding their horizons and becoming a little bit wiser.

Maybe some of those 60 books we sold will strike a chord with someone. Maybe someone will read some words that might point them in the general direction of hope or love or encouragement or joy. Maybe we were blessed with language because we were are supposed to write books. 

Are you there, God? Can you write on the wall and tell me if we've got it right? 

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Glynis lives, loves, laughs and does an awful lot of reading, writing, publishing and praying in her home office. 

Her latest children's book, JESUS LOVES ME WHEN I DANCE, celebrates and shows us that with Jesus Love, we'll never lose! 

www.glynisbelec.com