Mom's Books

It is time to clean the storage unit and that means going though the boxes of Mom's things. Almost everything was liquidated in the bankruptcy and estate sale, but she did get to keep many of her precious books and notebooks and papers. Many of these items are stuffed with tissues. That was her preferred bookmark when she was ill. That and the letters of friends and well-wishers.

 For Christmas this year John and I decided not to buy each other gifts, but instead to spend the money on things for our home. Some of those "things" are four new bookcases. They have been installed in the library and the office. Now Mom's books can have a home with mine. One of her dreams was to have a library so I am putting all of her books into the library.

Going through these boxes of books brings back so many memories. I can remember when many of them appeared in our home reminding me of that period in our lives. I remember the Watchman Nee books with the brightly colored, rather ugly covers from when I was really young. She got them around the time that I was born so I remember various bookshelves they sat on throughout the years. I didn't really like them because the colors of the cover were so hideous and boring.

I remember the set of Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament and Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament appearing in my early school years. They were interesting to me because of their long titles and I thought the word "lexicon" sounded really special and important. I remember around the same time seeing the Strong's with Hebrew-Chaldee and Greek Dictionaries appear. It was even better than the previous two books because it was made of burgundy leather and had guilded letters. It was so pretty that I was kind of afraid to touch it. It isn't as pretty now. It has seen many years of use as Mom explored different topics of research in it.

Later, around third or fourth grade I remember the introduction of The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. I remember the discussion she had with Dad about ordering it. It had been referenced in a sermon at church sparking Mom's interest. I actually really liked this book. I would pull it out and look up things we talked about in Children's Church or things I wanted to know more about from my Bible memory verses that I was required to learn in school or just because I wanted to know more about the ancient lands and people listed on the map of my own Bible.

In fifth grade I was taken out of school mid-year to be home-schooled. Naturally that meant lots more books. Many of them she donated to other people who decided to home-school their kids, but when I was unpacking the boxes I found one she read aloud to us during our afternoon reading time. It was the biography of Rees Howells titled Rees Howells Intercessor by Norman Grubb.

In high school, Peter Marshall, son of the great Catherine Marshall, was on a speaking tour and visited our church. We got to meet him and talk to him and Mom bought two of books that she didn't already own. One of them was From Sea to Shining Sea that he wrote and the other, Christy, was written by Catherine Marshall but signed by her son. It was given to me as a Christmas gift.

Later, Mom's interest in Hebrew and Judaism led to the introduction of The First Hebrew Primer. She loved learning Hebrew. When going through her things, we found her carefully crafted flashcards. She made them on index cards with a Sharpie. They show her precise, neat hand. I remember going over to her house and while I was chatting with her she would be writing out translations of simple sentences in Hebrew. Her neat precise handwriting on white paper. She wrote with a pencil so she could easily correct mistakes while keeping the page neat.

As I continue to unpack her treasures, I know I will come across more of her favorite titles. I am also sure that I will come across more Kleenex bookmarks. When I do, I will smile through my tears.