What We're Reading Now

Geneva Public Library

This is a photo of the Library in Geneva, Illinois, were I grew up, and what I remember when I close my eyes...old oak everywhere, banisters down the stair case, wooden book shelf ladders that slid along the rails, the Librarian in the middle seemed perched high on an oak throne. My heart was knit to the children's area downstairs, marveled that I could take all the books home that I wanted, FREE, FREE, FREE. Trip after trip, loading my wagon, loading my arms. I could never hold enough. The cord, tied to my heart, stretched between the pillow and lamp in my closet to that beautiful stone second home across town. The stores charged pennies and nickles for treats to little ones with mostly empty pockets but the Library gave up lavishly. While mom did errands or went to the little beauty shop down the street, I begged to be dropped off at the...hush...library of dreams. The Geneva Public Library seemed so large and especially so to little eyes and feet. The Librarian who worked in the children's section was always impressed with my reading level, would suggest new books. You had to be 10 or something before you could use the adult sections upstairs. I was fine with that, but like the swimming pool, you eventually want to dive into the "deeper end." Our Methodist church also had a library, I've felt guilty all of my life because I took out, Three Came Home, a war story about missionary family, but never could bring it back, always had to read it one more time... (Sorry Rev. Carter, one of your angels was a thief). I also knew Anne Frank's fears and joys as well as my own. I shuddered at her dieing, she was just a little older than I in her photos. I wondered why would anyone kill little girls like Anne...or like me, my sisters, my schoolmates? I was always scouting for good hiding places, keeping them in the back of my mind, in case they came for us someday. I grew up to treasure, The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom. A Christian sister who was sent to a concentration camp for hiding Jews. I vowed when I was a little girl that I'd hide Jews like Anne Frank if I ever could, so Corrie became a hero of mine. She walked the walk of faith and risked her life to hide Jewish families too. In Corrie's book she said that her father, a dear Godly man said one day, "Pity the Nazis Corrie, for they have dared to touch the apple of God's eye (His chosen people, the Jews)." Her father and most of Corrie's family died in the camps. She was released by mistake, a clerical error. She traveled the world, after seeing man at his worst, bringing God's love to that lost and dieing world, and her message was, "There is no pit that God is not deeper still."

So this is what I'm reading: I'm reading Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur for our book club at church and How Could a Loving God...?, written and sent to my husband and I by Ken Ham (Answers in Genesis) gift, sent from a brother (Ken Ham) in Christ because we are hurting. If you are hurting, you need this book. If you've suffered loss you definitely need this book. You will be blessed.
Love,
Pam

ps Ken Ham had written to us in the cover but I loaned it out, don't remember to who...so, I bought another one. I learned today that the Geneva Public Library is a Carnegie Library, even more thrilling because I'm Scotish. "A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems. 1,689 were built in the United States, 660 in Britain and Ireland, 125 in Canada, and others in Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, the Caribbean, Mauritius and Fiji. At first, Carnegie libraries were almost exclusively in places where he had a personal connection. This would be Scotland and the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. This would change in 1899. In later years few towns that requested a grant and agreed to his terms were refused. When the last grant was made in 1919, there were 3,500 libraries in the United States, nearly half of them built with construction grants paid by Carnegie."