one other cool thing in October

One day Elia and I were discussing her progress with reading.  She was discouraged and said, "I can't even read you and daddy's bibles."  A moment of silent surprise caught me; I had no idea she had even tried to read them or was remotely interested in bible reading.  

For better or for worse, Michael and I do not insist that the kids have "bible" time in our home.  We own a full set of the Kid's Power Bible, which I completely totally utterly recommend AND which they totally dig.  We read those from time-to-time.  But that's it, there's no structured "wordage" for them around here.

Recovering from my surprise, I explain that different bibles are written for different reading levels--from advanced to beginner.  The ones she had read were most definitely adult level.  So, no wonder she felt discouraged!  But I leave the conversation at that.  A couple minutes later she pops outside and asks, "Hey mom, can I get my own bible?"

Oh the heart swell!  Suppressing my total delight that she is choosing for herself the right time to begin her relationship with the Word, I reply casually, "Sure hon."  But the story doesn't stop there...it gets better!

We finally make it to the Christian book store, eat some free cookies and make our way to the "youth" aisle.  There is a much bigger variety for her reading level than I expected.  I made a couple suggestions but left the choice firmly in her hands.  She chose a nice one--small, with a pretty cover.  

We leave bible shop and pop over to the store next door.  While I'm shopping she sits down to explore her new book.  Bewilderment kind of settled over her then a bit of frustration.  I knew right away what the problem was--the words were tiny.  Before I said anything she looked at me and said, "Mom, this is not the right one.  It's too hard to see the words.  Really, I just chose this one for the cover."  Me, "So you want to take it back and get another one." "Yeah."

Whoa!  I could not help but be surprised and delighted with the maturity of her processing.  She decided in this case function was more valuable than aesthetic.  And we agreed it would be much cooler to make her a special book cover anyway...

She picked the fabrics...

...as well as a few buttons from the treasure trove of my grandma's button collection.

See what we mean?  Little high on the cheese factor, right?

She designed and cut.  I sewed.

And voila! My gorgeous Elia and her eclectic-cool bible.  Word!