Equipped for the job

Today, I'd like to share a few of the ways I see, looking back over the past several years, how God has prepared and equipped me to take on this role as church librarian. 

First, I'm a Christian. Jesus is my Savior; I can't imagine living this life without Him. And I'm a church member in good standing, which is necessary when taking on any ministry leadership role at our church.

Second, I'm a reader. Some might even call me an avid reader. I love a good story! A large percentage of what I read is Christian published and/or Christian-made fiction. (I do read Christian nonfiction too.) Reading as much as I do will definitely help me find the best books for our church!

Third, I'm a homeschool mama. With my youngest in high school, I'm nearing the end of my homeschool career, but I've homeschooled my sons from the start (almost 20 years now). Most years, our curriculum of choice for history, reading, literataure, and Bible has been Sonlight, which is a literature-based curriculum. Even now, we still do read-alouds! I love sharing books with my son(s)!

I've also been a concerned parent. My older son was an early reader. As a child, he loved going to the local public library to find new books. We had found a few picture books along the way that weren't quite what we had expected--teaching little ones ideas that do not align with God's Word. Once he started wanting to read chapter books, I understood that part of my parenting job was knowing what he was reading. I made it a habit to read his library books before handing them off to him. There were a few that did not get handed off, or I made him wait until he was older and better at discerning. This was especially necessary when it was by a new-to-me author and an unknown or general market publisher. This process of prereading his books actually changed how I read for my own enjoyment as well. Using discernment, knowledge, and wisdom is key. Besides prereading library books, I was always on the lookout for quality Christian-published books that my son would also enjoy. We've read (and reread) many good books over the years! Because of those years of reading so many children’s books, I also have quite a few recommendations for the best books we have enjoyed.

Finally, my love of books and my creative spirit led me to start a Bookstagram account on Instagram at the beginning of 2020. I've been bookstagramming for four years now! And it's been a wonderful experience, especially as I've become part of the Christian bookstagram community. It's a place where I can talk about the books I'm enjoying AND share the pretty book layouts I come up with too! I will figure out how to add my social links to this blog so you can follow me there too if you'd like. 

There's more I could share but this post is long enough. I hope that through sharing this, you too can see that God has used my experiences, my enjoyment of books, and my abilities to equip me for this role.

As always...happy reading!

Stephanie