When I was a little girl, I dreamed of one day becoming a librarian. It seemed to me a dream come true to spend my hours among the friends – the book characters – I’d grown up with. Nancy Drew. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Ramona Quimby.
I didn’t have an older sister, just a neighborhood full of mean boys and one brother. None of whom reacted kindly to a girl tagging along. And so I grew up with book characters for playmates. I would sit by my bedroom window or under my covers with a flashlight or at a table in the public library, reading for hours and hours. Not a bad way to spend hours of my childhood…
I’ve been really blessed as I’ve gotten older to have wonderful friends – including non-biological brothers and sisters who have helped me to mature. They taught me how to be a child – something that I lost somewhere along the way. They taught me how to be an adult. They continue to teach me how to live. And occasionally, how to die.
Corrie Ten Boom spent five decades of her life learning from her older sister, Betsie. Betsie was the nurturing one – the compassionate one who knew and cared about all of the neighbors. But Betsie taught her sister well, and in Corrie’s book, The Hiding Place, we see Corrie’s transformation from a reserved caring to a passionate caring. To the point that she would come to pray, “Lord Jesus, I offer myself for Your people. In any way. Any place. Any time.” (ebook location 1450)
That’s an example I want to follow. I didn’t have a Betsie in my house while I was growing up. But Corrie, through her written words, has shared Betsie and Betsie’s legacy of nurturing with me. And with countless others. Corrie and Betsie fulfilled Titus 2: “But as for you, teach the younger ones…”
This post is part of a weekly discussion on Corrie Ten Boom’s book, “The Hiding Place.” You don’t have to read the book to weigh in on whatever topics we discuss. However, if you did write a response to the chapter, link it up at the widget below. And then go visit my co-facilitator and friend, Jason Stasyszen.
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About Sarah Salter
Well Betsie or no Betsie.. You do that very well.. Teaching others… No matter how old “we” are.. Thanks for all you do youngen..
Very grateful for those in my life who have taught me and continue to teach me. Sometimes it’s what to do and sometimes what not to do, but God will use it all. Thanks Sarah.