“Remember: The duller the ax the harder the work; Use your head: The more brains, the less muscle.”
(Ecclesiastes 10:10 The Message)
Monthly Archives: June 2012
Words To Live By
PARENTS, HEAR THIS!
I have been working for the past few weeks on a keynote address I would be delivering at a school next month. And I’m so excited about this. After ministry, education, teaching and personal development is the passion of my life. You should have noticed that if you’ve been with me on this platform for a while.
I would be speaking on the collective roles of the school, parents and teachers in a child’s moral upbringing. And my studies have been throwing up a lot of interesting facts, thoughts and ideas. (Maybe when I’m through with the presentation, I might serialize part of it here.) I want to share with you, especially if you are a parent out there, something, the celebrated neurosurgeon; Ben Carson, M.D. has to say:
“If you start reading to your children as soon as they are able to sit up in your lap, then by the time they are old enough to start reading themselves, they will already associate books and reading with fun and enjoyment. Read often and read for variety. Strike a balance between reading some books kids get to choose and others you select for content and literary merit. Make trips to the children’s section of your local library part of your family routine. And when children get old enough to read on their own, do whatever you can to make sure they do so. Even if that means restricting other activities… . Kids who read are kids who learn. Reading is the best foundation you can give them for ensuring a successful lifetime of learning.”
Thanks Dr. Carson, for this great thought. This is so timely in these days and times when parents leave their kids with the TV to be mentored and tutored by Barney, Ben 10 and such likes. Reading is it! Friends I’ve tried it, it is working! You will succeed!
You may want to read some other stuffs I’ve written here along this line. See When Book Commit Suicide; or check out my posts tagged Books & Reading.
You can check my updated speaking schedule on this page: Yomi Olufiade’s Itinerary. God bless you!
RAISE YOUR OWN LIBRARY
After such a long break away from this platform, I feel strongly to once again admonish you, my dear friend on this topic. My family has recently been blessed with a baby girl which is why you haven’t read from me in the last few weeks. I intend to share some of my documented thoughts about that in the next few days.
So here we go:
Many folks are expert at borrowing things – shirts, shoes and other stuffs. They have borrowed suits, borrowed dresses and borrowed cars but not borrowed books. I’m sorry such may end up with a borrowed destiny!
Many have the latest dresses, latest cars, the latest toys but not the latest books. May you not be late in life!
Others have loaded wardrobes but not loaded libraries. Some have loaded bank accounts but no loaded books, talk less of a loaded brain! Don’t worry, a fool and his money will be soon parted!
I agree with Roy Smith, “A loaded book contains more real wealth than a loaded bank.” Information stored in books, CDs and journals is potential wealth. Invest in books and you’re investing in your future wealth. For “by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”
Start building your library today. “An investment in knowledge pays great dividends,” Benjamin Franklin said. Charles Spurgeon, “the prince of preachers” reportedly had sixteen thousand books in his library. The late legal luminary, FRA Williams was said to have a private law library bigger than that of any law faculty in Africa! Do you still wonder why they enjoyed such success in their career.
I encourage you to subscribe to magazines. And journals. Buy books and CDs. Visit clearance book sales and used book stalls. You have to start from somewhere. I can tell you that. Books are not costly! (Compare the cost of ignorance.) Truth has a price. You will have to buy wisdom. And it is not cheap. I am telling you what has worked for me, not some theoretic stuff!
Build your own library. The apostle Paul had his own library. “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come – and the books, especially the parchments.” A loaded book contains more real wealth than a loaded bank. And a loaded tape is more lethal than a loaded gun! I close this with the words of Rueben Martinez. “Books can take a person all over the world – a library card will take you farther than a drivers’ license.” YOU WILL SUCCEED!
Yomi Olufiade 