Dr. Seuss had a birthday last week – March 2nd – and would have turned 113 this year!
I have loved his books since I was a little girl. The memory of being handed a stack of his books will always be one I hold dear. We lived in an apartment building in the Bronx, on the second floor. A neighbor from upstairs passed them onto me when her own son, Mark, had outgrown them.
I have read them countless times, not only to myself as a child, but then to my children, daycare children, and now my granddaughters.
But it was only last week that I was able to read one of his books to Jocelyn, who up to this point only wanted to read her favorites, none of which were Dr. Seuss.
It was with delight that I read “Green Eggs and Ham” to Jocelyn. She enjoyed the rhymes, the story, the picture and by the end of the book was wanting to be able to say all the words. She loved the point of surrender when he said, “I do so like green eggs and Ham! Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-am!â€
“Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh the joys of those who take refuge in him!â€
(Psalm 34:8, NLT)
Seems to me that much like Sam-I-Am’s friend, we are also being encouraged to perhaps “taste†something we might otherwise pass up. David is telling us to that as we take notice of the Lord, His goodness will benefit us greatly. We will be “blessed†or happy as we do so.
Sam-I-Am’s friend, who remains nameless in the book, makes several discoveries when he finally surrenders and tastes the green eggs and ham. He discovers:
- He likes what he thought he disliked.
- He would partake of them ANY WHERE.
- He would eat them with others.
Soul satisfaction comes as we take refuge in God. As our lives become anchored and secured upon God, we discover happiness and delight in life. Sometimes in the places, and with the very thing, we thought we would so dislike.
The greater discovery made by Sam-I-Am’s friend was that his own insistence and constant refusal had made him miss out on what was, in fact, good and best for him.
May we not miss out on the goodness of the Lord.
Taste and see,
He is All and More.
* This is an edited version of an earlier post.
Today I am joining … Three Word Wednesday and Tell His Story and Coffee For Your Heart and Woman to Woman and Booknificent Thursday .
I am a huge Dr. Seuss fan! I still find myself, in perfect cadence, quoting many lines from his many books. I read every single one to my three. I love that J is quoting too!!!
I am as well, Susan 🙂 I so longed for Jocelyn to enjoy his books with me. It is exciting to now see her embracing his rhymes.
What a fun analogy! Linking up from ThreewordWednesday….
I love this post! Such a fun connection. Thanks for linking up at #ThreeWordWednesday. xo
Great post. Dr Suess is inspiring. My daughter had fun dressing up on his birthday. I haven’t read any to my 16 month old yet but soon. Exciting to get to share in those moments again. He also inspires me in my writing. My editor just recently gave me this: http://thewritepractice.com/dr-seuss/ Hope it helps someone else out there. =)
Crystal, thank you for sharing the link. I enjoyed it!
Soul Satisfaction…. I like that. It oozes grace to me. Dr. Suess is one of my favorites too! I remember having the books as a child and was soooooo excited when someone gifted our oldest with an entire set of ALL the books. Oh. my. goodness. Happy dance!! 🙂
This made me smile so much.
Thank you!
Blessings,
Dawn
Dawn, how wonderful for your oldest to receive such a gift! It is amazing how the silly rhymes and antics draw our children in. May you both enjoy the stories!
So many memories of Dr. Suess books. I like your analogy. What we may resisting we may end up liking. Both in real life and with God.
🙂 Yes, we often do not know what is good and best for us. So grateful God fully knows!
I love the spiritual connection you made here! Thanks so much for linking up at Booknificent Thursday on Mommynificent.com this week!
Tina