Last night I stayed up until midnight reading a biography of Daniel Webster. I am fascinated by it, but am not sure why because it's really not that dramatic or suspenseful.
I think what is interesting is how God perfectly orchestrated his life. He becomes a famous orator, and looking back we can see how God prepared him for that. Choices that seemed so hard then, seem clear looking back. Of course he wouldn't work as a clerk, recording other people's cases; but instead, he would go on to be a lawyer himself. The people he met make sense, the people that influenced him make sense, the people he learned from make sense because they were shaping him into what God had planned.
Even the books he found interesting as a young person seem to show the direction that God was taking him, shaping his heroes and his desires even then. I recently finished reading a biography of Stonewall Jackson, and it's interesting to compare the similarities and differences. Jackson found war heroes interesting, one of his favorite books was Parson Weems' Life of General Francis Marion. Webster preferred the work of Cicero the orator of Italy. He actually enjoyed translating it from Latin.
I remember reading once that Thomas Edison wanted to start on one shelf in the library and read every book. Webster also worked through the library reading every book.
Daniel Webster's father worked hard to make a living and didn't want his sons to have to work so hard just to scrape by. He thought college was the solution to this problem, and sacrificed greatly for his son. He kept saying, my life is for you, and if you will promise to do all you can for yourself, I will do what I can for you.
What am I doing to shape my children toward the future God has gifted them for? Am I developing those gifts? What are their interests? Am I challenging their young minds with heroes? With a love for learning and discovery?
My boys don't need to be famous men, but will they use everything that God has gifted them with. Will they discover their God-created niche? Will I help them?
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