In Love With Reading

Today's post is by boxer Terrence Placide, a student at Laguardia Community College. 

A few months ago, my girlfriend Savana and I started reading books daily. She’s a wonderful, inspiring girlfriend who motivates me to achieve my goals. We were having a slight difficulty about which book or inspirational novel to read every month. How are we going to switch from our fundamental reading to our Christianity reading? At first we created an idea. The idea was, each month we alternate. For example, I would read a book called “Inside Rikers” then, once I finished that, I would alternate to a Christianity book. The one I’m currently reading is called “Jesus is__.”

Now we both don’t have to stress the idea of favoritism in a particular area. Here’s a little brief about Inside Rikers. This book took my mind to another level. It illustrates how inmates indulge themselves in criminal activities such as drug possession, weapon charges, assault, and robbery. The part that was juicy like a 12-year-old eating a watermelon was that every time an inmate would be released from incarceration he/she would find a way back into the system, the reason being that they were not adapting to non-prison life.

When I was reading the Christianity book, I was trying to find the answer to what “Jesus Is__.” At first I was frustrated due to the fact that there were so many words that were implemented. For instance, Jesus is salvation, Jesus is our savior. But as I read on, I figured out that Jesus was grace. The author shared many scenarios about why Jesus was a savior. For example, a husband and a wife hated each other for no particular reason. People would ask why they hated each other, always arguing, fighting, fussing. Even when their youngest daughter would try to have good quality time with the family, it seemed like nothing was working. A pastor had a brief conversation with the spouses, telling them to open their hearts to Jesus, seek a relationship with him, and see what He can bless them with. Both spouses tried opening up to Jesus – as we call it “Building a relationship with Jesus” – and a few months later their marriage was peaceful and happy.

Since Savana and I started reading together, we developed a strong vocabulary and know how to differentiate between “street talking” and “formal talking.”