Hello, dear readers of the #hive community ! I'mand this is my personal introduction. I am very eager to share with you a very productive, recreational and reflective literature, for all those who love stories, poems, and other literary texts that have as their main audience children, but that, behind their funny and creative lines, there is a deeper message that adults could grasp more easily than children. Thanks
I have the valuable opportunity to #introducemyself to you.
Un poco sobre mí
I am Johana Lisboa, I was born and live in the city of Cumaná, Venezuela. I am currently 31 years old and I am a teacher by profession, graduated from the Universidad de Oriente, Sucre. I am of protestant faith since my childhood (and now, in my adulthood, that faith has been strengthened and evolved), and since I was a child I have been passionate about reading (although, now that I am a mother of a 2 year old child, that passion has had to be resized because that child wants attention only for him).
Mi hijo Leonel siguiendo mis pasos
I pause here to also mention that since March 2018 I have been happily married to Jesus Lugo. He and I are a sample that such different people can love and support each other, as long as God is the core and sustainer of the relationship.
Mi esposo y yo en nuestra boda
He is very quiet, I am very talkative. He enjoys fantasy and superhero movies, I enjoy psychological movies or romantic comedies. He is very tidy with his belongings, I am messy from the point of view of his tidiness (because I consider that I do give the order I like to my things, but he doesn't think it is "order").
All of our peculiarities are tiny in relation to the love and respect we have for each other. I can properly say that next to him I feel complete, I feel at peace and happy, in short, he is my favorite person.
Right now you might be asking yourself: "If these two are so different, how come they fell in love? How come they decided to start a marriage if there are no coincidences in their personalities? Let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, there are FUNDAMENTAL and basic coincidences for us to take that step of faith in getting married.
The Fundamental coincidences, according to what we have learned in our experience and in God, are the following: The Values and The dreams of life. The values have to do with faith (we both believe in God and serve Him out of love), fidelity (our conviction to be faithful and loyal to our love and family that we have built), family (because we both value the family according to the design established by God; that is, to live together and love each other within a legal and sacred marriage, and have offspring), among other values (I do not want to expand on this topic, since I do not consider myself a marriage counselor). As for life dreams, these are obviously closely linked to the values I mentioned before (moreover, such dreams can only be realized by practicing values derived from the former): Having a house of our own, an independent business, the number of children, the development of our work skills and, not least, our calling as disciples of Christ, among others.
In all these fundamental premises there were coincidences between both of us, combined with the attraction between us, and the admiration we had for each other, resulted in a happy family full of love. We still have a long way to go, but we are excited that we are traveling that road together. May God continue to work in us, amen.
Retomando el tema de la lectura… Recuerdo que, de pequeña, cuando en el colegio sonaba el timbre del recreo, yo salía corriendo directo a la biblioteca, mi lugar favorito, donde podía comerme los cuentos y enciclopedias que quisiera y estar solos, mi libroy yo. A veces, me traía libros prestados a la casa para leer, y creo que era una de las pocas niñas que hacían eso en el colegio, ya que la biblioteca siempre estaba casi vacía cuando la visitaba. La Biblia la leí varias veces completa de “cabo a rabo” en mi infancia, me devoraba por completo las enciclopedias de ciencias (¡Amo las ciencias naturales!), cualquier cosa que tuviera letras y que encontraba por ahí lo leía, aunque a veces no entendía mucho sobre lo que decía.
Going back to the subject of reading... I remember that, when I was a little girl, when the school bell rang at recess, I would run straight to the library, my favorite place, where I could eat all the stories and encyclopedias I wanted and be alone, my book and I. Sometimes, I would bring borrowed books home to read, and I think I was one of the few girls who did that at school, since I was always almost empty when I visited the library. Sometimes, I would bring borrowed books home to read, and I think I was one of the few girls who did that at school, since the library was always almost empty when I visited. I read the Bible several times from "cover to cover" in my childhood, I devoured science encyclopedias (I love natural sciences!), anything with letters that I found around I read, even though sometimes I didn't understand much of what it said.
Imagen de El Superzorro (Roald Dahl), mi novela infantil favorita desde pequeña
I continued to cultivate my reading habits in my youth, especially when I joined the ranks of MUEVE (Venezuelan Evangelical University Movement), where, as part of our theological and philosophical formation, we were required to read profound Christian books and other texts of universal literature, in order to learn about human thought. Being a university student and being part of MUEVE was a unique and special experience, because there I learned to love people for the way they are, and to look at them as Christ looks at them; besides cultivating in me the practice of "integrality" as a Christian, which means that the profession that each one chooses is not, nor should be, separated from your mission as a disciple of Jesus.
Aquí estoy junto a compañeros del MUEVE en lo que era nuestro cubículo universitario
Como muestra un botón, yo que soy docente y literata de corazón, en este blog fusionaré mi profesión, mi pasión y mi propósito como sierva de Dios llevando a la reflexión cada texto literario que presentaré para mejorar nuestra espiritualidad y, también, nuestra cotidianidad.
As an example, I am a teacher and a literary woman at heart. In this blog I will merge my profession, my passion and my purpose as a servant of God, bringing to reflection each literary text that I will present to improve our spirituality and also our daily life.
En una ocasión, cuando me encontraba cursando la materia de “Literatura Infantil” de la carrera de licenciatura en Educación Integral, mi amor por este tipo de literatura regresó re potenciado. Aprendí a diferenciar entre un buen cuento de uno no tan bueno, a no dejarme llevar solo por la portada, los muchos colores o la brillantina (escarcha, como se decía en mi época) que pueda tener, sino por el contenido de éste y, en especial, por su final. Comencé a coleccionar cuentos, a leer poemas y novelas infantiles, y cada vez que leía algo muy bueno, mi corazón se llenaba de alegría, y hasta me llevaba a la adoración a Dios (parece loco, pero es cierto).
On one occasion, when I was taking "Children's Literature" as part of my Bachelor's Degree in Integral Education, my love for this type of literature came back in full force. I learned to differentiate between a good story and a not so good one, to not let myself be carried away only by the cover, the many colors or the glitter (frosting, as they used to say in my time) that it may have, but by its content and, especially, by its ending. I started collecting stories, reading poems and children's novels, and every time I read something really good, my heart was filled with joy, and it even led me to worship God (it sounds crazy, but it's true).
Me di cuenta que mucha de esa literatura llevaba dentro un mensaje más profundo, y que ahora como adulta podía captarlo mejor; y, generalmente, esos mensajes me hacían reflexionar sobre mi vida espiritual, la familia, el trabajo, las metas en la vida, las relaciones humanas, las injusticias, y tantos otros temas que hoy en día deberíamos tomarnos unos minutos para meditar en ellos, en medio de este mundo tan convulsionado y lleno de presiones y antivalores.
I realized that much of that literature had a deeper message within it, and that now as an adult I could grasp it better; and, generally, those messages made me reflect on my spiritual life, family, work, goals in life, human relationships, injustices, and so many other topics that today we should take a few minutes to meditate on, in the midst of this world so convulsed and full of pressures and anti-values.
Por eso, decidí empezar a compartir reseñas y reflexiones sobre textos de literatura “infantil” (coloco la palabra infantil entre comillas porque sirven no solamente para recrear a los niños, sino a todo aquel que con palabras tan coloridas y especialmente dulces lleve a una comprensión que trascienda el momento y la vida del lector) para que juntos podamos sentir todas esas sensaciones sublimes durante la lectura y aprender de ella significativamente. (Quién Dijo Que Solo Son Para Niños)
Therefore, I decided to start sharing reviews and reflections on "children's" literature texts (I put the word "children's" in quotation marks because they serve not only to recreate children, but anyone who with such colorful and especially sweet words leads to an understanding that transcends the moment and the reader's life) so that together we can feel all those sublime sensations during reading and learn from it meaningfully.
Aunado a esto, mi otra pasión es la música. Desde niña he practicado el canto, principalmente en honra a Dios, y a los doce años comencé a cantar en el ministerio de alabanza de la iglesia donde me congregaba. Luego de allí, seguí estudiando canto popular, y llegué a participar en varias ocasiones en coros de canto lírico. Tengo la costumbre de que, de acuerdo a la situación, en mi mente siempre suenan letras melódicas relacionadas con el momento. Por eso, habrá ocasiones en que estaré compartiendo con ustedes alguna que otra canción que me haya inspirado o tocado, cualquiera que sea su autor, porque mientras su letra sea resaltante para mi vida, es probable que pueda serlo para la de ustedes también.
In addition to this, my other passion is music. Since I was a child I have practiced singing, mainly in honor of God, and at the age of twelve I began to sing in the worship ministry of the church where I congregated. After that, I continued studying popular singing, and I even participated in several occasions in choirs of lyrical singing. I have the habit that, according to the situation, melodic lyrics related to the moment always sound in my mind. Therefore, there will be times when I will be sharing with you some song that has inspired me or touched me, whatever its author, because as long as its lyrics are relevant to my life, it is likely that they can be relevant to yours as well.
Es mi deseo que cada publicación que haga, por sencilla que sea, les sirva a ustedes como instrumento fortalecedor, sanador y enriquecedor de sus vidas. ¡Hasta la vista, lectores!
It is my wish that every publication I make, no matter how simple, will serve you as a strengthening, healing and enriching instrument in your lives. So long, readers!