Finished: Our Mutual Friend

You know, if you give a character the name Eugene and make him dispicable, it doesn't really matter what happens in the end, does it?

This is a definite read-again, as I believe all Dickens are. Love the characters, love to hate the characters, love to see how they carry on together or destroy one another...

Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens

The Forecast

I suppose if you're from Mercury, 87 degrees may be considered colder.

Finished: Fahrenheit 451

A good point made in this novel...

Toward the end, the main character is told he is Ecclesiastes. In other words, he is the one that carries it around in his head, so he is classified as the carrier of that book. Aren't we, as Christians, to become the words that we read in Scripture? If we carry God's Word in our heads and in our hearts, then they should change us. We should become known by the Word imprinted upon us.

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

Excerpts: Seeing With New Eyes

"Those you counsel must know that God is gracious. They must receive and depend on real grace. No one can truly change who does not know and rely on gifts from the hand of the Lord. Since Christ is both Giver and Gift, attempts to change without grace are barren of the very purpose, power, and Person that change is about. Self-manufactured changes do not dislodge almighty me from the center of my tiny self-manufactured universe. Still in the futility of my mind and the hardness of my heart, I only act a bit different. Successful living without grace describes mere self-reformation: get your act together, save your marriage, get off your duff and get a job. Failure in living describes failed self-efforts: when you can't get a grip, you despair. Christless, grace-less attempts at change conclude either with the praise of your own glory or with your shame."

Seeing With New Eyes, David Powlison, Chapter 2, p 48

Successful Parenting

Ed Welch of CCEF posted this the other day, and I found it encouraging. Well, as encouraging as something can be when you realize that you haven't "arrived".

I was challenged in contemplating the question, "What are you learning about Jesus?"

What am I learning about Jesus?

And if I can't come up with something, then get in the Word!

Finished: Pudd'nhead Wilson

Entertaining Mark Twain. Wouldn't read it again, but glad I read it once. I'll hang on to it.

Pudd'nhead Wilson, Mark Twain

Finished: Moll Flanders

Weird. A book purporting to be against immorality by revealing the (successful!) life of an immoral woman and her supposed redemption.

Interesting. Not really worth an additional read.

Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe

Word Derivation

While I know that nettoyant pour le corps means body wash (it says so on the bottle), I can't help thinking every time I see it that it means soap for dead people.

Finished: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

You know, I always thought that 20,000 leagues was a measurement of depth, but through my (third!) reading of the book, I realized that it is the measurement of distance travelled under the sea.

I really, really like this book: the time it was written coupled with the technology foreseen...add to that the remembrance of the DisneyWorld ride when I was in 5th grade, and the mysterious Captain Nemo, and add to that the compelling plot, the mysteries of the deep...

I'll keep picking this up every few years and reading it again.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne

Control of Birth Control

Al Mohler has a timely commentary on The Pill.

Bird Song

Normally background noise with their twitters, cheeps and chirps, I understood the birds I sat outside while dawn broke this Resurrection morning.

Alto started, Cardinal constant in Cheerfulness. Bass resonated, Dove full of Sorrow, unmatched in his Grief. Soprano joined with her descant, Chickadee with reminders of Hope. Tenor, it seemed, had forgotten his part.

It was fully morning. The dawn had broken. The birds went back to their twittering.

Yet Tenor had not forgotten, was not late, as Owl, when all was silent for a moment, reverberated his part, declaring Truth.

The choir was joined by a part not written, a rogue line in the music, Flicker mocking.

Then all was silent.

I waited for Owl to reverberate Truth. I waited, knowing that Truth was the answer, the next line. But Owl was silent.

Instead, after the mocker, Grief came again, Dove resonating.

And they began their song anew.

Joy. Sorrow. Hope. Truth.

Search Me, O God

In self-righteousness, I protest, "But what about all those other things that I do?"

This in response to, "Why didn't you remember to do this? And how could you forget to do that? And that other thing...I can't believe you didn't do it!"

The bottom line is that those things that I have been "called out on"...the things I didn't do...I should have done. Self-righteousness has no place protesting against neglecting to exhibit love and gratitude. While I recognize that I cannot do it all, surely there are things that I overlook or neglect that are to my shame when I do not do them.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. " Psalm 139:23-24

A Timely Link

In the midst of conversations about contentment, paying for children's college educations and adoption, this post covers it all. Even boob jobs. (Her words, not mine.)

Please read it.

A Brilliant Marketing Campaign?

"A Chicago area urology practice is promoting vasectomies by informing potential patients that if they get the procedure done right before March Madness, that they’ll be able to stay at home for a few days to recover and watch some of the games uninterrupted reports the Southtown Star." (read more)

So, is this a strategic marketing campaign? After all, most men don't require an excuse to sit down and watch a series of games on TV. This just gives them an added incentive to be able to do so under doctor's orders. And on the surface, I think it sounds like an absolutely brilliant marketing campaign.

But is there a hidden agenda? Is it an attempt to sterilize our male population? I mean, can a guy just walk into the doctor, say "Hey, sign me up" and there's no further discussion about it? Are there any questions asked, protocols followed other than a few waivers and consents signed? I am sure the answer to this question varies by doctor.

And the procedure is reversible. In that sense, it isn't a permanent sterilization, should someone change his mind. But does the procedure enable more activity with less consequences? Would mass sterilization of our male population actually be of benefit, or would we find it leading to even further depths of immorality? Does marketing vasectomies in this manner trivialize the procedure into something to be done on a whim, with no consideration of the consequences?

You know, there are times when I should ask myself, "Is the kitchen clean yet?" And then I should go clean it. This may be one of those times.

Check This Out!

My sister opened an Etsy shop, that you simply must visit, just because it looks so nice!


Go see kassiescreations.

Glad I Read That

The back of my deodorant container caught my eye this morning.

Directions: Put on underarms only.

I was just getting ready to smear some on my head. Good thing I can read.

For My Own Contemplation

I was interested in this article in Newsweek about antidepressants, that poses an interesting dilemma. Posting it here for contemplation.

Integrity

Andree Seu has some great thoughts on integrity today at WORLDmag.com. Here's a taste:

"I want to be a person of “integrity,” not of spare parts hanging out all over the place that need to be constantly tucked back in, like Scarecrow stuffing his shirt in The Wizard of Oz."

I'll Show You My High Beams!

It was a dark, dark night. I was driving home from church. The car coming toward me had the audacity to flash his high beams at me.

"You wanna see high beams? I"ll show you high beams." And I flicked my lights back at him.

I pulled up to the traffic light, wondering why people felt it so important to flash beams at people when they were annoyed by the intensity of the lights. I mean, can't we just let things go? So you had a moment of discomfort when my bright lights hit your eyes.

Then the light struck me. There were no beams coming from my car. My headlights weren't on.

Excerpts: A Quest for More

"It is possible for us to profess allegiance to the big kingdom and yet, in our daily choices, be fighting for the success of the kingdom of one.

...there is grace for this battle! In the person and work of Jesus Christ, God has made ample provision for you and me as we live with kingdoms in conflict. His grace blows a hole in your self-contained kingdom, and in his redemptive love he reaches in and pulls you our, again and again."

A Quest for More, Paul David Tripp, pp 66, 68

I just love that visual. God's grace blowing a hole in my self-constructed wall and His great arm of mercy reaching in and plucking me out!

Finished: Debt of Honor

I picked this up at a book sale, not realizing that it was already in my basement and I had already read it. No matter. Enjoyed it again. (How could you not enjoy espionage, national security and "Get me the President!"?)

Spoiler: Jack-boy becomes president. Didn't we know that from the very first Clancy book?

Debt of Honor, Tom Clancy

Finished: The Possessed

What a terribly depressing book! I loved it! However, because pretty much everyone dies in the end, I've decided to not rename my children things like "Kirilov" and "Stepan Verkhovensky". The back cover sums up the book quite well: "...the young men...combine fanaticism, treachery and self-contradiction to incite an entire town to pillage, arson and slaughter." Premise: man creates chaos to match his tortured soul.

Thank God (literally) for Christ.

The Possessed, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

So Cavalier About Sin?

There are two bakeries that I pass relatively frequently: Sinfully Delicious and Sinful Delights. I find the names distracting. They do not entice me to purchase their goods at all.

The names' purposes are to allure and entice...to get you into the shop and purchase supposedly delicious baked goods. It is ok to name the stores this because it's a lie? It isn't really a sin to eat them, therefore, you can call it sinful? But then, isn't the lie a sin?

Why aren't casinos named things like "Spending in Sin" and whorehouses named "Sin and Stuff"? Why do baked goods qualify to have sin in their titles, and it's ok?

This is more a random thought...perhaps I'm overreacting a bit. But there should be great caution in how we utilize the English language. How many times (and I hear it over and over again) have you heard the phrase, "That's such a sin", but it's not referring to sin at all?

Our world does not recoginize the evil and destructive nature of the sin that dwells in us.

The Tongue

I was encouraged, edified and admonished (sorry, couldn't come up with another "e" word) by this post this morning.

A Beating Heart

As I draw closer to my midwife appointment, more and more anxiety sets in. I say to myself, "If only I could just hear the heart beat again. Then my fears will be stilled."

It occurs to me that the same thing occurs when feelings of doubt and questioning rise up within me about my spiritual life. If only I could sense that my heart was right...if only I could hear my heart beat.

Doubt and anxiety are rebellious irrational things. They rise up out of our hearts when logic defies them.

So this is why I can sing:

I lay my wants on Jesus; all fulness dwells in him;
he heals all my diseases, he doth my soul redeem:
I lay my griefs on Jesus, my burdens and my cares;
he from them all releases, he all my sorrows shares.

I rest my soul on Jesus, this weary soul of mine;
his right hand me embraces, I on his breast recline.
I love the name of Jesus, Immanuel, Christ the Lord;
like fragrance on the breezes his name abroad is poured.

stanzas 2 and 3, I Lay My Sins On Jesus, Horatius Bonar

Cultivating Thankfulness

As we teach our children to pray, we begin with simple thoughts of thanks. "Thank you for food. Thank you for dad. Thank you for peanut butter sandwiches."

I've noticed a habit in both of my older children that they continue to pray in thanks for requests. "We thank you that you would get Aunt Kristen home safely." "We thank you that you would help me sleep without a bad dream."

Perhaps it isn't quite intentional on their part, but I've learned a bit of anticipating the goodness of God in requests when they pray like that.

Swiss Cheese

My spouse wondered why I eat it.

My comment was that it made me feel holey.

His comment was that it makes him feel neutral.

Disgusting!

I find it revolting to look through the coupons from the Sunday paper, find one that looks really yummy, then discover that

IT'S DOG FOOD!

Finished: Me and Mr. Darcy

Just a waste of time book. Why do I bother? Because I'm exhausted and need something to keep me awake. Don't read it.

The premise is that every woman wants a Mr. Darcy. Then the book sets out to show why that isn't so.

Me and Mr. Darcy, Alexandra Potter

Not So Fun

It just isn't as much fun Christmas shopping when on the way there, you get a ticket for turning the wrong way, and the cost of the ticket is how much you were planning on spending.

Finished: The English Patient

So I can see why this would be chosen to be made into a movie, although I have no desire to see it. The text leaves you a bit muddled as to who is speaking and who is listening. But all in all, a rather compelling saga about putting life back together (or not) after wartime.

The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje

Homeless. Hungry!

I was driving home from an appointment this afternoon. I passed a man sitting on the side of the road holding a sign.

Homeless. Hungry! Please help.

My initial reaction was to lock the doors. Then my heart softened, and I remembered that I had a container of crackers in my bag. (I carry crackers wherever I go these days.)

I rolled down my window, eager to offer something to a hungry man.

"I have crackers. Do you want crackers?"

"I can't take the salt," he refused.

I can't take the salt.

Finished: The Worthing Saga

I find it revealing of the compelling nature of the Word of God that people can't help but use it in their own "creation" of society.

The Worthing Saga, Orson Scott Card

Go Fish

My kids have a Golden Book Go Fish game. In this game, you have to get four of a kind of the characters from certain Golden Books. My son and my daughter have two entirely different strategies on how to play this game.

My son plays to win. If you drop a card, and he sees it, there is no mercy. He asks for it the next time around. He strategizes, asks for different cards, remembers who had what the last time he went. He alternates players to ask on different turns. As a result, he ends up with a lot of matches.

My daughter, on the other hand, has only one goal: to get all four cards of the Poky Little Puppy. If she's got one in her hand, she asks for them every time. She'll ask you again, and again, and again. She does not stop until she gets all four. Subsequently, the number of matches that she gets are few, and she is devastated if someone asks her for the Poky Little Puppy, and they are removed from her domain.

There's something about that single-minded devotion to a particular thing that resonates within me. It's not the right way to play. Or is it?

"And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever." 1 Chronicles 28:9

Because You Need To Know

One ostrich egg is equal to 22 chicken eggs.

Finished: Overdose of Death

On a Hercule Poirot kick. He's not my favorite, but then again, I don't know French.

Overdose of Death, Agatha Christie

Finished: Curtain

Agatha, Agatha, Agatha. You surprised me this time.

Curtain, Agatha Christie

Finished: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM

It didn't seem to matter how endearing and resourceful Mrs. Frisby was. When I heard the scurry under the stove, I hightailed it upstairs and spent the rest of the night there.

Children's Literature

Here's an interesting insight from Al Mohler, and a caution to know what the books and movies our children read and watch are about.
My complaint about Harry Potter falls exactly into this category: the boy is disobedient and often doesn't get disciplined as he ought because he's "the one". As if our children's brilliance and talents supercede our parental authority! Likewise with the Goofy Movie. Such disrespect Max has for his Dad!

Amazing Grace

Click on it. I'm ready for being there ten thousand years, just like that, but better!

CLICK

**NOTE: I don't know who these men are, but I can worship while they sing, even if they aren't worshiping (which I don't know if they are or not, so I'm just sayin'...) That's why the ten thousand years will be better.

I've Got To Stop Posting Before 7 AM

This is just getting out of hand. But I just got this error message when I was posting a comment on a blog:

"You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down."

The Vowel

This is a sentence to explore the usage of vowels:

His immanence was imminent.

The Bottom Line

So, the bottom line is that you're just the same as everyone else, it just manifests itself differently. So quit being so critical.

Finished: The Umbrella Man and other stories

I know understand why I didn't like James and the Giant Peach. It is because Roald Dahl was meant to write short stories...this is his forte.

I absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed every single short story in this collection. (You can disregard the fact that I like most short stories in general...there's just something about that genre.)

At any rate, this collection did not disappoint me. At first when I saw who it was by, I thought to myself, "I've had enough of him". Glad I read the "and other stories" part on the cover, and decided to read it.

The Umbrella Man and other stories, Roald Dahl

Learn It, Live It

A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs 19:11

He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. Proverbs 17:9

I'm going to try to let it go, now. Lord, help me live it.

Finished: Nemesis

Halfway through, I figured it out. Wa-hoo. Hopefully, that wahoo is not an indication that familiarity breeds contempt.

Nemesis, Agatha Christie

Finished: Dances With Wolves

Kevin Costner ruined this book for me. I could have forgotten, because I don't think I ever saw the movie, but his face is plastered on the cover of the book. And every time he thought or spoke, all I could think of was whiny-nasal-monotone-voice-man, Kevin Costner.

There is a gem hidden within the custom of naming people. The names given to the Comanche people are all meaningful, based on what they have done or what their personalities display. Stands With a Fist, Kicking Bird, Wind in His Hair, Smiles a Lot, Dances With Wolves...

It causes me to consider my family: From Trial Comes Joy, Reads Forever, Deer Legs and Cheer-giver.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Why is it that Jack gets to be the star of all of the nursery rhymes?

Link It: The Pharmaceutical Umbrella

Vely Vely Intelesting.

An insightful line: Take away the profit motive, as government-run medicine often does by forcing drug companies to sell at discounted prices, and innovation will dry up.

Making Old Age Happy

Tim Challies has a beautiful excerpt up on his site reflecting on how to make our old age happy.

The important practical question is, How can we so live that our old age, when it comes, shall be beautiful and happy? It will not do to adjourn this question until the evening shadows are upon us. It will be too late then to consider it. Consciously or unconsciously, we are every day helping to settle the question whether our old age shall be sweet and peaceful or bitter and wretched. It is worth our while, then, to think a little how to make sure of a happy old age.

It's worth the read.

Finished: Crooked House

Another Agatha Christie completed. These books are great to read just before bed. They're interesting enough that you don't fall asleep on them, but not so interesting that you read until the wee hours of the morning just to see who done it. This one had an interesting psychology to it as well.

Crooked House, Agatha Christie

Excerpt: Speaking Truth In Love

I had read this some time ago, and was reminded of it in reading RB's blog. (I'd link you there, but if you're not one of the "in" folk, you'd just come up empty.) I thought an excerpt of what I had read would be timely.

From David Powlison, Speaking Truth in Love, Suffering and Psalm 119

How do you handle a sleepless night? You're lying awake; where do you go in your mind? How do you feel? It just so happens that Psalm 119 mentions being awake at night four times.

I remember your name in the night and keep your law....At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to you because of your righteous ordinances....I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for your words. My eyes anticipate the night watches, that I may meditate on your word. (vv.55, 62, 147-148)

A sleepless night is not the harshest form of suffering. It brings you down by slow erosion, not devastating landslide. Sleeplessness is tiresome and tiring. That much is obvious.

Now to the less obvious. What do you think about when you lie awake at night? Does your mind run to tomorrow? Do you pre-solve every problem that might arise? Does your mind run to yesterday, brooding over your own failures? Do you replay the hurtful videotape of what someone else did or said?

Do you just run away, turning to escapist, feel-good fantasies? Do you lie awash in your hobbies, immorality, athletic dreams or vacation plans?

Or in the long night hours, do you cycle through anxieties: money, kids, terrorists, singleness, church problems, sickness, loneliness, and lots more? Do you sink into a pool of depressed resignation? Or do you attach all your hopes to some promise of sleep? If you pray, is the focus solely on your desire for sleep, based on Psalm 127:2?

Does Psalm 119 have anything to say about these parking places for the heart? It changes every one. Whether the hours are marked by tedium or swept into some dark frenzy, those hours are largely God-less. Psalm 119 describes hours full of God. It doesn't promise sleep (though rest is a good gift); it promises to change sleeplessness.

Still More Closely To Him Cling

I was trying to brush my daughter's hair. "It hurts!" she cries. She wraps her arms around my waist, shoving her face into my belly.

It's really hard to brush hair in that posture.

Not so with God. The more tightly we cling to Him, the more He can accomplish through us.

Finished: Going To Ground

Amy Blackmarr reflects quite poetically in this series of essays. Her stream-of-consciousness-like manner carries the mood of the essays well, and she has a pleasant manner of writing that is rather moving.

I had won this book, and was unsure of what was in store for me. It is a book that I would pick up again to soften me into a more thoughtful mood about what is going on around me. Her writing took me to a once upon a time vacation in Maine.

Going To Ground, Amy Blackmarr

Finished: Middlemarch

I really had to discipline myself to get through the first half of this book. I found not a character in it had that all-redeeming quality that I enjoy in a good read: honor.

By the second half, all of the dishonorable characters had been established and introduced, and what was left was to sort out what miserable strains they all needed to follow to bring the book to it's climax and end.

Now I have the DVD to watch, and it's one of those rare times that I'm hoping it's nothing like the book.

Middlemarch, George Eliot

Finished: George Washington Carver: The Man Who Overcame

Quite by accident, this book came into my hands. It wasn't on my list. In fact, I didn't even know it existed. But one day, while a friend stopped by to pick up a book to read, he just happened to have this in the front seat of his van. "Would you like to read it?" But of course!

George Washington Carver truly was the man who overcame. This book, in a very easy manner, relates his life story. His life made me cry. His life made me laugh. His life made me marvel at the way God can use even the weakest among us to do amazing things. I was moved by the humility of this man. I am so glad I learned more about his life.

George Washington Carver: The Man Who Overcame, Lawrence Elliot

Best Breakfasts

Imagine this breakfast...
A tall glass of cold milk, a bowl of fruit, bacon, eggs, and toast.

Now here's what I really had...
A peach milkshake and a Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich.

Pretty close, isn't it? I just can't explain that crucial pickle...

God is amazing.

Did you get that? His ways are not our ways.

luggage lost on a flight located after 3 weeks

In man's eyes, this luggage was gone. Military uniforms, medals, items of sentimental value were all considered lost forever. After all, who has ever actually gotten their bag located after this long? The airline pays their value of it, and that's that. But God had other things in mind to reveal His glory.

an insurance company raised their allowances on medical services, providing additional income to a struggling practice

Insurance companies aren't in the business of reevaluating random claims and paying out more to doctors. This just doesn't happen. Audits request money back, they don't give out more. But God had other things in mind to reveal His glory.

godly wisdom and strength given to a man exactly when he needed it

When the rubber meets the road, our advice tends to be what the other person wants to hear. But God had other things in mind to reveal His glory.

God, you are glorious. I am so thankful that Your ways are not our ways.

There are no other explanations for these answers to prayer. They cannot be coincidences, they must be providential.

All power, wisdom and knowledge belongs to You.

May the recipients of these answered prayers worship you as a result of this display of your glory.

Tomatoes and the Glory of God

Normally when we think of good fruit, we associate it with the requirement of a healthy root. I am experiencing something a bit different on the corner of my porch.

My tomato plant looks pathetic. From the beginning, it has appeared weak and fragile. I have taken off many yellowed branches, in the hopes that energy would not be put into dead parts, but be transferred to the parts that were healthy to encourage them to grow.

Despite the gangly appearance, the plant continues to bear fruit - and good fruit at that. I can only explain this by the existence of a healthy root.

But the appearance of the plant encourages me, that God might use a weak and unassuming vessel to bear fruit for His kingdom.

Get Practicing, Tom!

Finished: Henry Huggins and Henry and the Paper Route

I'm still counting book screenings! Secretly, I just like reading juvenile fiction.

OK. That's not a secret anymore.

Here's my trouble with Henry...does my son need suggestions on what to do with his spare time? Do I want him coming home with a kitten or ripping apart a golf ball just to see what's inside. Is reading this going to make him start that?

But I do love that this book is all boy. It's a simple and curious boy and dog story. And I actually read the introduction, and was delighted to see that this was Beverly Cleary's first book - one that she struggled with writing because she thought women were supposed to write about girls. She had worked with boys who were bored because all of the juvenile books were about girly things, and was so inspired to introduce Henry.

There still are a lot of girly books out there, but this one's a gem for a boy.

Finished: Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave

Hey! I figure if I read it, it counts. It doesn't matter that I'm screening a library book for my 2nd grader.

Cave exploration, geology terms...good boy stuff.

Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave, Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin

Prayer Pieces

I ask and I want, and I ask with a selfish desire for all things to be right...but this is my desire...looking forward to that day when all things will be made new.

Things are not new. They are not right.

There is pain and sadness.

There is depression and despair.

You make things right.

You've promised, and I wait in eager anticipation for that day. And I know it will come.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Peer to Peer

The following is some peer-to-peer Q & A/Instruction that I overheard in the 1st and 2nd grade Sunday School class:

How do you get it that loud?

You just....

Any idea what they were talking about?

Job Titles

Is there an official job title of "removes dead animals from roadways"?

And who decides who gets to drive the giant road sweeper?

You Speak, I Listen

And did you notice that the kitchen is actually clean?

Finished: Caddie Woodlawn

Spunky chick who doesn't want to act like a lady. I look forward to reading this to daughter-dearie, and hope that she is eager to learn the lesson at the end - that now is a good time to grow up and be a lady.

Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Ryrie Brink

Break It To Me Gently

Please, leave an anonymous (or not) comment. Do I need to change the color of my kitchen walls?

It's True

The Duponts and the Rockefellers get junk mail, too.

Finished: Dombey and Son

Another Charles Dickens...

This one took me longer to get through than the other ones, and it doesn't have one of the delights of Dickens, which is the twisted plot that brings all relationships together in the end.

Dombey and Son contains more of an in depth study on the hardness of a proud man and the steadyness of constant faithfulness.

Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son

I Think I Like This Song!

On-line Grandma

My grandmother just sent me an e-mail. For some, that's strange enough. But what delighted me most was that she said in it, and I quote, "more power to him". You go, girl!

Chick Flicks and the Glory of God

Here's another great link from Tim Challie's blog. This article, entitled "You've Got Lies" expresses (far better than I could) the essence of what I struggle with regarding 'chick flicks' and Jane Austen.

Why I Don't Practice:

Music to a music teacher's ears?

Got A Fixin' To Be Fixed With The Right Fix

Our sliding screen door has problem. Or does it?

Actually, I determined that the problem is the frame of the door. I came to the conclusion that the top of the frame was bowed, so that the screen door would come off of the track when it was closed. This has happened many times over the past 7 years. We've gone through 3 screen doors. I have tried many things to compensate for this bowed upper frame. None of them have worked.

But then along came Dad. He determined the cause to be different. He determined that the problem was caused by the bowing of the frame at the bottom, not at the top. This explains why all of my efforts to compensate for the gap at the top didn't work. I was so close. I had the general idea of where the problem was coming from, but without an accurate assessment of the situation, all of the energy kept going to fix the wrong area ... which was a temporary, at best, fix.

My solutions would keep the door on the track for a few openings and closings, then it would fall off, and I'd have to replace, retighten, and repeat: replace, retighten, repeat...

This reminds me of my efforts to fix my own problems. For instance: I have a temper when it comes to people infringing on my agenda. Usually, these "people" are my children. I could begin a discipline where I count to 10 and take a deep breath before I speak to them. But I'll tell you right now, that screen door's just gonna come off the track again.

The point here: you've gotta be fixin' to be fixin' with the right fix or it ain't gonna be fixed.

Hopeless?

When the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ occurs, hope becomes irrelevant.

Breakfast Eggs

What are you saying? A Cadbury Cream Egg isn't a breakfast food?

It's an egg!

The Banana Splits

I don't like bananas.

The following is amazing information I recently learned about that which I do not like (thanks, G.S.)

A banana divides into three equal parts, lengthwise.

I don't like bananas.

I have been tearing apart bananas with my bare hands just to experience this phenomenon.

And I don't even like bananas!

(Did I mention that I don't like bananas?)

My Friend(?)'s Insights

My friend Megan has a new post up on WorldMagBlog today. I say my friend, because she has, at times, responded to my comments on her personal blog with en e-mail, and so I consider her my friend. We could dispute that...after all, I visit her blog regularly and know her family by what she posts, but she knows absolutely nothing about mine...

Regardless, her insights were appreciated today.

Finished: Mark Twain In Hawaii: Roughing it in the Sandwich Islands, Hawaii in the 1860's

If you want a description of Hawaii in the late 1800's mixed with caustic wit and a good dose of wry humor, then this is what you'll want to read.

If you're not into that type of thing, don't bother reading it.

Mark Twain In Hawaii: Roughing it in the Sandwich Islands, Hawaii in the 1860's

Now, I'm Not Complaining, But...

Think back for a moment over your conversations of today.

Is it just me, or is there a whole lot of complaining going on in the world?

Finished: James and the Giant Peach

I was disappointed with this, by "the world's most scrumdiddlyumptious storyteller", whereby the boy James is charged "Marvelous things will start happening to you...and you will never be miserable again in your life."

I am a huge fan of imagination, of which this book overflows. The story unravels well, and the adventures encountered during the grand peach flight are real in an incredible sort of way. But I was dismayed from the onset, and perhaps this tainted my view of the book.

I think it a true test of an author's imagination to create a story where the plot does not involve killing off the parents, bringing misery into a young boy's life and having him be raised by 2 mean old ugly aunts who beat him and make him work all the day while they indulge themselves in selfish pursuits...and the peach rescues him.

Start the story with imagination, and I'm a fan. Maybe I'll rewrite the beginning, just to enjoy the rest of the story...

James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl

Aboutface Facebook

I'm not on Facebook. I'd never make it there. There's just way too much sin involved.

I went "on" Facebook Saturday evening.

Mind you, I wasn't on Facebook, I was just "on" Facebook. And you know what started it? Someone commented to me about how an old friend looks now, and I thought I'd see for myself. STUPID!

I was compelled to click on people whose names I knew, just to see what theylooked like now, what they were interested in, were there anymore "friends" on there pages to link to...

Here's what happened: a foray into my brain... "Does he really look like that? I wonder if that picture is her daughter. She got married? Why did she do that to her hair? She looks happy, finally! Is that what he's doing now? Oh, look at the politicians listed under 'favorites'. Go figure."

YUCK! I don't want to be like that. Facebook does that to me.

No, I guess I do that to me.

But if that's what Facebook brings out in me, I'm not going there. My motivation is all wrong. I know it. And I'm cutting the right hand off. It's just not for me. I made a brief entrance and discovered a me I didn't like...a gossippy self-absorbed coveting mess of being. I know that's there without Facebook, but I'm not going to encourage it. I can't handle it.

No, Facebook's not for me.

At least, not until I can approach it with the right motivation: a compassion and desire for people's good.

Finished: Tales From the Other Side

This book was written by my cousin's wife's father. (I felt the need to really get the exact relationship there.) As 'tales' go, it is an interesting read...in the manner of Lord of the Rings, but lighter. There were a lot of characters to be introduced to in this, the first book. Fairies, elves, trolls, ogres, gargoyles, gryphons.

The premise of the book is that there is another side of our universe, the imaginary realm...where God is worshiped.

One of the things I appreciated was that the troll characters were written as subservient to whomever their master was...and their masters changed all of the time. These creatures were slaves by nature, but the gospel message was offered to some, eagerly accepted. I liked the way the concept of being a willing slave to Christ was portrayed.

Tales From the Other Side, Matt McGrath

Excerpt: Mark Twain in Hawaii

"The natives still keep up an old custom of theirs which cannot be comforting to an invalid. When they think a sick friend is going to die, a couple of dozen neighbors surround his hut and keep up a deafening wailing night and day till he either dies or gets well. No doubt this arrangement has helped many a subject to a shroud before his appointed time.

They surround a hut and wail in the same heart-broken way when its occupant returns from a journey. This is their dismal idea of a welcome. A very little of it would go a great way with most of us."

Mark Twain In Hawaii: Roughing it in the Sandwich Islands, Hawaii in the 1860's, chapter VI

We Really Are Helping Him

Tim Challies' blog this morning resonated with me. In it he quoted an excerpt from Gorden Cheng’s Encouragement: How Words Change Lives (published by Matthias Media). The entire blog post is worth the read, and if the amount of text is intimidating, skip to the last paragraph, but the quote is below:

When the entire family decides to plant baby lettuce on a Saturday afternoon in the backyard, certain realities apply and certain home truths about family dynamics and gardening knowledge must be taken into account. My wife is extremely well aware of these realities; the rest of us are somewhat aware in a descending order that begins with me, and gradually drops down to our seven-year-old (who, truth be known, is starting to get quite good and is beginning to ask question about my ability in this area), down to our four-year-old and finally to our three-year-old. The latter two contribute enthusiasm and a certain degree of, let’s say, unrestrained passion about how things ought to be done and who ought to do them first. As a direct result of this scenario, it is fair to suggest that every single task that needs to be completed in the garden takes three to five times longer than if Fiona (my wife) were to do it herself. Digging a furrow takes longer. Putting plants into the furrow takes longer. It is an activity fraught with risk both to the baby lettuce and to the dogs underfoot. At least one adult is employed for the entire gardening period keeping an eye on the most recent location of the pitchfork, and helping recover small plants from under a layer of newly thrown mulch. Snails, as the oldest of us have now realized, are not potential pets—but we haven’t yet had the heart to tell the two youngest, and so the location of their mollusc collection has also turned out to be one of those things that just has to be carefully monitored.

But for all the slow, distracting and sometimes dangerous things that happen in our garden, there is no doubt that all of us really are gardening. Every single one of the children’s mistakes, and a good number of mine as well, will be overruled by grace. The good things we do really are good things. In the kindness and providence of God, the children (and I) are becoming better gardeners than when we first began. When we stand in the garden in the summer sunshine we will be happy because we really did it.

And that is how it is with God and us, his fellow workers, in his church. We really are helping him. Those who see our efforts may laugh at what we do. We ourselves may become frustrated and upset by mistakes and lack of competence. We may become dimly aware, from time to time, that what we thought was useful and helpful was, unfortunately, nothing of the sort. But provided that we keep our focus on what God says in his word, and continue to speak that same truth in love, the gospel we speak will continue to transform our own lives and the lives of others. And that gospel work will result in a growth that bears fruit into eternity.

Ten Years Ago!

Remember the photograph taken of the small hand reaching out of the womb during a surgery to correct spina bifida? That picture was taken ten years ago. Fox News has a great article about the boy and the photo here. The boy's mother sums up the controversy around the photo well:

"So if he reached out, I don't know. If Dr. Bruner reached out, I don't know. The fact of the matter is it's a child with a hand, with a life, and that's meaningful enough."

Finished: Hank the Cowdog Books 1-4

I would be remiss if I did not include in my record of reading John Erickson's fully boy meanderings detailing days in a cowdog's life. These are definitely boy books, and while I would not put them in the class of edifying, or even remotely edifying, they are a fun read. Some topics a bit mature for a 6-year-old, but since I've read them, I'm prepared...

Hank believes himself to be "all that". There just isn't a cowdog better prepared to handle all that may go wrong on the ranch. And my son believes him. In fact, he was really upset when Hank got injured in a dogfight and couldn't get up for days. But Hank always recovers and saves the day, even though the day would have been much safer without him.

John Erickson, Hank the Cowdog series

Finished: Hard Times

Harder than some, but not as hard as might be. Trials find themselves to be tempered by the constancy of a friend, who allows Fact to not rule, but persists in Hope.

Charles Dickens, Hard Times

Excerpt: Hard Times

"If it hadn't been mercifully brought about that I was to have you to speak to," pursued Rachael, "Times are when I think my mind would not have kept right. But I get hope and strength through you..."

Book the Third, Chapter V, Hard Times, Charles Dickens

Moses in the Know, Moses in the Glow

Exodus 33:11 "The LORD would speak with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend."

Exodus 34:29 "...he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord."

Exodus 34:35 "...they saw that his face was radiant."

Moses had a good sort of problem. His conversations with God rubbed off on him, so that he took on (albeit to a much lesser degree) the quality of God in His radiance. It was enough to be noticeable. Not easily hidden. Somewhat distracting.

What do you look like after you've spoken with the LORD?

Diagnosing Squirrels

So, squirrels.

I am wondering if these creatures have adrenaline.

When they run out in front of your car and you find yourself looking in the rear-view mirror to confirm they made it through alive because they really didn't give you a chance to stop...or even swerve...does the adrenaline kick in? If so, squirrels really have a corner in the adrenaline rush market.

According my research, excessive amounts of adrenaline can cause tinnitus. So now I am wondering, are there a bunch of squirrels out there with ringing in their ears?

But excessive amounts of adrenaline have also been linked to ADHD.

So I'm guessing the answer to my original wondering is that yes, they do have adrenaline. Case closed.

Finished: The Deerslayer

I discovered this book in on my husband's bookshelves - where normally nary a fiction work is to be found. I had evidently begun to read it at one point...one of my bookmarks was in it. In retrospect, after having finished reading it a week ago, I have no idea why I didn't complete it the first time. It was marvelous.

There is something for me in literature that makes honor so, well, honorable. If I had to make an argument about honor, I would say that it is best displayed when up against the grotesquely dishonorable. But The Deerslayer refutes that idea. I would say that there are no grotesquely dishonorable "creeturs" in this book. Sinners, yes. Men with messed up ideas about how to live, yes. But Cooper has managed to paint a redeeming value into each character.

The fascinating part about this approach, to me, is that I didn't walk away from the book with a feeling that the author thought everyone is right, and that each person has a right to his own worldview and there is no truth. The question for me is, what was the author's intent? Did he want me to walk away knowing that the Deerslayer has the most honor, and the other characters pale in comparison? Or did he want me to think, as the Deerslayer does that each man has his own gifts according to his nature, and honor must be viewed in light of that nature?

I guess this wouldn't pass for an essay test. I didn't answer any questions, I just came up with my own.

James Fenimore Cooper, The Deerslayer

Diverging Cars, Diverging Thoughts

Many people use their car to advertise. Not just business advertisements, but people choose to proclaim something about themselves through their car. I'm not just talking about the make, model and color. I'm talking about the information we plaster to the back.

Two cars diverged on two-lane road.

The one had Hebrews 11:6 written on the back. "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

The other had a skull with the words FEAR THIS.

There is no middle ground.

Delighted in Crusts

I was eating toast at the kitchen table, and my 1 year old son sat on the floor beneath me. He was delighted by the crusts that I was handing to him.

As I watched his delight, I immediately thought of Matthew 15, when the Syrophoenician woman claimed her right to delight in the mercies of God by saying "even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their master's table".

Delight today, in the mercy of God.

I Have A Watch

It's a Bulova watch. It's been missing for a long time.

Let me describe it to you. It is white and yellow gold. It has a face without numbers. It probably wouldn't fit around most people's wrists...I had a lot of links taken out of it. It says water resistant on the back.

That last part was really important.

Because I just found it.

At the bottom of the washing machine.

It's True

I've just got to say: I've had no random thoughts of late.

They've all been orderly and scholarly, with a little bit of bakingly for good measure.

Got Bloat?

For my own delightful personal reference (and anyone else who cares), here is a link to a photo-documentary on foods that relieve bloating.

Such Is My Custom

I was driving behind a Comcast van this morning. At stop lights, I really have nothing better to do than to read the propaganda plastered to the rear of vehicles. Such is my custom.

This van had a warning on it. "Caution: Vehicle Makes"

How is that helpful?

Mr. DeLuxe and His Testimony

So I was driving with my windows down the other day. In the lane next to me was a DeLuxe Travelling Motorcycle (I'm pretty sure that's not the offical name). It was a fancy, non-Harley type with packing cases on the back, well-taken care of, clean and shiny dark metallic red.

It's rider was perhaps in his early 50's. A salt and pepper mustache. A responsible looking fellow, with a friendly face.

As we came to a stop side by side at a light, I heard it.

Country music (mellow, not twangy).

Not only could I hear the music from the speakers, I could also hear the man singing. He was right on key, singing with emotion, meaning every word that he said and not at all abashed that I and everyone else could hear him.


It occurs to me that I should be equally unashamed to talk of my Saviour.