The Simple Wife

Living in the pit of "Just Try Harder"

So I've heard lots and lots and lots more about Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt. Even had a friend do a huge blog read-along. (Hi Marla!) I didn't participate then for whatever reason, but am reading it now with a group of friends--some I know face to face, some not yet. 

Well, I do know why I didn't participate then. Because the time wasn't right. Just like the time wasn't right to do Loving Well when I won it from Lisa years ago. (Hi Lisa!) Because the time is right for it NOW.

Anyway, I wrote my response for the first two chapters earlier and posted them on the forum we're using. But thought I'd post them here too--just to give you an idea of what the book's about, to tickle your interest.

You can find the book for a great price here. 

I read the first chapter and started the second, then had to pause to let it sink in a bit before continuing. Would I really believe? Would I really obey? Would I make those two choices before I knew what was coming?

Yes. And yes. At least I want my answer to be yes. A resounding yes.

Make me brave, I've been praying. Brave enough to take an honest look at myself in this Radical book, in the Loving Well study as I start Bible study again. Open my eyes to see the truth. Don't let me hide. Strip me bare and clothe me in your Word.

And God is answering. Because pages 31-32 hit me smack in the face:

We live in a land of self-improvement. Certainly there are steps we can take to make ourselves better. So we modify what the gospel says about us...

Haven't you heard of the power of positive thinking? I can become a better me and experience my best life now. That's why God is there--to make that happen. My life is not going right, but God loves me and has a plan to fix my life. I simply need to follow certain steps, think certain things, and check off certain boxes, and then I am good.

I wouldn't have thought this described my thinking, my approach to life. But it's uncomfortably accurate. I live this way. I parent this way. I deal with relationships this way.

And the truth is that it's not working so well. Because all it does is add more to the bottom of the list when I get everything else checked off. I'm never done. I never arrive. Nothing in my own power will ever be able to get to the point of being able to say, "It is finished."

A clean slate. Starting from scratch. I'm beginning 2011 with the notion that I don't know nearly as much as I thought. Don't have a clue about lots of things I thought I had a good grip on.

But gripping tightly is just a fancy way of saying controlling.

So once again, I'm face to face with my old nemesis: Control. But this time, I'm becoming quickly convinced that I can't give it up myself. That there aren't a list of steps to follow to figure it out. This is totally beyond me.

In a nutshell, I'm starting the year with this:

You are radically dependent on God to do something in your life you could never do.

***

Have you read it? What was your "one thing" from reading it?

Just call me secret agent girl

If you know me, you know I dream of being a secret agent, having a stack of fake passports, a safe house in Istanbul, Paris, and Prague. Of being armed and dangerous.

And while I do like a bunch of the guy spies out there, it's nice to have some women on the scene, toting cool weapons, wearing great clothes, and taking care of themselves--and the rest of the world. 

So thanks, Brad, for realizing there are some female secret agent wannabes out there.

Four amazing women taking on world terrorism. You'll love it, I promise.

A sonnet kind of life

I've read the same exact thing two days in a row--same author, different books. And when that happens, that repetition of a phrase, an idea--it's time to sit up and pay attention.

I'm on a Madeleine L'Engle streak these days, slowly reading her journals and devouring her novels. I picked up A Wrinkle in Time last night and read until I couldn't focus on the words (which wasn't very long at all, really),  then finished it this morning by the light of the tree with a Christmas mug of coffee in hand.

And on page 198 I read the same exchange she quoted in the journal I was reading while eating my lunch yesterday. Once more, I'm faced with the idea of freedom within boundaries. Of the inside being bigger than the outside. Of being bound to be free.

"How can I explain it to you? Oh, I know. In your language you have a form of poetry called the sonnet."

"Yes, yes," Calvin said impatiently. "What's that got to do with the Happy Medium?"

"Kindly pay me the courtesy of listening to me." Mrs. Whatsit's voice was stern, and for a moment Calvin stopped pawing the ground like a nervous colt. "It is a very strict form of poetry, is it not?"

"Yes."

"There are fourteen lines, I believe, all in iambic pentameter. That's a very strict rhythm or meter, yes?"

"Yes." Calvin nodded.

"And each line has to end with a rigid rhyme pattern. And if the poet does not do it exactly this way, it is not a sonnet, is it?"

"No."

"But within this strict form the poet has complete freedom to say whatever he wants, doesn't he?"

"Yes." Calvin nodded again.

"So," Mrs. Whatsit said.

"So what?"

"Oh, do not be stupid, boy!" Mrs. Whatsit scolded." You know perfectly well what I am driving at!"

"You mean you're comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but freedom within it?"

"Yes." Mrs. Whatsit said. "You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you."

Boundaries.

Time, place. Finances, family. Skills, talents. Energy, resources.

The strict form that makes up my life. Your life. The structure that surrounds us, that contains us. That protects us. That shapes us.

But absolute freedom within that structure. 

What you say is completely up to you.

Underlining in books

As much as I am totally a library kind of a girl, I really do prefer to own books. Mostly because I like to write in them, and the librarians take a dim view of such things. At least when the books belong to the library.

I underline and make notes in just about every book I read--from theological kinds of books to Nancy Drew--and rarely read without a pen in hand. To me, pens and books just go together. And folding down the corners of pages.

I'm not feeling very good--something I've over-mentioned on Twitter for sure. It's the first time I've been even slightly under the weather in more than a year, and somehow this cold has knocked me flat. So I got in bed early last night with a book from our library upstairs.

A while ago, Toben's mother brought me bags and bags of books--mostly seminary textbooks and commentaries she's no longer using. But tucked in between volumes on things like hermeneutics and commentaries on Deuteronomy was a stack of novels by Madeleine L'Engle.

I first read A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels in the fourth grade at Colorado Springs Christian School. And in junior high school I read a few of her other novels the summer I worked at the library on base at Menwith Hill outside of Harrogate in North Yorkshire.

All that to say that A Ring of Endless Light was in the stack of books that made it onto my library shelves. Though I read it that summer of working at the library, nothing about it was familiar to me when I opened it last night--and it stayed fresh all the way through finishing it this morning with coffee and cherry pie for breakfast.

I made it all the way to page 18 before reaching for one of the many pens that lives on my bedside table:

If thou could'st empty all thyself of self,
    Like to a shell dishabited,
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf,
    And say, "This is not dead,"
    And fill thee with Himself instead.

But thou art all replete with very thou
    And hast such shrewd activity,
That when He comes He says, "This is enow
    Unto itself--'twere better let it be,
    It is so small and full, there is no room for me.

Those are words from Sir Thomas Browne, written on the loft in the house in the book where Vicky sleeps. How I long to live emptied, pouring out in order to be "filled with Himself instead." And how much too often I live "all replete" with very me, leaving little room for anything else.

And isn't that the rub? The paradox of this Christian life? That in emptiness we are most filled, and in the filling up of ourselves with self we find only void emptiness.

I also had to underline this from page 63:

To leave a friend is like death and calls for grieving.

There's poignant truth in that. Timely too as I'm still adjusting to everyday life without friends who became dear to me in the short time we lived in Arizona.

And this exchange between Vicky and her brother John and his friend Adam:

"Your pretty vulnerable, Sis."
    Adam said, "But that's one of the nicest things about her. It means she's very much alive."

Which reminds me that it's okay to grieve over such things and that there's no need to hide or explain that grief. To grieve means that the thing we've lost--or the thing that has changed as a result of circumstance--mattered. That we lived in such a way that our lives grew and changed and matured.

And I underlined too many other passages to quote here. 

There was only one thing already marked in pencil in the book when I began it. This line from page 61:

[T]here's a kind of vanity in thinking you can nurse the world.

And "p. 61" written on the last blank page of the book.

Make me wonder why Toben's mother marked that one line out of all the lines in the book. What she was thinking when she marked it. When she marked it. Something to ask her when I see her later this week.

And I wonder what my girls--perhaps my grandchildren someday--will think when they read my books and see all the things I've marked and written in the margins. In a way, my books are sort of like journals, glimpses into my heart, my mind, my feelings.

I have a few books that belonged to my grandmother, and how I wish she'd written in them, marked them, underlined or starred or circled the things that stood out to her.

What's something you've underlined in a book recently? What book was it from? Why did it stand out to you?

Friends in common

Isn't it fun when your friends meet and love each other? Or when you find out that you have friends in common with people? How I love that small world kind of a thing!

Which is exactly how I felt when reading all about your favorite book characters--we have lots of "friends" in common--from Anne and Nancy Drew, to Trixie and Honey, to Sam and Frodo. Mary Lennox and Dickon and Martha. Laura Ingalls. 

And all the girls at Mallory Towers and the Famous Five. For those of you who grew up in the States, you may not have heard of Enid Blyton and all of her wonderful books. But I promise you'll love them. If you love boarding school kinds of books, search for the Mallory Towers books. They are wonderful!

And some you mentioned friends I didn't really know until I was an adult, but I love them too: Betsy, Tacy and Tib; Harry, Hermione, and Ron; the Happy Hollisters; Cherry Ames. And for you Nancy Drew lovers, have you met The Dana Girls?

And then there's so many others I could mention: Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy; Jupiter Jones and his friends, Bob and Andrew, from Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators series; Elizabeth Gail; Pauline, Petrova, and Posie from Ballet Shoes.

There are so many lovely books to read--and read again. And always more to discover. I loved that some of you mentioned some I'm not familiar with--you can bet I'll be checking out Beanie Malone for sure.

On a related note, so many of the books we read through Sonlight for our homeschooling are Newbery Medal and Honor books. If you (or your kids) are looking for great books to read, this comprehensive list is a great place to start.

Dear Bloggy Peeps,

I realize I've been writing long-ish posts lately. Thanks for sticking with me. And what I might want for Christmas? Brevity.

Anyway, I'm wearing penny loafers today and channeling Nancy Drew. Who were some of your favorite book characters as a kid? I'd love to hear!

Love, Joanne

Library books

We went to the library this afternoon and came home with a TON of books. Nearly too many for my library tote. Which isn't unusual for me.

After all, they are books. And they are free. What's not to love? And what's to stop me from thinking This one looks good! and tossing it into my bursting at the seams bag?

Got books today on making paper books, on knitting, on decorating. On sewing, on Christmas, on vintage treasure hunting, on crafty making goodness.

I love the library.

(One of my first jobs ever was working--for free--at the library at Menwith Hill across the street from our house on base and upstairs from the BX and the Bop Shop and base bowling alley. I shelved books and stamped--yes, no computers!--those cards in the pockets with due dates and put on those plastic clear covers to protect dust jackets.)

This is the window box/seat in the family room--a perfect place to keep all of my library books so I always know where they are. This is actually not all of them, but most of them--because now that I think about it, there's a stack behind me on the couch that I've been flipping through this afternoon.

Where do you keep your library books?

Change of plans, disappointment, praising for everything

Yesterday did not go quite as planned. I started the laundry, but did not finish it. I did get my hair cut (the girl I've gone to the last two times is a really, really good hair washer--which is worth half the price right there in my book). We did get some school done.

But no packing.

Audrey and I were supposed to fly to Arizona tonight to spend a long weekend with her BFF's family. A family that happens to include some of my BFFs too. But this weekend isn't going to work for them after all and they called and asked us to postpone our trip.

Disappointment.

And many tears from my girl who is lonely and desperate to see her BFF.

She scrambled around in her brain, trying to make sense of it, coming up with all kinds of ways to force it to happen, to make it fit anyway, struggling for a sense of control.

And I was reminded of myself--trying to force things to fit when the answer is no and seeing that to force it means compromising what you really want.

Because, yes, we could have gone and stayed with other friends. But that 24/7 non-stop time with her BFF? That wouldn't happen. And that's what she really wants. 

So we will wait and go a different weekend so these two sweet girlies can have their uninterrupted time together.  But waiting is hard.

In the midst of phone calls and undoing plans, I heard something God has impressed on my heart lately: Praise for everything. The bad as well as the good. 

I may have mentioned a time or 712 that I've been loving all of Hannah Hurnard's books--not just Hinds' Feet on High Places. (Though it is my hands-down favorite!) Here are some quotes I jotted down from her book Winged Life:

1. The secret of victorious Christian living...is to go through each day praising for everything--the bad things as well as the good.

2. Don't try to hold onto anything in this life, but willingly let go, in order to be able to receive new enrichment from the Lord.

3. Everything that is willingly laid down into death will be raised to life again in some more glorious and perfect form.

Seems like yesterday was a chance to put it all into practice. It's certainly not easy--despite the 1, 2, 3 simplicity of it. Simple rarely means easy. But God knows best--and so the seemingly bad things are part of that best--his good, pleasing, and perfect will. We just don't see the whole picture.

But then there's this promise (from Hinds' Feet on High Places, naturally!):

For DISAPPOINTMENTS
accepted with PRAISE
always seem to turn into
EXTRA-RADIANT BLESSINGS.

Of course, we don't get to see how it will turn out until we do the accepting, do the obedient work of praising. And there's no amount of time mentioned here. Sometimes it happens quickly, other times we wait and wait and wait.

And then there's this from her book Kingdom of Love to answer the question of how we actually praise in the midst of disappointment. Because what about praising even when the disappointment feels very real? Does that mean we're faking it and fooling ourselves? No. It means we're being obedient.

It is never hypocrisy to act as we earnestly desire to feel, even though the feeling may be very contrary at the time.

Feelings follow action.

Just before bed last night, it worked out for Audrey's BFF to fly here for the weekend. Blessing for her, indeed.

Yes, I am still disappointed. I will miss being at MISSION this weekend, miss seeing my friends and time with them. But I have the choice to praise in the midst of it, trusting that God knows what is best. 

Books I read (almost) every year

There are books I read again and again. And then again. Most I read every single year--and have for years.

They're more than books, more than words on a page. They are friends. If you know what I mean, I'm guessing you have some books like this too--and I'd love to hear what they are. ::hint, hint:: If not, just think about a movie you watch over and over. It's kind of like that, but kind of different too.

So off the top of my head, here's what I read again and again, almost every year.

Fiction:

The Little House on the Prairie books
All of the Anne of Green Gables books
All of the Chronicles of Narnia
The Harry Potter series
The Lord of the Rings trilogy 
Hinds' Feet on High Places (this one I've read three times since July!)
Mountains of Spices 
The Mitford series of books
The Secret Garden 

Non-fiction:

Living Prayer by Robert Benson
Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle
The Holy Wild by Mark Buchanan
Kingdom of Love by Hannah Hurnard (again, twice since July)
Winged Life by Hannah Hurnard
The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan

And of course there are Advent devotionals and Lenten devotionals that I read each year as well. 

I'm pretty sure almost all of these can be found in my Amazon shop.

Comments about knitting and a few thoughts from Madeleine L'Engle

Thank you so much for your comments on my last post about my knitting gone awry and life lessons learned from it. I love getting your comments. Love, love, love them. I don't always respond to each and every one--especially as homeschooling is really at the minimum a part time job and I don't have nearly as much bloggy time as I used to.

All that to say, I love them. Getting feedback from you makes this feel like a conversation rather than me just sitting at my desk and typing words on my computer.

I mentioned the other night on Twitter that I was headed to bed to read (again!) Madeleine L'Engle's book Walking on Water. This is one of those books I read again and again.

In fact, I first read it when we lived in California during my year-long fast from fiction.

(Which is a whole other story I'll tell another time.)

I checked it out from the library and wanted so badly to write all over it. Instead I copied excerpts into my journal and then thought, Enough!, and promptly ordered a copy for my very own.

(Have you ever done that? Read a book from the library or a friend and just had to have a copy for yourself? Which ones? I'd love to know!)

Anyway, couple of things about this book. I know it says that it's about faith and art. And it is. But it is filled with all kinds of life wisdom for everything from parenting to marriage to friendship to creativity to reading to...well, everything.

Here are a few of the things I've underlined to whet your appetite:

I've long since stopped feeling guilty about taking being time; it's something we all need for our spiritual health, and often we don't take enough of it...When I am constantly running there is no time for being. When there is no time for being there is no time for listening.

But one does not have to understand to be obedient.

Often we forget that he has a special gift for each one of us, because we tend to weigh and measure such gifts with the coin of the world's marketplace.

Where language is weak, theology is weakened.

I have to try, but I do not have to succeed.

If we are qualified, we tend to think that we have done the job ourselves. If we are forced to accept our evident lack of qualification, then there's no danger that we will confuse God's work with our own, or God's glory with our own.

We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.

You get the picture. And all that's just up to page 71. Go get a copy for yourself. Preferably one you can write in. You'll be glad you did.

Another thing about this book. The hardcover version that I pictured here (the one I have) has a foreword written by Nichole Nordeman, which makes me happy. Because she was my very best friend in the whole world when we were in first and second grade. We wore matching clothes and boots to school, spent our allowance together on grade books so we could play school with our younger siblings, and sang our hearts out to The Music Machine. (Obviously, we know who sang the best!)

Such a lovely thought

I've mentioned before how much I love Hind's Feet on High Places. And I love its sequel, Mountains of Spices, just as much. Not to mention Hannah Hurnard's nonfiction books, which I'm slowly working my way through. Slowly, because I am being challenged and prodded and changed. And that doesn't happen quickly.

Even the preface of the book is wonderful. Here's a taste:

Such a lovely thought. Still lovelier because it's more than a thought--it's real. Transformation. Yes, please.

Blogging over there

Some of you know that Toben and I write a blog together. Occasionally. We've had periods of consistency, but it's been a little sketchy lately. Anyway, that's what that Our Crazy Marriage button is over there in the sidebar on the right er, make that the left. You can read a little of our story and why we write it there.

Anyway, a while back, I wrote here on The Simple Wife about the book Jesus Lives that I've been reading during my quiet time. In fact, I quoted an entire's day devotional on what makes a day successful. And lots of you wrote back to say how you were going to print it out and put it on your fridge. And buy a copy of the book for yourself.

So if you did and you're not up to page 108 yet, you can click over to Our Crazy Marriage for a sneak peek at one that's coming. About control and love and the people in your life. It's a good one.

First day of school wrap-up love

I am pooped. Zonked. Tuckered out. Tired.

But what a great day. 

I love the theme verse for our school year (Colossians 3:17,23-24).

I love our new history curriculum (Eastern Hemisphere Explorer).

I love our new World Book encyclopedia thing-y on my computer.

I love that the girls and I are memorizing Scripture together again (Psalm 91:1-2 this week).

I love that the girls want to work together on their first Choose Your Adventure project for history. (They're going to throw a luau and teach us about the Pacific Islands.)

I love that the first book we're reading out loud together is Island of the Blue Dolphins.

I love that the characters in that book have an everyday name and a secret name. Something about that totally grabs at my imagination and intrigues me.

I love that we did math without tears. Or even complaining. Not even a groan.

I love that the girls didn't fight doing handwriting exercises but were excited to do it neatly and take their time.

I love that we're learning some hardcore grammar this year. I think grammar is important!

***

In other news, I love my friend Jennifer who sent me this on Facebook today:

She works for a publishing company that publishes a bunch of great homeschool stuff. So if that describes you, leave a comment here and I'll get you connected. 

Wanna see what she sent me not too long ago?

 

This book is HUGE and the pages fold out into an illustrated timeline of history. Take a look:

***

And I also love that the new Sprouts opened today and I don't have to drive for miles to get to one. And that nectarines were three pounds for a dollar. And that coffee was on sale for $5 a pound.

And I love that it's almost dinner time and that after eating and cleaning the kitchen and after studying some Greek vocabulary words and making my grammar flashcards, I LOVE THAT I'LL GET TO GET IN BED AND READ A WHILE AND THEN GO TO SLEEP.

Because have I mentioned that I'm a little bit tired after all that?

The end.

So, what did you love today?

What to read : Hinds' Feet on High Places

I've just added these to my Amazon store. Because like I said there, if you haven't read them, you need to. And if it's been a while, you need to read them again. Really. I can only give these two thumbs up because that's all the thumbs I have. But if I could, I'd give them 100 thumbs up. A thousand thumbs up. A million!

Sounds a little over-enthusiastic, I know. But I really mean it. I can't recommend them enough.

If you don't have the money to spend on new ones, check out the used books on Amazon. I'm guessing you could get both of them for pennies and just pay shipping.

Or you could go to the library, but these are books you need to own, and read with a pen in hand (of course!). Because you will find so much to underline that you're copy will look like mine in no time flat. See?

 

I borrowed my mom's copy (which is the one I read all those years ago) when we moved back to Denver at the beginning of July, but quickly realized I needed my own because there were so many things to underline, so many notes to make in the margin. So I ordered one--and the same day Mom brought me a new copy for my very own. (So I gave the one I ordered to Ali when she was here. Because she hadn't read it and needs to. [Which reminds me, Ali--we need to have a chat about it soon!] Just like you do!)

Anyway, I'd read Hinds' Feet on High Places years and years ago, forgotten all about it, and only remembered because my darling Christy has been reading it and kept reading me bits and pieces from her copy when we'd meet for coffee on Fridays.

But with packing and moving, I didn't get around to it.

Back to July. I started reading it in my quiet time. Somehow, God seemed silent for a while there around the time we moved, my Bible reading seemed, well, flat, and I needed something different. And though this is a novel, it's definitely devotion/quiet time material.

So I read it, read the sequel, and have started back through Hinds' Feet on High Places again, underlining like mad. God is speaking left and right through these books to me (and my copy has some notes from the author in the back that are so worth the read too) and it comes up in every conversation I have with Christy.

We talk about the characters like they are real people, about Much Afraid as if she is really us. Because she is. Because we have each found ourselves in the pages at every turn.

It's a story of love, of transformation, of obedience, of submission, of the Shepherd.

I could go on and on. Believe me. These books are prompting such a work in my heart, such a longing to be transformed. They have given me new eyes to see my Shepherd--he's so gentle and kind and laughing.

They've given me a vision of who God is shaping me to be. A new attitude toward my sin and failures. A new outlook with which to see those around me.

I want everyone I know to read them so I can talk about them all the time. I want to read them aloud to my girls. I want them to find themselves in the pages now--and not wait until they're my age to learn the lessons there.

Enough! Go buy them. And then tell me how much you love them, how much you love the Shepherd, how God changes you through this story.

How do I know a day is successful?

My mom gave me a copy of Sarah Young's Jesus Lives not too long ago. She has Young's first book, Jesus Calling, one some of my other friends are reading too. Given that Mom loves the first one so much, I'm not sure why she bought me a different one, but I'm so glad she did and am just going to go with the fact that God knew this is the one I needed.

I have underlined and written in the margin like you would not believe. (Well, maybe you would since I've always been very up front about my need to read a book--any book--with a Bic crystal [the world's best pen!] in hand.)

Each and every day, God is speaking loud and clear to me through this book. I have no idea if everyone else's books say the same things on the same pages (I often suspect God moves stuff around so it matches my needs!), but each day I open the book with a sense of nervous anticipation.

Because some days it's perfectly soothing to my soul, reassuring me of his love and care and knowledge of me--and other days it's a little bit uncomfortable, pointed and specific to something that needs some addressing. Either way, it's good. God is speaking clearly in its pages--and it is both personal and specific.

Take today, for example. As Toben is helping me think through schedules and expectations and whatnot for our school year ahead, as I ponder what needs to be done and when, as I think about priorities and success, I've been praying that God would grant specific wisdom and direction about every aspect of our family's life and schedule.

Here's what I found this morning:

A successful day is one in which you have stayed in touch with Me, even if many things remain undone at the end of the day. It sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it? You rarely reach day's end without a sense of failure to some degree. The various means and measures of worldly "success" pull on you constantly, leaving you in a fragmented, unfocused condition.

To avoid confusion, you need a rule of thumb: Seek to please Me. When communicating with Me is your highest priority, I am pleased. The more you commune with Me as you go through a day, the more you walk in My ways. The Light of my Presence illumines the path before you, making sin both obvious and abhorrent. This same Light satisfies your soul. All in all, staying in touch with Me is a good and fulfilling way to live.

If that's not a direct answer to prayer, I don't know what is!

If I could, I'd buy each and every friend I have a copy of this. But I can't, so instead I'll just direct you to my Amazon store where you can purchase one for yourself. It will be $10 well spent--totally worth giving up a couple of lattes.

(Just a reminder, my Amazon store is exactly that--Amazon. I don't see any of your ordering information. Everything is purchased and shipped directly through Amazon; I simply earn a small referral fee when you buy through it.)

 

Thinking about you = praying for you

In my past life, I worked at NavPress Publishing Group as a publicist, a copywriter, and later as an editor. It was amazing. I love books--always have loved books--and to work at a publishing house was a dream job. I kinda miss it.

One of the books I worked on was this one:

 

It's one I had a hard time working on because I wanted to mark all the good stuff rather than any stray semi-colons, quotation marks, and misaligned subheads. I got caught up in it and had to constantly refocus to read as an editor rather than just a reader.

I read just about everything with a pen in hand and love marking in my books--it was so hard not to jot notes to myself in the margins of the manuscript pages!

Working with Jan was a joy and this is one of those books I read again and again. Though somehow it didn't make it in the small box of books we brought to Arizona and I'm desperately wanting to read it again right now. More books are coming to Arizona this summer for sure!

Have you read it? It's sort of a The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence for today--you can get a copy at my Amazon shop here. 

(My bookshop is run by Amazon and lets me earn a small percentage of sales that go through it to apply toward my own Amazon purchases. Not a huge amount, but enough to get something fun every now and then!)

Anyway...

Here's what I really wanted to say about all of this: 

I got an email or two this morning that said, "Praying for you." That's it. A few small words that felt enormous. 

One of the things that Jan talks about in her book is that thinking about someone can also be praying for that person. 

When a friend or neighbor or coworker or someone comes to mind, we can instantly turn it into a prayer for her (or him!). It doesn't have to be long and eloquent. It can be as simple as...

Be with her
Lord, help him
Have mercy
Be near
Give wisdom
Speak speace

...as we connect whoever it is to our conversation with God as we move through the day.

It's a simple practice, really. One that takes some discipline to make it a habit, but not at all difficult. Try it. When someone pops into mind, let thinking about that person become prayer.

Truth and knowledge applied

Got to hang out yesterday with Shaunti Feldhahn, author of For Women Only and For Men Only. She came to Phoenix yesterday to speak at our church for twoignite, the marriage ministry that Toben and I run together.

  

I'd read her book for women years ago while we were living in California. And listening to her speak last night, I thought, I remember that. I knew that.

At the same time, I had a few very pointed "a-ha" moments. Because here's the thing. Knowing something, understanding something is not enough. I have to put it into practice, apply it, just do the thing for it to work. For it to be real. For it to make a difference.

I don't want to be like the man in the parable of the talents who buried the money his master gave him to invest. I don't want to take what I learn and file it away just to have. I want to put it to work, live it out, make it real.

What about you? Is there a truth you know that you need to actually apply?

Bible study is over...now what?

One of the things I included in the last week's homework for the Bible study I taught at church was a question or two encouraging everyone to think about what they would study next. Just because group Bible study at church (or in someone's home) is over until Fall (or whenever it starts up again) doesn't mean we stop studying!

My friend Debby gifted me with The Satisfied Heart at the end of our study together at church. It's one she loves and gives often. And I always love reading books that my friends have said they love that much!

I waited until I finished up the last day's homework from our Psalm 23 study before opening this book. Just from the introduction in which Ruth shares her story, I knew I was going to love the book too.

As I read her story of experiencing God's love and of him being her first love, my thought was, I want that! 

I'm only on day 3, but my copy is already marked up, which to me is the sign of a good book! I can tell that this will be a book I'll read again and again. When I come to the end of day 31, I'll just flip back to day 1 and start again.

One of the things I like is that she lists Scriptures to read at the end of each day and suggests picking out a word or phrase that stands out to you. I've just picked one Scripture to read (and will do the others as I go through it again and again) and have liked just picking a phrase to focus on for the day. (Seems like memorizing just a short phrase rather than a whole verse is a very do-able daily thing. I'm thinking that they may need to be verse cards rather than post its. Or a spiral just for this book. But we'll see.)

For now I've recorded the phrases in a little notebook that I keep with the book, and have written them on post-its stuck to my computer as well. It's all too easy to forget what the phrase was when I get up and go about my day. I need things written down where I will see them repeatedly for them to stick!

Today's phrase? "Your love is better than life" from Psalm 63:3.

If you're on a group Bible study break, what are you doing to stay in the Word? Are you reading a great devotional, doing a study on your own? Have a book to recommend? Leave a comment and tell the rest of us!

Insecure much?

Have to tell you, I honestly thought that I wasn't. Insecure that is. For the most part, I thought I was confident, secure, way past insecurity. Ha!

My first night of teaching Bible study a couple of weeks ago ended with being slapped upside the head by insecurity. I was shocked, stunned, surprised. Where the heck did that come from? I wondered. Maybe I should pick up Beth's new book after all, I thought.

And then to combat my whole antiperspirant/deoderant conundrum, I actually wore three different kinds to Bible study last Wednesday. Yep, you read it right. Three kinds. If one is good, three must be really good. (And I did admit it to the gals there in an effort to keep it real.)

My sweet dad talked to Toben the other day and was concerned to know if it worked. And said he hoped I didn't break out in a rash from mixing them all together. (It did work, and no, I didn't get a rash--though I'm backing off and going with just one kind from here on out.)

Incidentally, my friend Christy prayed specifically for dry armpits. (The Bible says to pray with all kinds of prayers and requests. So why not?) Then commented that it was her prayer and not the three kinds of antiperspirant that prevailed. Another woman was walking by at the time and told me that if I really wanted to prove my faith, this week I'd come without any. Hmmm...yes, we are called to faith. But we're also to be wise. So I'll back off of using three, but stick with using one.

Anyway. Where was I?

Maybe I should pick up Beth's new book after all, I thought.

So I did. And I just finished it this morning. And I will tell you my copy is underlined, starred, scribbled in. The margins are filled with stuff like, "Really, Lord?" as he revealed things to me about myself. Things like, "Applicable much?!" as I read something Beth wrote that could have come from my own pen. Things like, "Help, Lord!" as something hit me square between the eyes.

I'm guessing that many of you have already read it and are benefitting from all you learned. You're getting dressed in strength and dignity each and every morning. Some of you have the book, but haven't started it. (Ahem, you know you who are! Won't mention her name, cause I don't want to fuel any insecurity there and anyway, she knows how much I adore her and that I'm only teasing!)

But, if you don't have it, GO GET IT. (Yes, the library is great, but this is a book you need to write in. You'll want your own copy. I promise.) Even if you don't think you struggle with insecurity that much. Because I'm betting you'll see more reflections of yourself as you read than you'd expect.

Even a little insecurity is too much. 

Advent

Just popping in to give you a quick link for all my Advent posts from the past. And here's a link for a bunch of Advent resources in my bookshop at Amazon. (It doesn't cost you any extra and I earn a little extra pocket money if you order through my shop there.)

In my dreams I'm a secret agent

I love to read. Not new news to most of you! There are so many kinds of books I love to read...historical fiction, Newbery winners, mysteries, you name it. And I love spy novels. The more guns, the more gadgets, the better.

Throat mics, tactical gear, night-vision goggles? I'm all over it.

My friend Michael has been supplying me books from his never-ending supply of spy novels and so in my imagination I've been roaming the hills of Afghanistan, tracking international terrorists, and taking out the bad guys.

Just in case your taste in books runs similar to mine, I've put some of them in my Amazon shop here. So far, this one's my favorite.

Not so much on the spy side, but more of a historical, archaeological, Old Testament treasure, race the bad guys to preserve history kind of a book. I'm ready for this guy to write another book, because I loved this one. 

Spiritual Mothering: Chapter 2 and a little video

Chapter 2 is titled "A Life-Purpose." I have to say that this is what so much of this book is about. Are we living for God's glory in all we do? Chances are that the more we focus on that purpose, the more nurturing we will be to those around us--other women, our own children, other people's children, you name it.

Here are this week's questions:

1. In the first short section of chapter 2, Hunt talks about the second-pivotal principle of spiritual mothering: that our life-purpose is to glorify God. The driving force of any spiritual mothering relationship is not the relationship, but God's glory.

How does this alter/change/influence/affect what you've thought so far about this topic? Does it change how you perceive this kind of mentoring? If so, how?

2. Much of the chapter examines Mary. "I fear that too often we do not hold Mary up as an example, because we are overcompensating for some who have elevated her above humanity. This robs us of one of the most beautiful examples of faith found in Scripture...In Mary we do see a woman who embraced God's glory as her reason for being and translated that into her experience" (page 26).

What struck you fresh about Mary's story after reading this chapter? 

3. Hunt made a couple of statements about Mary's response to the angel:

"This young woman handled the situation without her brain or her emotions being scrambled" (page 27).

"This was no emotional reaction but rather a deliberate and logical response based upon the character and promises of God" (page 28).

How do these statements compare to how you typically respond to something? Are you more on the side of being scrambled, or more deliberate and logical?

How does/should having a life-purpose of glorifying God and an identity of being the Lord's servant affect our response any kind of situation?

4. On page 32, Hunt distinguishes between confidence based on our identity in Christ and self-confidence. How do you see these as being different?

5. If you had to pick a sentence or a phrase from this chapter to write on your bathroom mirror to see each and every day, what would you pick? Why?

6. Anything else you want to add, highlight, or ask everyone else to answer? Have at it!

Feel free to write your own blog post and leave a link in the comments or to write your answers directly in the comments here. Be sure to check back on this post (and last week's here) as there's some back-and-forth conversation going on. Which totally thrills me. I love seeing my friends become friends!

Don't forget that you have to hang on after you type your comment and preview it to type in the word verification thing-y. I know it's a pain, but it prevents spam. I didn't used to use it, but after getting TONS of spam comments on some older posts, I turned it on.

And if ever you get totally frustrated, send me an email and I'll put your comments up in a comment from my computer.

I put up a couple more questions than we had for the last chapter. Too many, not enough, just right?

Any other housekeeping stuff I should be aware of? Let me know!

The Story of Inventions

On Fridays, we've been working our way through this book, The Story of Inventions, for our science curriculum. The girls ALWAYS want me to keep reading and beg me not to stop--even when the day's reading is over.

Not only is it fun and easy to read, it's filled with great illustrations and the skinny on inventions like chewing gum and toilets as well as the story of flight and Band-aids.

If you have a curious kid, this would make a great gift. Birthday, Christmas, Happy "I love you" day, you name it. Amazon has it for less than $10 here, so it would make a great birthday present for the next party your kid gets invited to. 

Add a flashlight and you've got a perfect reading-under-the-covers kind of a book! (My all-time favorite gift to give kids.)

Read+Chat+Live: Spiritual Mothering

Okay, gals, thanks for being so patient with me this week! With my mom only here for about a day and a half, I really wanted to hang out with her instead of hanging out on my laptop. So thank you. 

But, y'all have totally been on my mind in the midst of wandering around IKEA (mmm...meatballs!), Trader Joes (mmm...everything!), and floating around the pool (ahhhh...). Mom and I talked a lot about this book, about spiritual mothering, about the group she did the book with, about how mentoring works or could work or might work, and lots else.

So!

I sat down and compiled a list of everyone who said they wanted to join in--there are about 35 of us so far. And that seems like a pretty big group of women who are interested in the topic and willing to spend some time learning more about it. I'm so thrilled!

It's not too late to join if you're interested. Just let me know you want in and you're in! If you are new around here, you might want to click here to see how this whole thing got started.

And if you're thinking you want to join in but you don't have a blog, don't let that stop you. I've been thinking about how this can work for everyone and think I may have a plan.

First, I made a button! Because if we're going to do this, we have to have a button, right? :) You can take a peek at it over there on the right in the sidebar. (And you'll find the code for it down below if you want one too!)

I was thinking about what to call this venture and decided that "an online book reading/study/discussion/club thing" wouldn't fit on a button very well. And as I thought about what we're doing I came up with the Read+Chat+Live thing. 

We're reading it together, chatting about it, and then living it out wherever we are. Yes, we can READ and LIVE on our own, but the CHAT part is often just as helpful and challenging as what we read on the page on our own. (Which is why I love group Bible study so much, but that's a whole other thing.)

(Plus, the words each have four letters and fit nicely in the space I had.)

So, LET'S GET STARTED!

1. If you haven't ordered the book, you need to do that. Here's a link to get a copy from Amazon if you want to go that route.

2. When you get the book, if you're like me you'll put your name in the front as well as "Fall 2009" so you'll remember in the future when you first read it. And you'll need a pen handy when you start reading, because you're going to want to underline. A lot.

3. Read the foreword, introduction, and chapter 1.

There are 12 chapters and I think each one merits a discussion by itself, so I'm thinking that it'll be best to do this once a week--otherwise we'll still be going six months from now. (Not that that's bad, but the book is so good I don't think you'll want to wait that long to finish it!)

I'll do a post on Sunday afternoon with some specific questions and you can respond to them and do your own post anytime during the week that works best for you. If you have a blog, you can link to your blog post in the comments. If not, you can respond directly in the comments. And if you have a blog, but want to just use the comments, you can do that too.

I'd love for us to take the time to read what the others have to say--at the same time I recognize that 35 extra posts a week to read is a lot. So maybe pick a few a day or a handful a week to read, switching it up until you visit everyone at least once or twice. Given that we can't sit together in a room and chat for a few hours each week, it's going to be in commenting to/with each other that the chatting will take place.

To give everyone time to get a book in hand and read the first chapter, I'll do my first post on Sunday, September 20.

How's that sound?

For now, here's what I want to know in the comments (that way they'll be easy for all of us to find fast this one time) that will help us get to know each other a bit better. 

Your name
Your age-ISH
Location
Blog, if you have one
What is it about this topic that excites you? Why are you interested in it?

I'll even go first:

Joanne Heim
37
Phoenix, AZ
The Simple Wife (www.thesimplewife.typepad.com)

I want a mentor! And I feel challenged to be mentoring someone else too--especially after LPL in Laramie in May. And I will need a mentor when I return to seminary--it's part of the degree program. But how do you go about getting one? What do you do together? I'm looking for some concrete answers, some input, some wisdom, some challenge, some direction. That's why I'm excited about reading this book!

Your turn! Happy Saturday everyone,

Joanne
  

P.S. If you want a sidebar button, here's the code you need:

<a href="http://thesimplewife.typepad.com/the_simple_wife/2009/09/spiritual-mothering.html/"><img border="0" src="http://thesimplewife.typepad.com/bookclubbutton.jpg"></a>

It looks like this and links anyone who clicks on it (does that make them a clicker?!) to this post in case they want to join in too.

Hey book group gals!

I will get in touch with you all about this and have so many comments from you in my inbox that I want to respond to. And I will...but I need a day or two.

Audrey and my mom got home last night and we have today and half of tomorrow with Mom before she goes home to Denver tomorrow afternoon. So I'm going to take advantage of that! Come Saturday I'll be emailing you or posting something more specific.

Off to wait for the phone to ring to do our interview on Midday Connection. You can listen in here!

Well, wow!

So many of you have responded and said you'd like to be part of a Spiritual Mothering book discussion/group/club/thing-y! I can't tell you how excited I am.

In case more people want to join, I'm going to give it another day or two before going any further. (But go ahead and order the book if you want. Amazon has it here.) And I'll be thinking a little more about the best way to proceed. If you have any specific ideas, send me a quick email or leave a comment.

I actually got up sort of early this morning--before six--and it felt so great. I've just not been my usual 5 a.m. self since we moved here. I've been more of a 6:30 kind of a girl. Part of that is staying up later, and part of it is not having to get up. But I miss having such a huge block of time all to myself before the day gets going too much.

Audrey comes home tonight (and that means my mom is coming back too!) and I'm just so excited. I've missed her! Them!

(Emma loved being an only child until Saturday afternoon. Then she decided that her life is boring without Audrey and that things are definitely better and more fun with a big sister around. Makes me so happy!)

So Emma and I are going to clean house and make some ice cream snowballs for a treat (more on that later!) and do whatever else we find to do before they come home tonight.

We spent most of yesterday at the pool and I just have to say that I could float on a floatey all the day long. I think it may be my new favorite thing. That and drippy castles. See?

(Look, we had the whole thing to ourselves!)

I first remember making drippy castles on the Gulf of Mexico, the year we lived in Alabama. We stayed in these little trailers on the beach surrounded by huge trees dripping in Spanish moss. I remember being able to walk waaaay out in the water and having it only come up to my knees. And sitting in the sand making drippy castles with my mom forever. And making friendship pins in the trailer when it rained. And necklaces with tiny beads in rainbow patters. Mom still has those necklaces from that trip!

And it goes without saying that Emma's always a favorite!

P.S. to Spiritual Mothering

Look! Responses already! Hooray! I'm totally jumping up and down as much as I can after spending time with Jillian this morning on the Shred. So, in reality, I'm jumping up and down on the inside since I haven't quite caught my breath.

Anyway, if you want to buy the book from Amazon, here's the link!

Spiritual Mothering

 

This is what I'm reading, er, devouring, these days. I finished a mystery last night before bed and clearly thought, I should have been reading Spiritual Mothering instead. Not that the mystery wasn't good--it was--but this is BETTER.

So maybe devouring isn't the right word. Savoring? Savoring quickly? Reading with a pen in hand (no surprise there!) and underlining, circling, and drawing stars and arrows like crazy, for sure.

I may have mentioned here--certainly on Twitter (follow me here by typing "joanneheim")--that I was off to a meeting at church on Saturday morning to talk about mentoring. It's something I've thought about, been interested in, had questions concerning for a while. As one of the women there said, it hasn't felt like a concrete kind of a thing and I'm just a concrete kind of a girl.

I was excited to know that we'd be going through this book because my mother has read it with a group at her church and said tantalizing things about it. 

We'll be reading it together as a group (there are maybe eight or nine of us--from about my age all the way up to great grandmothers that I want to get to know so much better) over the next few months. I'm already way ahead of where we're supposed to have read to because it's just so good.

Here's what I like:

It is so biblically based. So clear. So orderly in its presentation of the topic. 

And on top of that, it's just challenging my socks off and directly relating to so many other seemingly coincidental/random things in my life right now. (Not that I think there's any such thing as coincidence or random--that's PROVIDENCE, something for another post.)

(Just to mention one of those things: Anyone else at Living Proof Live in Laramie in May? Beth talked directly about this--it was #7 in the notes.)

Anyway, I just can't help wanting to share this book with all of you. To have you read it, to hear what you think, to know what you underlined and circled and starrred. To peek at your notes in the margin.

I guess my question is this...anyone interested in doing an online book reading/study/discussion/club thing together? 

My mind is whirling with all the details about what to read when and how much to read at a time, how we'd do questions, and all that jazz, but for now I'll stop with what's most important to know.

Anyone want to join me?

Reading together

We've been reading like crazy these past two weeks for school. Reading out loud is something we've done together since the girls were small (and Toben and I used to read books alouddriving back and forth to Spokane in college). 

We finished these three books this week:

(By the way, I put a "Homeschooling Books" page on my Amazon shop, if you want to learn more about the books we're reading or order one for yourself.)

I thought I'd let Audrey and Emma tell you about the books themselves. I've copied their journaling assignments for today. They journal each day and this is the only entry I've been allowed to read so far! 

From Audrey:

These last two weeks we read three books: Om-Kas-Toe, Pedro's Journal, and Walk the World's Rim. 

I liked them all, but Om-Kas-Toe was my favorite because it is full of action. My favorite part is when Om captures a black elkdog and names it Big Black. My other favorite part is when Wise Bird finds the lost baby.

There is a lot more fun--you will have to read it to find out!

From Emma:

We finished three books: Om-Kas-Toe, Pedro's Journal, and Walk the World's Rim. My favoret is Om-Kas-Toe. I like it because it has horses in it.

Just for the record, I liked Pedro's Journal and Om-Kas-Toe the best. 

What are you reading?

We've decided to keep track of all the books we read this next year. It's something I did for years. In fact, I had a notebook listing books by author and series. You laugh, but for years I read at least one book every day and I hated coming home from the library, putting the girls down for naps, opening a new book, only to realize I'd already read it.

(Yes, I read fast. Really fast. And no, I never took a speed reading course. It's just something I do that comes from lots of practice. I've read thousands of books over the years, picking one up and then putting it down when I'm done.)

I wonder what happened to my list? I think it was on my computer about three computers ago--and is one of those files that never made the jump.

Anyway, with all the reading to be done with our curriculum this year--and all the reading to be done instead of watching television--I decided it would be fun to keep track again. Especially for the girls.

I love to read. Love, love, love it. Always have. I was the eleven-year-old girl who wandered through the Louvre in Paris with my nose in Gone with the Wind, looking up to glance at the Mona Lisa and then heading right back to Atlanta to check on Scarlett and Melanie.

Audrey and Emma? Not so much. They enjoy it when they do it, but it's never their first inclination when there's nothing to do. Or even when there's everything to do.

Me? I'd always rather be reading.

I've read all the books about raising a reader. In fact, I've written brochures about it for libraries during my days as a publicist for a publishing company. We read out loud, we go to the library. We listen to books on tape. The girls see me read. 

I haven't lost all hope.

And I think keeping track is working. Audrey and Emma are so excited for me to record a book they finish, to count how many they've read so far. I think it's helping them to feel like they really are readers.

Just as an aside, since I'm not reading Hebrew text books like I thought I would be this fall, I'm keeping track of what I'm reading too. And I'm reading lots--all for fun. And as I finish books, I'm adding them to my Amazon bookshop.

Buying a book there is really buying a book from Amazon, only I get a small percentage of the sale. It not much, but enough to buy some more books from time to time! If you've never visited, go check it out.

The most recent book I've read will be listed first on the "Books I Read Just for Fun" page. And if you've not read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society yet, you'll want to read that one first!

P.S. I love Orla Kiely's design. I first saw a bag at Anthropologie that I couldn't justify no matter how hard I tried. Then I saw some dishes at Target. Huge mugs on clearance, but I was in the midst of packing and didn't want to pack anything else. Of course, now I know they'd match my new dishes and I wish I had bought them after all. Maybe they're online...

Resources: Teaching children to worship

I wrote a short paper this past spring about teaching children to worship for one of my seminary classes. And read a lot of books on the topic. I've put a couple of them in my Amazon shop if you want to check them out.

And if you want to read the paper I wrote (it's short, I promise!), here it is:

Download Teaching Children to Worship

Tuesdays are our library day around here...

...and we brought home a HUGE basket full of books last week.

I'm so glad to be reading for fun again, and am working my way through a book or so a day, which is my "usual" reading pace.

One of the first books I read was this one:

I'm pretty certain it's a Newbery book, and it's been on my list for a while. I found myself wishing I owned it so I could underline. (When it's MY book, I always read with a pen in hand. Fiction, nonfiction, textbook, Bible, you name it. I just need one!)

Here are a few of the things I wanted to underline:

Sophy's mother advises this receipt. She says it makes a successful cake, and easily prepared:

One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, and four eggs beat well together. It may be baked in pans or cups, no more than twenty minutes.

I've made a similar recipe in the past and thought it would be fun to try again!

Mammann disciplined Matty today..."You must learn to like the doing of that which we like you to do. Glad submission of the will," she explained, "is the obedience that proves control. I do not mean you merely to comply. Reflect, accept, obey!"
...Discipline of will, not relinquishment, is the lesson's desired end. How hard this is for each to learn, and how necessary.

And that idea continued later:

At the start of this journal I wrote of my wish to stay here for ever and ever; also that I wished to become better and more gladly able to do what I am asked. Today, reflecting on Aunt Lucy's letter, I know I shall find good consequence in what ever is decided by Father and Mammann. Thus it now appears to me that trust, and not submission, defines obedience.

Trust defines obedience. If I trust God, I will obey him. When my children have trust in me, they are more likely to obey. A simple idea, but one to ponder, I think.

I'm always amazed at the nuggets of truth found hiding in books--even children's books. Want to read this one--and have your own so you can write in it? Visit my bookshop here.

Been loving these books

My friend Kyle has been lending me all of the books in this series by James Patterson and I LOVE THEM! (Okay, so Kyle's only in the fourth grade, but we trade books back and forth and have so much fun doing it.)

He gave me this one on Thursday (well, he gave it to his little brother, who gave it to Emma, who gave it to me--really, it's like a secret book drug deal) and I didn't even peek at it until I got into bed last night. Two hours later, I put it down.

Remember a while ago when Audrey kept misreading the clock and we stayed up way too late reading? Well, I was reading the first book in the series. And Kyle's kept me supplied with each following book in the series. There are five and each one has been a blast.

They're a little science-fiction-y, which isn't usually my thing (half birds/half kids? really?) but I've gotta tell you that they're great. Fast-paced, fun, and super well-written.

Technically, they're for kids. So if you have a tween or teen, these would make a great "Happy I Love You Day" gift. Or if you love to read, go get them for yourself.

From a literary perspective, the voice in these books is terrific. First person, sarcastic, and consistent through each book in the series. James Patterson writes the voice of a teen girl perfectly.

Want to learn more about the series? Click here.

Frugal Friday: The Richest Man in Babylon

The Richest Man in Babylon is a little book of parables on the topic of wealth, thrift, and financial planning. My dad gave this book to Toben for Christmas in 2004; I picked it up a month or two ago and read it since it's been in my "to read" pile for a while. 

I'm glad I did.

It's not so much information that I didn't know, but it's presented in an easy-to-read format in a such a way that it makes a lot of sense and is easy to remember. As I've started handling our finances in the past few months, I've already put some of the principles into action and am seeing a big difference.

The book presents seven principles that will give you an idea of the tone of the book:

1. Start thy purse to fattening.
2. Control thy expenditures.
3. Make thy gold multiply.
4. Guard thy treasures from loss.
5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment.
6. Insure a future income.
7. Increase thy ability to earn.

As you can tell, the language is a little flowery and a little bit hokey, but it's worth your time to read. Especially if you're concerned with saving, getting out of debt, or just being smarter with your money.

What's your dream?

A couple of weeks ago, Waterbrook sent me an email asking if I'd like a copy of Robert Benson's new book, The Echo Within. "Um, yeah!" I typed back as quickly as my fingers could move. Of course, they wanted me to review it in exchange, which I totally would have done anyway. (And I would've bought the book for myself anyway too, but shhh! don't tell them that!)

If you've read The Simple Wife for very long, if you've looked at my bookshop over on Amazon, or if you've read any of my books, Robert's name should be familiar to you. I like to quote him. A lot. 

(Totally an aside here... I can write; I consider myself a writer. But Robert can WRITE. He's definitely in the poet class of writers. And someday, I'd like to write even a little bit as well as he does. I'm sure he may read this and blush, but it's very, very true.)

I'll just tell you to go buy every single one of his books, because I promise that you'll love every single one of his books. You'll underline and highlight and feel that yes in your heart as you read and scribble in the margins. You'll want to lend them to your friends but hesitate because you'll be desperate to get them back. And be sure to get a copy of The Night of the Child on CD for listening to on Christmas Eve too.

I'm blessed to know Robert in real life and wish he lived close enough to come for Sunday dinner and perhaps a walk down by the creek. And as I told him, I really did intend to read this book slowly, to savor it as it deserves. But I devoured it all too quickly as usual. Which simply means that I'm excited to go back for slow seconds. Because the books we love are meant to be read again and again.

Here's what this book has meant to me. It's made me stop and think about my dreams. Those kinds of dreams deep in my heart that I'm almost afraid to tell anyone about. Those "in my wildest dreams" kinds of dreams.

It's made me consider that those dreams were put in my heart by God, that different parts of my life are working together to bring those dreams to reality. That those dreams are part of not just who I am but why I am.

In the past week or two since I read the book, I'm seeing how those dreams are being fed by my experiences, by what I'm learning in seminary, by the things I love. I'm seeing that God doesn't waste anything--and that he's using all the bits and pieces to build into those dreams he dreamed in me.

"We dream a dream, and it does not easily come true, and we conclude that perhaps it was not what God meant for us after all. But I suspect far too many of us give up on our dreams far too soon."

In Constant Prayer

Robert Benson is one of my favorite authors and I read his newest book a while ago and have been meaning to you how much I enjoyed it.

I tend to read quickly--a normal book takes me a couple of hours. I pick it up, read it cover to cover, and put it down.

But I can't read Robert's books like that. Maybe it's because I've met him any number of times and have heard him read from his books. He doesn't read quickly.  

He's a great writer--and his "voice" comes through clearly. And he speaks slowly and clearly and thoughtfully.

This book is part of The Ancient Practices Series and this particular volume focuses on the idea of praying the daily office, also called the liturgy of the hours, the divine hours, and a few other things. Think nuns and monks getting up in the middle of the night to pray. But also think about normal, everyday people who have kids and jobs and lives like yours and lives like mine doing the same. Well, maybe not the middle of the night thing, but praying morning, noon, and night.

"In the simplest of terms," Robert writes, "the daily office is a regular pattern and order for formal worship and prayer that is offered to God at specific times throughout the course of the day. Each set of prayers, known as an office, is made up of psalms, scriptures, and prayers."

Part of Robert's goal for this book is to introduce people to the idea of this kind of prayer--to show normal, everyday people who think this kind of prayer is really for those who live in a monastic community that this kind of corporate prayer (done at the same time if not actually done together) is actually a tradition of the entire church, one that is suited and beneficial to all believers in all walks of life.

I have prayed the morning office with some regularity for a number of years, the evening office with less regularity, and while I keep meaning to pray the noon office, it just hasn't happened yet.

Despite that, I found lots of great wisdom in this book that applies to my everyday life. Here's just a sample of some of the things I underlined and starred and marked as I read:

I do not know if I will ever become a person of prayer. But I do know that there is only one way it will ever happen. People of prayer say their prayers--every day.

Time is the real currency of our age, and we have to manage our time in relation to our spiritual life as much as we do in relation to any other part of our lives... Our love is where our time goes... It takes about twelve minutes to say an office. "Can you not spend twelve minutes with me?"

Robert spends a lot of time reminding us that prayer is a daily thing. Part ordinary, part routine. He is a gardener, and likens the life of prayer to the life of the gardener--full of constant maintenance, made worthwhile by magic moments that happen because of the constant daily attention.

One of the reasons it's hard for us to say the daily office is that on most days, prayer is more like weeding a flower bed for the third time this month than it is some divine and mystical experience. The truth is that for most of the time--for all time, according to the ones that have gone before us--the office has a kind of mundane, everyday sort of feeling. There is a blessed ordinariness to it. The daily office is not called daily for nothing, you know.

There is a temptation for all of us to feel as though worship is not really worth much unless we are personally moved by it. If we are not somehow emotionally touched, then our worship does not seem spiritual to us. It helps to remember that liturgy is the work of the people, not the magic wand of God.

To say the office is to say that I am going to keep doing my chores. I am going to keep raking the leaves or mowing the grass or pulling up the weeds, even if it is a long time until the roses bloom. I will keep saying these psalms until the prayer of God rises in my heart. I will offer my thanksgivings even when I am not very thankful. I will offer my prayer and praise on the days when I am tired or distracted or busy or lost. This sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving is not only reasonable, but in the end, it may even make me lively somehow. Maybe even fully alive.

Sometimes it is hard to persevere in saying the office, because there is no immediate sense that anything is happening when we do. I only know this: if you want some roses to bloom, then you have to do some raking and some mulching and some weeding and some pruning and some waiting. I also know that some evening in May, when I come around the corner at dusk to check to see if the front gate is locked for the night, the breeze will be just right, and I will be paying attention enough to smell them, and the moment will be as holy as any prayer that ever rose as incense to the One who made us.

It helps to remember that we are to be about the daily; the Divine will take care of the divine.

Now doesn't that whet your appetite for more?

You can click on The Simple Wife Bookshop button over there to the right and it'll take you to Amazon. This book is listed on The Christian Life page.

Reading and watching

Even though it's summer vacation, we still do the majority of our reading at breakfast time. We just read for longer periods of time since there's no rush to get out the door.

Before we left for Alaska, we were working our way through the Julie books from American Girl--thank you, Heidi!

After Alaska, though, we decided to move onto a different set of Julie books--the ones by Jean Craighead George who wrote one of my all-time favorite books as a child, My Side of the Mountain. Love, love, love that book.

Julie is an eskimo girl lost in the tundra and becomes part of a wolf pack to survive. I've read them before, but it's been a long time, and it seems new to me too. The girls are really enjoying it--despite the fact that there's almost no dialog and lots of descriptions of the tundra.

We've also been watching movies--or TV shows on DVD--in the afternoons when the pool is out. (Yesterday we tried to go twice, but it was windy and cloudy and kept trying to rain.)

My girls are insane for The Brady Bunch--and we've been getting it from Netflix. Yesterday's disc included their Grand Canyon adventure--remember that one? Bobby and Cindy wander off and meet an Indian boy whose grandfather adopts them into the tribe. 

Audrey and Emma just crack up. And I'm loving it just as much as I did in 1979.

I also introduced them to Fame--which I loved as a kid. Of course, I have to get up and sing at the beginning of every episode! 

And I've been watching The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. I've watched the first two discs in the first season--still no Nancy Drew. But Shaun Cassidy has been singing "Da Do Run Run" and that sends me straight back to a memory of singing and dancing in someone's basement when I was about nine years old. 

The girls have watched bits and pieces here and there with me, but it's a little too scary for them--suspenseful music and dark basements send them running for cover.

Brrr... and movies and books

After an 80-degree day yesterday, it didn't make it out of the 50s today. The day felt really long, in part, because it's been overcast and dreary all day. So instead of playing in the yard like yesterday (we played croquet, badminton, giant ball volleyball--Mom and Dad let us use all their summer yard stuff while they're gone) or going to the newly opened pool, we laid around inside where it was warm, reading and watching movies.

The girls and I watched Tom and Huck,and depending on when Emma gets out of the tub, we might watch Johnny Tremain too. I've so loved having Netflix again--and working our way through a bunch of old Disney movies. I watched Johnny Tremain on the plane on the way to Seattle last weekend and loved it; I haven't mailed it back because I want the girls to see it too--an appropriate Memorial Day movie, I think.

We've also read a couple of great books together lately--finishing them up at breakfast during the last few weeks of school. (I think I've mentioned before that we read out loud at breakfast; I get really sleepy at night!)

Anyway, we read The Hundred Dresses and had some great conversations about making fun of people, not going along with the crowd, and how being different is okay. The illustrations in this book are just beautiful. Go here to take a peek. I think I need to get more of her books to read over the summer, perhaps The Moffats.

And we also read The Light at Tern Rock, a short little book that would be great to read near Christmas. Again, with great illustrations.

Not sure what's next on the list. Emma's hoping for another American Girl Julie book; Audrey's hoping for The Penderwicks.

But for now, Emma's out of the tub so it's time for a movie!

Just like Anne, well almost

"I've an afternoon to spend in sweet doing nothing...Shall I spend it here where there is a cosy fire, a plateful of delicious russets, three purring and harmonious cats, and two impeccable china dogs with green noses? Or shall I go to the park, where there is the lure of gray woods and of gray water lapping on the harbor rocks?"

I too had an afternoon to spend in sweet doing nothing. I chose the cosy fire (we got about seven inches of snow last night and today) and my one purring cat, a bowl of ice cream instead of russets (though apples would've been healthier), and a snoring dog--and a book. I came across this quote in Anne of the Island and smiled to see one more thing I had in common with red-haired Anne.

I love this particular book in the series and found lots of things to underline again. (Yes, I even underline in novels--can't read without a pen in hand.) At the end Anne has her book of Revelation and realizes her love for Gilbert. And at the end I sobbed and sobbed like always.

The book nearest you meme

Saw this over at Kristina's blog and loved the idea...

Take the nearest book next to you and answer the following questions:
(I'm sitting up in the loft, which has built-in bookcases lining the walls. They're ALL near me. So I picked the one I'm reading.)

Title and author?
The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" by C.S. Lewis

Is the book dedicated to anyone? If so, who?
"To Geoffrey Barfield"

What is the first sentence?
"There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scubb, and he almost deserved it."

Turn to page 47. Please share the first sentence of the first full paragraph.
"Necessary, unavoidable," said his Sufficiency.

***

I needed a book to read while I ate lunch yesterday and picked this one up. It's one of my favorites in The Chronicles of Narnia. I just love the part where Eustace turns into a dragon and the process of him becoming a boy again. We can peel and peel off layers of our "stuff," but until we let Jesus really deal with it, it just doesn't go away.

"Then the lion said--but I don't know if it spoke--You will have to let me undress you. I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back and let him do it.

"The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know--if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh, but it is such fun to see it coming away...

"Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off--just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt--and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and knobbly looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me--I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on--and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious..."

Oh how I can relate to that...trying to fix my stuff myself and not doing much good and then letting Jesus just peel it off me. It hurts, but it's a good kind of hurt and afterward I feel so bare and tender, but so clean and fresh and new.

Reading this story of Eustace makes me more resolved the next time to let God deal with me first. To just get it over with so I can get to the "perfectly delicious" part without all the itching and scratching and futility of trying to fix myself on my own.

As Beth Moore would say, "Does anybody know what I'm talking about?"!

759 pages later...

Toben went to Barnes and Noble this morning and bought me a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And in between playing tennis, going to a baby shower, and eating meals, I've just finished.

Let's just say it's a real page turner...!

Read and reading

I love to read, though I haven't been doing too much of it lately. I used to read just about everything, but have become much more discriminating about what I spend time reading. No more romance novels and serial killer books for me. I do love them, but they're way too addicting, and hours and hours pass with nothing to show for them.

We are getting ready to go on vacation on Friday, so I do need to find some things to read while I float around the pool on my raft. Think I'll head to the library tomorrow and see what I can find.

All that to say, I read way more nonficiton than I used to. (Actually, I never used to read nonfiction except for work. I was a book editor/copywriter in my pre-children days.) And I find I enjoy it more than I ever thought I would.

I recently read Robert Benson's Digging In: Tending to Life in Your Own Backyard. Robert is one of my favorite writers and this book offers lots of life lessons as he chronicles the journey he and Sarah made in landscaping (and relandscaping) their backyard. After reading it, I'm up for dinner on his patio any time!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"We had an old house to live in and a new home to make."

"My gardening expertise has some limits, but I do know this much: any patch of dirt, no matter how large or how small, if tended a little bit, holds within it the possibility of enough beauty to take your breath away. It can grow something that will catch your eye and touch your heart. It can give you something to look forward to when the days are dark and cold."

"If we are to have any roots at all, we must find them in the places where we are now, on this day. If we are to make a home, if we are to deeply belong to the places in which we find ourselves, we must dig ourselves in somehow."

Makes me excited to start some work on the backyard when we get back from vacation...

I've also started reading Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson. I'm not that far into it yet, and am saving the rest for the trip. But so far, I really like it. Here's a quote from the preface:

"Keeping house can be a very mundance activity. It is certainly repetitive, and the kinds of work that it involves are varied enough that few people enjoy all of them equally. But at the very same time, housekeeping is about practicing sacred disciplines and creating sacred space, for the sake of Christ as we encounter him in our fellow household members and in neighbors, strangers, and guests."

Little Pilgrim's Progress

I was looking for something to read the other night and grabbed a copy of Little Pilgrim's Progress off the shelf in the loft. I got halfway into it and then started reading it to the girls the next night. We're about five chapters in so far. The chapters are so short (2-3 pages at the most), making it a great bedtime, breakfast time, or anytime book.

I don't think they've figured out that it's an allegory of the Christian life quite yet, but I'm expecting Audrey to get it the next time we read. (We didn't read tonight; Roman Holiday was on TCM and we watched that instead. I love Audrey Hepburn's line at the beginning of the movie, something like, "I hate my nightgowns and all my underwear too." Don't you just sometimes feel that way? Time for a trip to Vicotria's Secret!)

I remember my parents reading Little Pilgrim's Progress to me and Kristen when we were small. And all of The Chronicles of Narnia too. We often read after dinner, and I can remember sitting around the table, dirty dishes still there, begging for just one more chapter.

(Lots of yard work today--mulch, mulch, and more mulch. I'm off to bed. Yawn.)

Parting words

I've been reading Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer, which won the Newbery Medal in 1937. Once I finish it I'll write more about it over on The Newbery Project.

The illustrations in the book are wonderful, as you can see.

But I came across something while reading it the other day that totally reminded me of my mother. Lucinda's mother is leaving on an extended trip and this is how the scene is described:

Lucinda's mother flung after them the advice she thought was most important: "Don't forget Sundays--church or Sunday School--I don't care which you choose. Be mama's good little girl and try not to have tantrums. Write often in your diary, Oh, yes, and don't forget to put on your underdrawers by the last of October."

It made me smile, because for my whole life, my mother has said the same thing to me when leaving the house: "Be sweet and remember your manners." And if I was going to be gone overnight, the advice became, "Be sweet and remember your manners. And don't forget to put on clean underwear!"

I realize I don't have something that I say to the girls when they leave the house. If they're going to school, I usually tell them that I love them and to have a great day, but I'm thinking I may need to start carrying on mom's tradition. And I think "Be sweet and remember your manners" is pretty good advice.

The Robe

I first read The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas about 10 years ago; a friend loaned me her copy when I promised on my life to return it. I bought a copy on Amazon the other day, and spent all afternoon on the couch happily wandering through Galilee and Capri and the Roman countryside in my imagination.

It's the story of Tribune Marcellus Gallio, the Roman solder who wins the robe of Jesus at the crucifixion. He is deeply affected by his part in the crucifixion of an innocent man and sets off on a journey across the Roman Empire to learn more about the man whose death he regrets. I love, love, love historical fiction and I love, love, love this book.

There are so many characters in history that we don't know enough about, and I often find myself wondering about these people who only get a sentence or two in history. I love reading what someone has imagined their lives to be like--and I so enjoy reading all the historical details that make it all come to life. Every once in a while I come across someplace I've been in books like this (the island of Capri!) and wish I could go back with the historical knowledge gained from books and see it with new eyes.

This book was also made into a movie in 1953 (I haven't seen it in years, but just ordered a copy!) that starred Richard Burton and won lots of Academy Awards. It was the first movie to be filmed in cinemascope (I think that's right). It's very much along the lines of Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra--grand scenes, huge cast, wonderful costumes, a little campy, but so fun to watch.

If you're looking for something to read, see if your library has a copy. It's well worth it!

A Wind in the Door

My brain's not working quite right tonight--so I can't remember if I posted about reading A Wrinkle in Time recently. Anyway, I read it, loved it, and wrote about it over on The Newbery Project (see the link on the left).

I ordered the next book in the series (love those used books on Amazon for a penny!) and finished it today. I loved this one just as much as the first. Of course, I read it with a pen in hand to mark my favorite parts. (Somehow I can't really read a book anymore without a pen in hand. It's making it harder to read books from the library!)

In this book, Calvin and Meg go on an adventure to save Meg's little brother, Charles Wallace, from a mysterious illness. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

To Calvin: "Your assignment is to wait without question."

In response to Meg's desperate need to why she must pass certain tests to help her brother: "We don't have to know everything at once. We just do one thing at a time, as it is given us to do."

To Meg in the midst of questions and panic: "All that is required of you is to be in the Now, in this moment which has been given us."

There are lots of other great things in the book, but those three quotes spoke the loudest to me.

Waiting can be such a hard job--yet it's something we are required to do, especially in walking with God. Love that song: "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord."

So often I want to know everything all at once. To understand how and why all the pieces will fit together. But obedience happens by taking one step at a time--if I knew everything I think I'd rush ahead and miss all there is along the way.

And being fully present in the present moment is a daily goal for me. Not to worry about yesterday, tomorrow, or two hours from now, but to pay attention to what's right in front of me at the moment.

If, like me, you haven't read these books since the fourth grade, it might be time to read them again!

***

Okay, I realize I've been bad about posting pictures. It's bothering me! I need to take pictures of the spring-y, Easter-y things in the house, the new fabric I bought today, and the one grape hyacinth that Janna and I found blooming in my backyard today...

Another great book...

Quick! Before it's time to read to the girls... (which I absolutely LOVE, but I want to get this done too!)

Another helpful book I'm reading is The Five Love Languages of Children. I'm not quite finished yet and I'm not sure I agree with all their parenting stuff, I do have to say that learning about children and the love languages (words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, physical touch) has been great.

I bought this especially in regards to Audrey--my child most like me and therefore the one I butt heads with the most! And while I'm still not exactly sure which is her primary love language, reading the book has made me more proactive in expressing love to her in all five languages each day. I've seen a HUGE difference!

She's been much more apt to crawl up in my lap (usually an Emma thing), to throw her arms around me and tell me she loves me, to thank me for the things I do for her (packing a lunch, leading her Brownie troop). Hmmm...maybe physical touch is her deal. That and quality time. I'm praying God will make it abundantly clear to me which one it is.

No matter which language is your child's primary means of receiving and giving love, the authors teach that it's vital to express love in all five ways. It does have influence on discipline too--because discipline in their primary language can be much more severe for them than it would be to another child. For example, if words of affirmation speak love to your child, then harsh words cut them deeper than it would another child whose primary language is something else. It's all very interesting and has given me lots to think about.

Of course, reading all of this has made me think about Emma too and set me on a path of figuring out her language as well. Not to mention Toben and the ways in which he receives love best. All in all, a pretty eye-opening and helpful read.

***

Tomorrow I have an interview in the morning, a book outline to finish, and then I'm going to be CRAFTY! I can hardly wait...

Here's what I've been reading...

In addition to the three new Nancy Drews I found at the thrift shop the other day, I've been reading some really great books lately.

First, I finished reading Mark Buchanan's The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath. After going through it once slowly, I'm ready to read through it again. One of the things that I love about this book is the Sabbath Liturgy he includes at the end of each chapter--a practical, do-able way to put into practice whatever the chapter has been discussing.

Here are a few of the things I underlined from this book:

"Sabbath, in the long run, is as essential to your well-being as food and water, and as good as a wood fire on a cold day."

"...setting apart an entire day, one out of seven, for feasting and resting and worship and play is a gift and not a burden, and neglecting the gift too long will make your soul, like soil never left fallow, hard and dry and spent."

"Nothing really changes until our minds do. Transformation is the fruit of a changed outlook. First our minds are renewed, and then we are transformed, and then everything is different, even if it stays the same."

"The truly purposeful have an ironic secret: they manage time less and pay attention more."

There's lots, lots more of great stuff in there--part of the reason I need to go back and read it again and let it sink in deep. Keeping the Sabbath--setting one day apart from all the rest--is something I've been trying to do lately and there's lots of helpful stuff in here.

I've also been reading The Five Love Languages of Children and have lots of great things to say about it too, but it'll have to wait. The girls are waiting for me to come and read the next chapter in Meet Molly. Gotta go!

The Happy Hollisters

Audrey has discovered my set of The Happy Hollisters books by Jerry West. (I got an almost-complete set on ebay not too long before we moved.) She's curled up on the daybed, tucked under her afghan, reading away.

"This is such a good book, Mom!" she's said at least six times since she started it last night.

I love seeing her love to read. She even brought her book in the car on the way to meet some friends for dinner tonight. I have lots of memories of reading in the backseat as a kid--all across the country every vacation.

Up until now, she's really wanted to read only at bedtime--part of her routine and something to keep her from going to bed as long as possible, I think. But maybe this is the turning point for her...and maybe she's beginning to see reading as something she can do any time and anywhere. I hope so.

I love to read, and always have. For me, reading made my world big, introduced me to lifelong friends, and developed my imagination. I've been praying the girls would love to read since they were born and it's fun to see that prayer answered. (Emma's been wandering the house with her sight word flashcards, even sitting on her swing under the tree going through them one by one.)

I have yet to curl up on the bed in the loft and read an afternoon away; thus far, it's really Audrey's place.

Rereading books

I've been thinking about the books that I reread. In addition to the Mitford books, I usually read these at least once a year:

Living Prayer by Robert Benson
all of the Anne of Green Gables books by L.M. Montgomery
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
my Bible
all of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle
all the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling
I'm sure I'll add the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon to this list
The Swiss Family Robinson

I'm sure there are others, but since they're all in boxes that's all I can think of at the moment. And now that I think about it, I think I've blogged about this before. Oops.

We're off to the mountains tomorrow--I hope the leaves are changing! Oh, and I finished the beanie while I waited for Toben to get home last night.