Once again, we’re nearing the end of another month that flew by quickly. Though there are a few days of October left, I thought I’d go ahead and take a look back.

October is usually a quiet month, with no family birthdays (except my brother’s near the beginning) and no major holidays. I had completely forgotten about pumpkin carving/decorating with the family. We enjoyed doing that last weekend. And I had a couple of medical visits this month. On one hand, it’s nice to have those in a month where nothing else is going on–on the other hand it would have been nice to have a month without anything else on the calendar. But they have to be done some time.

We’ve really enjoyed the changing leaves and cooler temperatures. We’ve had a couple of early morning freezes, but otherwise, the weather has been quite comfortable. And the fall color is hanging on for a good while this year.

I haven’t quite known whether to mention it here, but we recently made the sad decision to leave our church. We love the people, and because of that tried to stay as long as we could. But we have some major differences in doctrine and emphases. We don’t consider each other heretics or anything like that. 🙂 The church was becoming incorporated and encouraging “official” membership, which we hadn’t had yet, since the church was just started a few years ago. Part of the pledge for church membership was promising to support the church’s teachings, and there were some we felt we couldn’t.

It’s a bit difficult to seek a new church, both in feeling “homeless” and in evaluating new places. As I said in Monday’s post, we know no church will tick every box. And churches with the same statement of faith can still vary widely in personality, emphasis, and secondary doctrines.

Creating

I didn’t make any cards this month, though I need to work on one in the next few days.

Watching

We seem to be the only people who enjoyed The Rings of Power, kind of a prequel to The Lord of the Rings.

We also enjoyed Red Tails, about an African American crew during WWII (warning: a smattering of bad language).

Reading

Since last time, I have finished (titles link to my reviews):

• Always, Only Good: A Journey of Faith Through Mental Illness by Shelly Garlock Hamilton. Ron and Shelly Hamilton’s oldest son began experiencing mental illness in his teens, eventually taking his life in his early thirties. Shelly tells his story and offers encouragement to those whose loves ones walk the same path.
• Women and Stress: A Practical Approach to Managing Tension by Jean Lush and Pam Vredevelt. I didn’t agree with every little point, but the authors provide a lot of great, practical tips.
• Enchanted Isle by Melanie Dobson, fiction. A young American woman travels to the Lake District of England, where her mother had visited twenty years earlier. An unsolved disappearance from that era hangs over the reputation of a young man, and he and the young woman try to find out more. Very good.
• The Hatmaker’s Heart by Carla Stewart, fiction. A talented hatmaker is both stifled and used by her employer. Meanwhile, the young man she thought she would marry is interested in someone else.
• The Italian Ballerina by Kristy Cambron, fiction. After her grandfather’s death, Delaney Coleman hears from an Italian family claiming he had something that belongs to them. A trip to Rome and some old letters reveal a side of her grandfather that Delaney had never known–including an orphaned Jewish girl, a British ballerina, and “Syndrome K,” a fake illness manufactured to keep Nazi soldiers away from efforts to smuggle Jews to safety. Excellent. Will probably be one of my top ten books of the year.
• The Search by Grace Livingston Hill, fiction. A society girl and an old friend going to war realize they are nor prepared for death, and they embark on a search for God.
• A Daily Rate by Grace Livingston Hill, fiction. A single girl on her own for the first time wishes she could spruce up her depressing boarding house and help its inhabitants. When she receives an inheritance, she’s able to pursue her dreams. But the results aren’t always what she planned.

I’ve been going through 2 Chronicles in my devotional time. Warren Wiersbe combined his commentary on 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles in Be Distinct: Stand Firmly Against the World’s Tides, Since I just read and reviewed that book back in June when I went through 2 Kings, I just looked at the parts specifically dealing with Chronicles this time. Most people don’t think of Chronicles as one of the most exciting books of the Bible. But I really got a lot out of it this time. Between Wiersbe’s book and the ESV Study Bible notes, I think this may have been the first time I realized that Chronicles was not just a rehashing of Kings, but it was written when the Jewish exiles in Babylon were about to come back to Israel. It was meant to encourage and remind them that they were still God’s people and His promises to them as a nation were still in effect. And it was also perhaps a warning–they had gone into captivity because they had disobeyed God, worshiped idols, and would not listen to His prophets. They needed to be careful not to go down that same path again.

I’m currently reading:

• Joy: A Godly Woman’s Adornment by Lydia Brownback
• Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God by Tim Challies
• Be Free (Galatians): Exchange Legalism for True Spirituality by Warren Wiersbe
• Worthy of Legend by Roseanna M. White
• Three Fifty-Seven A. M.: Timing Is Everything by Kendra Norman-Bellamy and Hank Stewart

Blogging

• The More We Know Him, the More We Trust Him. “If we’re not careful, we can approach Bible reading with an ‘all about me’ attitude. What’s in it for me, how does it relate to me, how does it make me feel. Instead, the Bible is all about God. God wants to meet our needs, but more than that, He wants us to know Him”
• Offers of Safety Are Not Always Safe. The world wants to quiet opposing voices in the name of providing a safe haven. But the safe haven is actually a trap where Satan is enfolding people in error.
• When Is It Wrong to Complain? Sometimes complaining isn’t so much about the words, but the attitude behind them. It’s not wrong to share burdens or problems.
• Ministry Beyond Church Membership. It can be discouraging to invest time in church visitors who don’t stay. But our ministry still counts if done as unto the Lord.

Writing

I continue to enjoy our writing critique group and have started implementing some of their suggestions for my manuscript.

But I was recently discouraged by a podcast where a literary agent said an aspiring author needed to have 50,000 followers before even seeking an agent. My jaw dropped and my spirit plummeted. If you don’t know, the days are gone when an author submitted a book to a publisher who did all the marketing. These days, new authors are expected to have an audience before a publisher will take a chance on them. Part of that is due to changes in books and publishing over the last several years (more online purchases, fewer bookstores, cuts in publishers’ budgets and personnel) and to the fact that word of mouth is the best way to promote books.

But when a blogger’s focus changes to getting followers, there’s a subtle shift in everything else they do. And I don’t want to have that shift in focus. I want to keep coming alongside and encouraging others here, sharing what I am learning.

It’s not wrong in itself to seek a larger audience. People in the Bible sought ways to share their message. But when that becomes a primary focus, it can skew everything else.

So I am praying about that and about time to write. If you feel led, this writer and others would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and balance and God’s leading.

As we turn the calendar to November in a few days, we’re expecting another fairly quiet month until Thanksgiving week. I enjoy that there is a theme of gratefulness through the entire month of November.

How was your October?

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)