I don’t know how a month can simultaneously feel long and yet seem to have sped by, but June was like that to me.

I count summer from June 1, though summer only officially began last week. Heat and humidity keep me mostly inside with the AC on and a cold drink at hand.

But we had a couple of outings involving a picnic lunch. We went with Jason, Mittu, and Timothy to a park at Douglas Dam and enjoyed some games as well as exploring the tailwater area with Timothy.

Then last week we went to a different park to eat lunch and shoot model rockets, something we did when our boys were small. More on that at this week’s Friday’s Fave Five.

We enjoyed Father’s Day and other family dinners and quiet evenings in-between.

Creating

Somehow Father’s Day caught me off guard—I thought I had another week. So I ended up using stickers I had on hand to make Jim’s and Jason’s cards.

The card I was trying to make for my step-father didn’t come out like I had hoped. His had to be sent early through the mail, so I ended up buying one for him.

Here is Jim’s with a camping theme:

This is Jason’s:

Jason used to make cards or notes divided into four, and that seemed like a good layout for this one. Fun fact: I accidentally had the card upside-down and didn’t realize it til the front was finished. I’ve done that once or twice before and rectified it by cutting off the whole front and gluing it to another card. I decided to leave it this time, figuring it would give the family a laugh. I wrote “OOPS!” on the inside front cover.

Watching

There’s not much on in the summer, so we’ve streamed a few more programs than usual.

We watched the four-part Shiny Happy People on Amazon Prime. The subtitle is “Duggar Family Secrets,” but it’s about more than the Duggars: it’s a kind of exposé of Bill Gothard and his teachings. I already knew much of the information from reading Jill Duggar Vuolo’s book, Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear (linked to my review).

Though there were serious problems with Gothard’s teachings and practices that needed to come to light, the series grouped all fundamentalists and almost all homeschoolers and conservative Christians under the same umbrella, which was not correct. This article from WORLD magazine, Shiny Happy People is Both True and False, delineates some of the faulty conflation.

One night when Jim was away, I watched Babette’s Feast, a1987 film based on a short story by Isak Dinesen. That led to reading the story and discussing both the story and film here.

We watched Jesus Revolution together with mixed emotions.

We watched The Battle of Britain, a WWII film made in 1969. We were expecting it to be good since it had an all-star cast, but we were disappointed.

Another pretty bad movie was God and Spies. It was a poorly written, mostly poorly acted Christian film, but it was based on a true story Operation Ivy Bells during the Cold War. The Navy, CIA, and NSA worked together to tap the USSR’s underwater cables. Garry Matheny, one of the divers, is the main character (and I think writer/producer). A few slides with photos and more information at the end made me wonder if this would have been better done as a documentary.

Finally, we saw a good one called Greater:The Brandon Burlsworth Story, also based on a true story. Brandon was an unlikely football player who was a walk-on for the Arkansas Razorbacks, but then excelled, became an All-American, and was signed to the Indianapolis Colts shorty before he died in a car accident. This was not presented as a Christian film, but Brandon’s faith was a big part of his life and was well-displayed here. We’re not big into sports films, but we enjoyed this.

Reading

Since last time I completed (linked to my reviews):

• The Two Mrs. Abbots by D. E. Stevenson, audiobook. This is the third Barbara Buncle book, though Barbara is Mrs. Abbot now. The other Mrs. Abbott is a young woman who married Barbara’s husband’s nephew, who was like a son to them. This story takes place during WWII, with a number of subplots intertwining, including a runaway girl, an incognito author, and a spy.
• The Four Graces by D. E. Stevenson, audiobook. The four Graces are adult daughters of the village vicar. This story continues with some of the characters from The Two Mrs. Abbotts, though Barbara is only in the first chapter. This was a sweet story as the young women face various trials.
• A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus, audiobook. I dearly loved this book. Three orphaned children are included by their family’s solicitor with child evacuees sent from London to the countryside during WWII. The hope was that their foster family might be willing to keep them permanently. Though this book was written a few years ago, it reads like a classic children’s novel–and references many classic children’s novels.
• The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner, audiobook. I didn’t review it here, but did at GoodReads. Set during the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, this was an intriguing story about an immigrant who answers an ad for essentially a mail-order bride. Everything goes well until she finds he is married to someone else as well as her. Though the writing was well-done, some objectionable elements turned me off.
• Humble Roots: How Humility Grounds and Nourishes Your Soul by Hannah Anderson. Excellent. I’m rereading it, after just finishing it, to try to soak in more of it.
• Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been by Jackie Hill Perry, audiobook and Kindle. Jackie’s remarkable story of becoming a Christian out of a life of drug addiction and homosexuality.

I’m currently reading:

• Be Worshipful (Psalms 1-89): Glorifying God for Who He Is by Warren W. Wiersbe
• Blogging for God’s Glory in a Clickbait World by Benjamin Vrbicek and John Beeson
• The Dwelling Place by Elizabeth Musser
• When the Day Comes by Gabrielle Meyer
• Every Ocean Has a Shore by Jamie Langston Turner

Blogging

Besides the weekly Friday Fave Fives, Saturday Laudable Linkage, and book reviews, I’ve posted these since last time:

• Unseen Hurts. Parallels between wounds of the flesh and spirit.
• Why Doesn’t God Make Everything Clear? It seems like that would prevent a lot of debating. But perhaps God wants our hearts and dependence and grace in ways we might not yield them otherwise.
• Fathers and Children. We’re not doomed by a bad father or saved by a good father.
• A Steady Soul. Just as a firm handrail helps me when I feel unsteady, God’s Word is a firm guide and aide to keep us steady spiritually.

Writing

I completed my first draft some time ago, so now I am revising chapters. I just completed my third one–actually combining the next two chapters— for our critique group. I received helpful and encouraging feedback.

As I told the group, whenever it is my turn to present, I am excited to get back into it—but then real life kicks in, and I don’t get as much done until my next turn.

However, I discovered something that I think will be helpful. I keep thinking I need a big block of time before I can even get started writing. But in this revising stage, I can only think through so much about arranging and rearranging and whether I need to add here or cut there before my brain can’t process any more. So, realizing I can make a dent in a shorter time period will hopefully help me do so more often. Plus, the more often I work on my draft, the less time I need to reorient myself from where I left off.

Looking ahead

I’m always glad to get past the summer solstice and know the days will start shortening from here on. I like having more light in the evenings this time of year . . . but maybe not quite as late. We’re looking forward to the Fourth of July with the family next week, Jason’s birthday later, and lots of everyday life throughout.

How was your June? Looking forward to anything in July?