It’s Day 10 of the Giving Thanks Challenge hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm.
I am thankful that I can be thankful in every situation because I know that God has a purpose in it, provides His grace to get through it, and has promised that all things work together for good to those who love God (Romans 8:28).
It’s Day 9 of the Giving Thanks Challenge hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm.
I am very thankful for chocolate. Seriously. I hope it is not something I ever have to give up.
It’s been an extremely busy day — see you tomorrow!
Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.
Here are a few that especially spoke to me this week:
From a friend’s Facebook:
Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened. — Winston Churchill
Sad, but all too true.
From another friend’s Facebook:
This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness; not health but healing; not being but becoming; not rest but exercise…. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it. The process is not finished, but it is going on…This is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.” — Martin Luther on sanctification
Though we are made righteous in Christ at the moment of salvation, the outworking of that into our everyday lives takes a lifetime. It can be discouraging that we’re so far from what we should be — for me, it seems like the farther I go along the farther away I am — but it is encouraging that we’re still in a process of growth.
I found these quotes about reading through one link from Semicolon‘s blog leading to another and finally ending up here:
“[The fairy tale] stirs and troubles him (to his life-long enrichment) with the dim sense of something beyond his reach and, far from dulling or emptying the actual world, gives it a new dimension of depth. He does not despise real woods because he has read of enchanted woods: The reading makes all real woods a little enchanted.” —C. S. Lewis, in Of Other Worlds
“Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.” —C. S. Lewis, in Of Other Worlds
“If good novels are comments on life, good stories of this sort (which are very much rarer) are actual additions to life; they give, like certain rare dreams, sensations we never had before, and enlarge our conception of the range of possible experience.” —C. S. Lewis, in Of Other Worlds
Great thoughts on how even fiction can enrich our imaginations and enhance our understanding.
If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.
It’s Day 8 of the Giving Thanks Challenge hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm.
I am thankful for the wonderful world of books and the way they have enriched my life. I’m thankful I learned to read as a child, that I was raised in a country that values literacy, and that there have been a wealth of books available to me all my life.
It’s Day 7 of the Giving Thanks Challenge hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm.
I am thankful for the best of books, the Bible, and how it encourages, convicts, reproves, edifies, instructs, inspires, equips, challenges, guides, comforts, corrects, quickens, gladdens, and builds faith.
If you are at all crafty, whether you like to make things or enjoy looking at them, Amy Powers’ Inspired Ideas Christmas Online Magazine is a must see. It’s a feast for the eyes and imagination.
I saw this going around Facebook — it’s good for a smile:
1. Go to Google maps.
2. Go to “Get Directions.”
3. Type Japan as the start location.
4. Type China as the end location.
5. Go to direction#43.
6. Laugh
Also this video is cute — someone set it up so that people in a bathroom mirror saw anime characters mirroring their movements instead of their reflection. I don’t know if you’ll be able to see it if you are not on Facebook — they don’t seem to have this on You Tube.
Candy Coated Peanut Butter Cracker Sandwiches might be a fun thing to take to a Christmas party — or any get-together.
How to Make a Pilgrim Bonnet Out of Paper might come in handy later this month.
The Best Marriage Advice Ever (I am using his subtitle rather than the actual title): Funny and sweet post about the awkwardness when a couple’s marriage counselor, who also happened to be the bride’s father, came to the sexual part of the counseling sessions. “But the advice was well worth the awkward.”
This is inspiring, from Random Acts of Culture:
Hope you have a great Saturday! I have various little odd jobs to do but nothing major, at least not that I know of at this point!
It’s Day 6 of the Giving Thanks Challenge hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm.
I am thankful for my extended family I came from — grandparents and parents no longer living, step-father, brother, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, and nieces all the way down to the newest one born last night. Each has had an influence in my life.
Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.
Here are five of my favorites from the past week:
1. A shiny new cell phone! That takes pictures! (My old one didn’t). Mittu’s cell phone was stolen a few weeks ago, along with her wallet and their GPS device (not a favorite thing!). When we realized my phone was eligible for an update, I got a new one and we put her SIM card in my old one. The new one slides open rather than flipping open, as my old one did, so it is a little quicker and easier to get to.
2. Jason’s dinner invention. Monday my afternoon schedule spun out of control unexpectedly. Jason and Mittu happened to be home that afternoon and offered to make dinner, thankfully — otherwise it would have been a night for picking up something on the way home or scrounging something quick and easy when I finally got there. He came up with a slice of ham and provolone around sauteed and seasoned chicken tenderloin. I didn’t get a picture of it (we were too hungry to wait for pictures!) but it was good.
3. Redbox. Jason and Mittu had used and told us about renting movies from them for $1 a night, but I tried it for the first time this weekend. We watched How to Train Your Dragon — pretty cute. And since they have a box in front of W-Mart, it’s pretty convenient.
4. Forks. Somehow I am missing forks from my silverware. I even bought another package of silverware and have used all the forks while the spoons and knives remain in the box since I have plenty of those. I think the forks get accidentally thrown away when people use them with paper plates for lunch or snacks. But we got an Oneida catalog this week, for the first time that I remember, and not only did they have my pattern, but I could buy individual pieces (which I couldn’t in the store), PLUS they were having a sale: buy four of any one flatware piece and get four free. Very timely! So I just ordered a bunch of forks to replace the missing ones. It will be nice to have enough to go around! I hadn’t even thought to check with them — I had gotten my silverware at W-Mart and had forgotten it was even Oneida.
5. A double date. Jesse had an activity last Saturday, so Jim and I went to dinner with Jason and Mittu at Ruby Tuesday’s, using a coupon Jim found online. It was only the second time I had been there. I wasn’t terribly impressed the first time, but this time was really good — ribs, their cheddar mashed potatoes, and grilled green beans.
Bonus: Making flight arrangement for Jeremy to come home for Thanksgiving. I’m so excited!
It’s Day 5 of the Giving Thanks Challenge hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm.
I am thankful “for the beauty of the earth,” as the hymn says — beautiful fall colors, spring flowers, multicolored sunsets, and so much more. Even though the earth is marred by the fall of man, God’s creativity, intelligence, and love for beauty still shine through. I am glad He made our home here beauitful as well as functional.
Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme centering on the subject of books. The question for this week is one I suggested.
Various book memes usually have a question concerning what draws you in to a certain book or author and what turns you off, makes you put down a book unfinished or avoid that author in the future. Almost always people will answer “good writing” to the former and “bad writing” to the latter.
But what makes up good writing and bad writing? Since I suggested this a few weeks ago, I was going to have a really well thought-out response ready. But, alas, I haven’t spent much time with it and am late to the computer today. So just off the top of my head, here are my thoughts of elements of each.
Good Writing
A plot line that is not too simple or too obscure
Characters that I can relate to
Characters with depth, not cliched or one-dimensional
Punchy or beautiful sentences without a lot of wasted words or rambling unnecessary explanations or description
Clarity
Something of truth and possibly beauty that resonate with us even though the times, language, customs, etc. are different
Evokes the feeling of being right there
Believability, even in a fantasy
Bad Writing
Cliches or stereotypes in plot or character
Rambling
Excessive prepositional phrases or linking verbs (He is…or she was…) — action verbs usually make for stronger sentences and show us what the character is feeling rather than telling us.
Transitions that don’t make sense, leaving the reader confused
Foul language. Besides being offensive to me personally, it’s just unnecessary and even lazy in some instances when there are so many great words available.
Most of those characteristics would apply to fiction. Bad non-fiction to me is too or encyclopedic or academic (I don’t know why even textbooks have to seem so dry and dead, but that’s another topic); good non-fiction leads the reader along from point to point in a logical yet interesting fashion. It makes the reader think rather than just disgorging information.
Even still I don’t feel I am really adequately conveying what exactly constitutes good and writing, what engages me or bores me in a book.
What do you think? What makes up good writing or bad writing to you?
(Updated to add: though this meme focuses on books, I thought I’d share a couple of blogs that stand out to me because of the beautiful writing: Lisa Notes and Wrestling With an Angel.)
