“I Remember Laura” blogathon

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Quill Cottage is hosting an “I Remember Laura” blogathon on Mondays through the month of June in memory of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author if the “Little House” series of books. Each week will focus on a particular theme: this week is quilts, week 2 will feature buttons, week 3, family recipes, and week 4, books and music. There will also be an art swap going on each week in connection with the theme: Click on the picture for more information.

I don’t remember when I was first introduced to the “Little House” series. I must have read some of them as a child because I was familiar with some of the stories, and in me early married years I bought and read the whole series and thoroughly loved them. I think I have read them more than once and probably will again.

This week’s theme is Quilting Memories, and participants can be found here. I appreciate that in Laura’s time girls were taught needle arts at an early age, and I wish that trend continued. It was a necessity then: there were no Wal-Marts in which to but inexpensive bedding. But besides the necessity, it was a way to teach industriousness, neatness, and even math skills. Years ago I read a quote from an unnamed pioneer woman that went something like, “I make my quilts warm to keep my family from freezing. I make them beautiful to keep my heart from breaking.” That resonated with me. We can kind of romanticize pioneer life in our minds, but it had to be bleak at times, starting completely from scratch, knowing you had to focus on the essentials first before beautifying (we went through this with our fixer-upper of a first house. It got discouraging having to deal with the roof and electricity and hot water heaters before ever getting to painting, wallpapering, and decorating. I can imagine this feeling was multiplied in pioneer days). There would have been the hope and excitement of what was to come, but there had to have been long, tiring, bleak days along the way, especially during the winter. So quilts and other needle arts were also a way to beautify the home and exercise creativity.

I am afraid I don’t come from a family of crafters, much less quilters. I took one adult ed. class in quilting but never really went on with it from there. I love and admire quilting, though: I remember going to one quilt show and just being in awe of the detail, creativity, and work involved.

Besides looking “homey,” quilts are also a great way to incorporate a color scheme into a room. That is what I had in mind with this store-bought quilt from Wal-Mart several years ago. Our bedroom in our previous home had pink, blue, and green wallpaper which the previous owner had installed. Those colors are my favorites, and all the wall decorations and such we collected during that time were in those colors. When we moved and I needed to replace our bedspread anyway, I could find bedding in several different combinations of two of those colors, but not all three in any one set, until I found this quilt.

I just realized that one of the pillow shams is missing in this picture. 😳 For some reason my husband’s came apart and we’ve just been using regular pillow cases.

And even though this isn’t quilted, this is a bedspread crocheted my my great Aunt Dot: it is the only thing like it I have passed down from family:

And even though this isn’t part of the theme this week, another of the needle arts Laura and her sister Mary had to work on were samplers. In our early married years my decorating preferences leaned toward the early American style (possibly even as a result of reading Laura’s books, I cant remember), and it was in that time frame that I started this sampler.

Back to quilting: the only other items I own that relate to quilting are a pillow I did in that one class I mentioned, which I don’t think I have any more, and these Paula Vaughn prints my husband bought for me years ago.

It’s hard to tell from this photo, but each print focuses on one aspect of needle arts. The third one features a quilt.

I have always wanted to make a quilt like this one, but I honestly don’t know if I have the skills. 🙂 Quilting tends to be more exact than a lot of other crafts I do.

Quilts are prominent in many of Paula’s designs, and this combines quilts and cross stitch in this gift my sister made for me several years ago.

Book Review: How To Say No to a Stubborn Habit

Posted on May 31, 2008 by Barbara Harper

How To Say No To a Stubborn Habit (subtitled Even When You Feel Like Saying Yes) by Erwin Lutzer has been republished under the title Winning the Inner War: How To Say No to a Stubborn Habit. My copy was published in 1994: I don’t know if anything has changed other than the name.

It could just as easily be titled How To Overcome Sin and Resist Temptation, because that is basically what it is about. One of the most compelling chapters is the first one: “Why So Much Temptation?” Lutzer discusses that troubling question reasonably and plausibly. Other chapters include “The Freedom of Living at the Cross,” “The Power of the Holy Spirit,” “The Renewing of Your Mind,” “Living With Your Feelings,” “The Taming Your Will.”

I have read this book through at least once before: I think I probably have more than that. I have been making a few notes from it for myself at my other blog, I Corinthians 10:31, which was originally started to chronicle my weight loss (I wanted that separate from this one because I had seen other bloggers’ blogs start talking about dieting and weight loss and having that end up the only thing they blogged about. I don’t kniw, maybe you need to be that obsessive to be successful. But I just wanted to keep that journey separate from this blog, though I do mention it from time to time). After the first seven pounds, though, I got off track and never got back on. That is one reason I wanted to go through this book again.

One of my biggest problems is dealing with feelings. Though I know we live by faith, not by feelings, a part of me still felt that, when I prayed for grace in dealing with this or any other “besetting sin,” a part of the answer would come by way of changing my feelings and desires. But often we must obey in spite of our feelings, and they will catch up later.

I enjoy Lutzer’s style. He is very reasonable, logical, and readable, with very clear and compelling illustrations. For instance, in illustrating the concept of reckoning ourselves “dead to sin” (confusing because we don’t feel very dead to it), he likens it to living in an apartment under new management. The old landlord may come around and demand payment, but we don’t owe him anything any more. Or, in illustrating how, when we decide we are going to get rid of a bad habit or resist a certain temptation and then can’t think about anything else, he writes to try not to think about the number 8. All of a sudden that’s all you can think about! But if you think of the number 1,000, divide it by 5, multiply it by 10, etc., then your mind is off of 8. So also it is not enough for us just to try to remove this one habit or sin in our lives: we have to replace it, preferably with Scripture, prayer, praise, singing a hymn, etc.

And though Lutzer is very firm in instructing about what must be done, he doesn’t rant and rave and wag a finger in your face. He gives simple and clear (though not easy) instructions based on God’s Word and derives hope from the same Source.

Erwin Lutzer is the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago and has a radio program called Running to Win. I hear part of his program if I have the radio on after I drop my youngest off at school, and this is the only book of his I have ever read, so I don’t know if I might have any disagreements with his stand on anything, but I agree with everything in this particular book. It is quite edifying and I would recommend it highly.

Booking Through Thursday: What is Reading, Fundamentally?

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Barbara Harper

The Booking Through Thursday question for today is:

What is reading, anyway? Novels, comics, graphic novels, manga, e-books, audiobooks — which of these is reading these days? Are they all reading? Only some of them? What are your personal qualifications for something to be “reading” — why? If something isn’t reading, why not? Does it matter? Does it impact your desire to sample a source if you find out a premise you liked the sound of is in a format you don’t consider to be reading? Share your personal definition of reading, and how you came to have that stance.

Well, I think all of them are reading (except audiobooks. That’s listening. I like doing that sometimes, too, though). Dragging your eyes across a page or screen to understand words and derive meaning from them is reading in any format. So this seems a bit of an odd question to me.

On the other hand, I used to lament that my sons weren’t the readers that I had hoped they would be when we read multitudes of books when they were little. But then I realized my oldest son does read all the time — not the classics I love and would like to share and discuss, but multitudes of things online and on his PDA. It’ still reading. He’s just more interested in newsy and techie things.

So to me it’s more a matter of just preference. I love curling up on the couch with an old-fashioned real live book, especially a classic or fiction. I do read more on the computer than I used to. I don’t have a PDA, and there are times I would like the portability and compactness of it, but I don’t think I could stand to read very much for very long on that tiny screen.

Booking through Thursday is a weekly meme around the subject of books. The hostess poses a question which participants answer according to their own thoughts and opinions on their own blogs, linking back to the BTT site, which can be found by clicking on the button above.

Book Review: Dawn’s Light

Posted on May 23, 2008 by Barbara Harper

Dawn’s Light is the fourth and, I believe, final installment of the Restoration series by Terri Blackstock which focuses on the effects of a global blackout on one community and particularly one family.

The subject matter of this series normally would not have drawn me to it, because I am afraid I like my creature comforts all too well, and I know how I am after even a few hours of no electricity. But, this is Terri Blackstock. And I love Terri Blackstock. I think I have read every novel she has written. So I knew it would be good, suspenseful, and convicting. And it was.

I am not going to say much about the plot beyond what you would find on the first few pages so as not to spoil it, but I can’t say the same for the comments. If you’ve read the book, let me know what you think — I’d love to discuss it.

In the previous books we’ve seen the struggle and growth of various members of the Branning family. Thirteen year old Beth has witnessed a lot of trauma which has caused her to be fearful of “The Next Big Thing.” So when she begins to exhibit even more fearful behavior, her family thinks she is just having further trouble handling everything that has happened emotionally. She won’t open up to them or to a counselor. What no one knows is that she has witnessed a double murder: she got away from the scene, but the killer saw her and threatened her and her family.

Meanwhile the pulses from a dying star which caused the blackout have finally stopped, and the massive effort to get electricity flowing again begins. Terri did a lot of research into the technology behind what this would mean and does a good job giving enough information to make it plausible yet not so much that the book gets bogged down.

Oldest daughter Deni had left her high-powered Washington career and fiance behind and fallen in love with a friend she had known for years, but her fiance comes back into town, not only to help with the electrical situation but to win Deni back.

One of the things I love best about Terri is that her characters are so real, so genuine, you feel like they are your personal friends, and they struggle with exactly the same issues I would in their place. When a family tragedy occurs, they wrestle with all the questions and issues almost any Christian would in the face of seemingly unanswered prayer.

A blurb on the front page says, “Terri Blackstock weaves a masterful what-if series in which global catastrophe reveals the darkness in human hearts — and lights the way to restoration for a self-centered world.” I am embarrassed to say that it wasn’t until I read that sentence that I “got” the symbolism of the darkness and the restoration — not just of electricity, but more importantly, in hearts. Though perhaps much of what I have said about it focuses on the “darkness,” the series ends with restoration and hope.

Book Review: The Listener

Posted on May 17, 2008 by Barbara Harper

The Listener is an older book by Terri Blackstock, and I had picked it up somewhere along the way, but somehow hadn’t read it yet. Terri is one of my favorite authors, and I have read almost everything she’s written, so I was glad to add this one to the collection.

The premise is that a somewhat indifferent Christian man named Sam, who is more interested in getting out of church early to get to a restaurant, suddenly is gifted with the ability to hear the needs of souls around him. At first it is maddening and disturbing. He goes to his pastor, who at first thinks he needs to see a counselor, until Sam remarks on what the pastor’s heart cry is. His pastor tells him he needs to use this gift to point people to the Lord, but Sam is filled with fear and has all the standard excuses most of us do: I can just be a witness for the Lord by my life; I don’t know how to bring it up; what if someone asks me a question I can’t answer? Sam’s reaction and development of his gift and the reactions of those he talks with as well as his family and friends comprise most of the rest of the book.

I don’t want to give away too much of the plot — it is a very short book, so if I disclose much more I’ll be giving the story away. But I will say I much appreciated the conclusion that we don’t need such a gift, nice as it would be, because we already know what people most need, and we have the Word of God and guidance of the Holy Spirit. But through the use of this gift as a plot device, Terri does an expert job at bringing out the problems and joys of our need to share our faith.

By the way, Semicolon hosts a weekly review of books on Saturdays: bloggers can link to book reviews on their site and/or read book reviews from others.

The Mother at Home

Posted on May 10, 2008 by Barbara Harper

When my older children were little, a book making the rounds among young mothers at church was The Mother at Home by John S. C. Abbott. It was originally published in 1833. Some of the principles discussed in that book were foundational to my parenting.

For instance, he instructs mothers (and this would go for teachers as well) to punish for disobedience, not the results of disobedience. He writes:

Never give a command which you do not intend shall be obeyed. There is no more effectual way of teaching a child disobedience, than by giving commands which you have no intention of enforcing. A child is thus habituated to disregard its mother; and in a short time the habit become so strong, and the child’s contempt for the mother so confirmed, that entreaties and threats are alike unheeded.

“Mary, let that book alone,” says a mother to her little daughter, who is trying to pull the Bible from the table . Mary stops for a moment, then takes hold of the book again. Pretty soon the mother looks up and sees that Mary is still playing with the Bible. “Did you not hear me tell you to let that book alone?” she exclaims. “Why don’t you obey?”

Mary takes away her hand for a moment, but is soon again at her forbidden amusement. By and by, down comes the Bible upon the floor. Up jumps the mother, and hastily giving the child a passionate blow, exclaims, “There then, obey me next time.” The child screams, and the mother picks up the Bible, saying, “I wonder why my children do not obey me better.”

…Is it strange that a child, thus managed, should be disobedient? No. She is actually led on by her mother to insubordination; she is actually taught to pay no heed to her directions. Even the improper punishment which sometimes follows transgression, is not inflicted on account of her disobedience, but for the accidental consequences…. Had the Bible not fallen, the disobedience of the child would have passed unpunished. Let it be an immutable principle in family government, that your word is law.

He describes a better way to handle the situation, then comments, “I know that some mothers say that they have not time to pay so much attention to their children. But the fact is, that not one-third of the time is required to take care of an orderly family, which is necessary to take care of a disorderly one.”

There are many other good principles here, among them: “Never punish when a child has not intentionally done wrong.” “Allowances must be made for ignorance.” “Guard against too much severity.” “Every effort should be made to make the home the most desirable place.” You might not agree with every point (I disagree with his suggestion to have the child ask forgiveness a second time), but overall it is a very helpful and thought-provoking book. I wish I had read it about once a year.

Booking Through Thursday: Manual labor

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Barbara Harper

The Booking Through Thursday question for today is:

Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

These days I only read that kind of thing if I need to look up something in particular. Harbrace College Handbook from English Comp. 101 and 102 over 25 years ago was my go-to book for grammar and usage for ages. Though I still have it on the shelf along with an ancient dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus, and a few other related books, I most often look things up on the computer these days. Dictionary.com has both dictionary and thesaurus functions. I can usually find answers to grammar and usage questions just by googling.

In fact, I have been needing to clear out some books (no room for any more bookshelves!) and I’ve been thinking of getting rid of a lot of that kind of thing both since my copies are old and since I am more likely to use online versions. I don’t know if I could give up Harbrace, though — he’s been an old friend.

Book Review: The Forbidden

Posted on May 3, 2008 by Barbara Harper

The Forbidden by Beverly Lewis is the second book in “The Courtship of Nellie Fisher” series. The local Amish church has split between two factions: the Old Order group who wants to keep to the strict rules they have always had and a new group who believe one can know they are saved and that they belong to God. There are some in the new group who are primarily interested in being able to use more modern conveniences like tractors and cars, but the core group began by reading the Bible on their own (something frowned on in the old order) and finding truths that they were never taught. They have found joy and peace in trusting Christ, but the old order folks believe it is prideful to feel sure of salvation.

Nellie is caught in the middle. Many in her family have become believers, and she can’t deny the changes in them. But her beau, Caleb, is very much Old Order and his father one of its strictest and most stubborn members. Caleb’s father has forbidden him to see Nellie, but they still manage to find ways to be together while hoping Nellie’s continuing to go to the Old Order church will convince Caleb’s father of her stand.

In one of the subplots, Nellie’s friend Rosanna, who has not been able to have children, has been given the gift of twins by another cousin, Kate, who already has several children. Yet it is obvious that Kate is having trouble letting go, and on top of that, the two women find themselves on opposite sides of the growing rift in the church.

In another subplot, Nellie’s sister Rhoda’s life shows that though every outward vestige of “the world” is removed from the life, worldliness is a matter of the heart.

I always enjoy Beverly Lewis. Her Amish grandmother’s influence and much research make these stories real, and it is easy to love these gentle, hardworking people and to long for their eyes to be opened to the truth of the gospel. Lewis also weaves many truths of life, character, Christianity, and family within her stories.

Book Review: Uncharted

Posted on April 19, 2008 by Barbara Harper

When I went to the Christian bookstore to look for one of the books on my Spring Reading Challenge, it wasn’t in yet, but I caught sight of Uncharted by Angela Hunt. It wasn’t on my list for this spring, but it was on an ongoing list I keep of books recommended by others that I want to try out. I had seen this book recommended by many bloggers, so I bought it.

The basic premise is that there are six college friends whose lives have drifted apart. When one dies, the rest decide, for various reasons, to take up a mission he had planned to do, traveling to a remote island to build a Christian school. An unexpected storm capsizes the boat and the five find themselves on an uninhabited island. Conditions are fairly miserable, particularly the lack of fresh water. It’s not long until they begin to learn that this is no ordinary island…

Survivors on a mysterious island who have to face not only their past deeds, but also their heart motives — that all sounds close to the premise of the television show Lost. A blurb on the back of the book speaks of a biblical parable that this book parallels, but somehow I missed that. I am kind of glad, in a way, because it lent more mystery to the island. When the parallel does come up, though, it is very clear, as is the message of what the island is about. It’s very sobering and thought-provoking.

I liked the author’s emphasis that the regular church-goer and doer of good deeds yet without Christ is just as guilty as a murderer before God’s eyes. It’s only through Christ’s righteousness and God’s grace that we’re saved — all our righteousness is a filthy rag in comparison.

What I didn’t like was the ending. I suppose it lent weight to the theme that these people were stuck forever with the choices they had made in this life, and there is coming a day when that will be true. Yet a part of me wanted them to wake up and discover it was all a dream, yet have some of them learn from and profit by it.

Another thing that bothered me about this book were phrases such as the first line about someone’s seeking sex appeal and a line later where one character notes “the rhythmic tilt” of a woman’s bikini as she walked away. Perhaps this struck me with a little more force because I had just finished another Christian book that I decided not to review at all here because it had a very high degree of sensuality throughout plus was only “Christian” in the last several pages, and I had been stewing over that for a while before beginning this book. I know the characters here were not Christians, and non-Christians (and even Christians) would have such thoughts and make such observations. But it does bother me when Christian authors introduce sexuality into a story unnecessarily or in a way that brings up mental images that we should not want in our minds.

I think this is the first Angela Hunt book I have read. I did feel a lot more “in tune” with her in the question and answer section in the back of the book. Overall I do think the book is a worthy read despite the couple of disappointments.

This review is linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books,where bloggers can link to book reviews on their sites. If you like checking out others’ thoughts on interesting books, you will find much to ponder there.

Book Review: Mansfield Park

Posted on April 5, 2008 by Barbara Harper

In Mansfield Park, Fanny Price is the “poor relation” who helps to relieve her family’s financial woes by going to live with a more prosperous aunt and uncle, the Bertrams, when she is ten. Her other aunt, widowed Mrs. Norris, lives near the Bertrams and has more influence with the family than Lady Bertram. Sir Thomas Bertram is imposing and, though not unkind, neither is he warm. Mrs. Norris feels it her duty to constantly keep Fanny in her “place.” Fanny’s female cousins, Mariah and Julia, are selfish, spoiled, and vain and interact little with her. Her oldest cousin Tom takes little notice, but cousin Edmund sympathizes with her and helps her find ways to learn and to interact. Fanny is quiet, shy, “finding something to fear in every person and place,” but eventually the family decides that, “though far from clever, she showed a tractable disposition, and seemed likely to give them little trouble.”

The family continues on this way for years until their neighbor’s younger sister and brother, Henry and Mary Crawford, come to town for an extended visit. Both are bright, witty, vivacious, and personable, and the young people –except for Fanny — soon become best friends. Fanny’s high regard for Edmund has become secret love over the years, but Edmund, who is planning to join the clergy, begins to fall for Mary, who has no use for the clergy and tries to talk him into changing to a profession where he can “distinguish” himself. Fanny begins to see some of Mary’s flaws, but Edmund is willing to excuse them. Meanwhile Henry, who has been showering attention on both the Bertram sisters, begins to show a decided favor not towards unattached Julia, but rather to her engaged sister. Thus the stage is set for the character of each one to be displayed in the ensuing conflicts.

I’ll leave the plot there for the discovery of those who have not yet read the book, but I did want to discuss a few other aspects of the book.

In the introductory notes of this edition as well as the introduction to the recent Masterpiece Classic version on PBS, there seemed to be an almost apologetic tone that shy, quiet Fanny is the hero of the story rather than vivacious and witty Mary. Amanda Claybaugh, who wrote the introductory notes, writes that “Fanny differs not merely from Mary, but also from our most basic expectations of what a novel’s protagonist should do and be. In Fanny, we have a heroine who seldom moves and seldom speaks, and never errs or alters.” I am not the expert Ms. Claybaugh is, but that is not my impression at all. We’re shown many of Fanny’s inner thoughts, and I find the conflict is in Fanny’s staying true to her moral core despite everyone else’s failure to varying degrees. Edmund says of Fanny at one point that she “is the only one who has judged rightly throughout; who has been consistent.” She is far from self-righteous and ungracious, however, and though morally she does not change, she does mature and grow. Though her nature remains shy and reticent and fearful, she begins to overcome it or act in spite of it in situations like heading a ball in her cousins’ absence and standing up to Sir Thomas when he wants her to marry someone whom she not only does not love but in whom she sees moral flaws that she cannot expound on.

In almost all of Jane Austen’s books, she subtly points out the ironies of life in her time. Perhaps the irony here is the truth that though Fanny lacks the characteristics that are highly valued in her setting — wit, wealth, and worldliness — she possesses qualities far more valuable in her moral goodness, graciousness, insight, and steadfastness.

I enjoyed this book very much and found it very readable. I highly recommend it.

This completes my reading Jane Austen’s novels. I had read Emma back in college and would love to revisit her, but all of the rest I have read over the last couple of years in a quest to catch up on some of the classics I somehow missed along the way. I know I will enjoy reading these books again in the future.