The Winter of Life

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Barbara Harper

I used to say I want to live until I’m 100. I’ve amended that. I want to live until I’m 100 in my right mind with all my physical functions working like they’re supposed to and the ability to live independently. But that’s probably not very likely, is it?

Since my mother-in-law moved to be near us three and a half years ago, I’ve had a front row seat observing her weather the indignities of aging. Loss of physical stability led to falling, leading to the inability to live alone for safety concerns. Forgetfulness gave way to confusion, loss of reasoning and logical thinking. Further physical deterioration led to use of a walker, then a wheelchair, loss of privacy as someone was needed to help with baths and then with bathrooms functions, til now even sitting up straight or finishing a meal is beyond her ability. A friend who is a doctor whose mother passed away last year said that once they start declining, it seems to go faster and faster, and we’ve found that to be true so far.

Yesterday as I left the assisted living place where my mother-in-law stays, I was overwhelmingly sad, both from her deterioration, and the lady who cries all the time and the one who is constantly trying to escape and the one who wanders from room to room. Jason made the observation that at her old place, everyone was at Grandma’s level or better, but at this place everyone is at her level or worse.

I can’t help wondering why God leaves some of His dear children here in such a state. I believe God is the author of life. I believe He has a purpose for every life at every level and ability. One thing the elderly can teach us is compassion and caring. Another is to remind us of our own mortality. One pastor said that one reason God allows our bodies to decline with age is to loosen our grasp of them. My friend Esther Talbert says in A Psalm For Old Age about caring for her mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s:

There is a reason God leaves the elderly and infirm among us, and it is often not for their benefit but for ours. If we are not too busy and self-absorbed, we may learn the qualities of Christ that we lack and that He desires to mold in us, the transformation of character He intends to accomplish in us, by confronting us with their presence and needs. By the time something like Alzheimer’s strikes, God is about done with His earthly work in someone like Mom. “Why, then, does He leave someone to linger like that?” we wonder. His earthly work in Mom is done, but much of His earthly work in us and others, through Mom, is just beginning. He strengthens us daily to love and care for her. In the gentle rebuke of His mercy, He is molding and changing us—revealing our selfishness, unfolding His fifth commandment in new ways. Only as I myself am moldable will God’s power, in my turn, shine through me to “this generation and . . . to every one that is to come.”

In the mean time we trust in Psalm 71:18 and other promises for her: “Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” And we seek His grace to “comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men” (I Thessalonians 5:14b).

I recently heard of one’s last years being called the winter of life. I’ve never liked winter. I don’t like the cold, the loss of color, the lack of growing things, the lack of sunshine.

There are some things to like about winter. Cozy blankets, hearty soups, occasional snow, coming in from the cold. But the one thing that makes winter tolerable is knowing that spring is coming.

Someday Mom’s eternal spring will come, when she’ll be without pain, more fully in her right mind than she’s ever been, rejoicing with those loved ones who have gone before and with the Savior she has loved for decades.

Gone they tell me is youth,
Gone is the strength of my life,
Nothing remains but decline,
Nothing but age and decay.

Not so, I’m God’s little child,
Only beginning to live;
Coming the years of my prime,
Coming the strength of my life;
Coming the vision of God,
Coming my bloom and my power.

~ William Newton Clarke

Hobbies

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Barbara Harper

Apparently January is National Hobby Month, according to an e-mail from Michael’s. But even before that Katrina’s earlier post about hobbies got me to thinking about them.

Actually, her post was more about dabbling and whether or not that was a good thing. I think that can depend on personality. One of my sons dabbled in a number of different hobbies, and I used to be concerned that his not sticking with them was perhaps a lack of discipline. But each one was enriching in its own way and time, and maybe some day he’ll be able to come back to them.

I think you do have to dabble at a number of things before you can see what you really like to do. I’ve learned, for instance, that I’m not good at things that have to be exact. I have trouble drawing a straight line even with a straight edge. I have trouble cutting something out on a drawn line — I tend to go back and forth over the width of the line. So something like piecing a quilt would probably have me tearing my hair out when everything didn’t come together just right. But I am not good at things that are mostly free-form, either. I used to work part-time for a friend who had a florist business in her home. I mainly worked when there was a heavier workload, like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and when the local Christian college would have special programs for which guys bought corsages for their dates. With some introductory instruction from my friend, I could do corsages and bud vases, but bigger arrangements threw me. I could get the major flowers in — there is an almost geometric balance to them. But I was never satisfied with all the filler flowers and never seemed to strike just the right balance in placement and proportion. My friend, however, could throw something together in five minutes that looked gorgeous. But this same friend agonized over cross stitch and eventually gave it up, whereas I thought that was pretty simple.

I also used to think people either were creative or were not, and I didn’t think I was very much. But I learned, by dabbling and by observation, that there were different types of creativity, different ways to be creative. Creativity isn’t just craftiness. Some people are very creative in coming up with solutions to problems, in adding just a touch of something different to turn an ordinary meal into something special, in finding unique ways to teach, etc. (When we home schooled for four years, my husband taught a couple of subjects most days and had to do the bulk of it when I was ill for several weeks. He was much more creative than I was, coming to class as Einstein one day, etc. He began one of his speeches in college with a gas mask on.)

Dictionary.com defines a hobby as “an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation.” Pleasure and relaxation are probably the main benefits we get from hobbies, but I think they’re stimulating to everyday life in many ways. As a homemaker, a lot of my everyday tasks involve doing the same things — washing the same dishes, cleaning the same bathrooms, etc. Creating something that lasted more than a few days was very satisfying. It’s also nice to do something productive during what would otherwise be waiting time (watching TV, traveling, etc.). Sometimes it provides time to either think about or get away from our regular occupation. Stimulating our brain with different activities is supposed to be good for it. 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, thinking of the hardness of pioneer life and the need to bring some beauty into it. I think one of the ways we’re made in God’s image is that desire to create. Of course, all thing must be kept in balance: time and expense are factors as are everyday demands of life. There may be seasons we can be more creative than others.

My family didn’t have many hobbies except reading. My grandmother crocheted — you rarely saw her sitting down without a crochet project in her hands. Even though I never took up crochet, I love that example she set for me.

So, what kinds of hobbies have I experimented with? In more or less chronological order I tried:

Reading — though that’s really more than a hobby to me.

Ceramics. I dabbled with this a bit in high school and have in a box somewhere a ceramic plaque with mushrooms on it I made for my mom.

Writing. I kept a lot of journals as a teen and, sadly, threw them away. I also wrote a lot of poetry then. When my kids were growing up my main writing was letters to the grandparents. 🙂 I’ve gotten back to writing in recent years with a few magazine articles and now an occasional newspaper column.

Sewing. I can’t do things that have to be extremely exact, so nothing I make is very tailored, but I’ve made clothes, curtains, things for the house, etc.

Needlework of various types. Embroidery, needlepoint, cross stitch. This is one of my favorites, made either when I was expecting my firstborn or not long after he was born:

You can’t really tell from the picture, but there are different types of stitching in different places and the little cookies are raised rather than flat.

It was also a very big deal for me then to vary from the pattern: originally the background behind the trees was supposed to be yellow (for sunshine, I guess). But I thought it would look better with blue for the sky. Nowadays I am a bit more comfortable changing something about a pattern.

I did a lot of this kind of thing just before having children or when they were little, but as we had more children and they grew, I laid it aside. Most of what I made was either for children or for gifts, so I didn’t really have anything around the house that I had stitched. I’ve just gotten back to it the last few years and enjoy it though it takes reading glasses and a magnifying glass to see it. Here’s a more recent cross-stitched project:

Lampshades. I took one of those little college non-credit courses for that. This picture isn’t very clear, but it was fun to cut and then bend the paper (or whatever it was — similar to card stock) so the light shines through. I also stenciled one for the kids’ room.

Quilting. Took a non-credit course in that, too, and I really love the idea of them, but can’t do piecing very well. Lately I’ve seen some that are a little freer than piecing that I may give a whirl some time.
Calligraphy. Took another adult ed. class in that and had great plans, but never really got into practicing it regularly. Now I’d rather use fonts on the computer for printing.

Smocking. A friend at church endeavored to teach a handful of us. If I’d had girls I probably would have done more with this, but little boy outfits with smocking tended to look too girlish except for very young baby clothes.

Cake decorating. Did not get that very well!!! It’s not something that came naturally, and it would’ve taken a lot of practice to get it to really look right, and I’m not motivated to do that for something that’s going to disappear post-haste. We pretty much only have cakes on birthdays, and if it needs to be nicely decorated for a party, I order it from somewhere else. But usually my family just makes do with my not-so-artful “creations.” They say as long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters.

Stenciling. That was really big for a while.

Stamping was, too, and I did that for a while.

Papercrafting, cards and collages:

Scrapbooking. I’ve done just a smidgen of this and would like to do more.

I don’t know if you’d call this “button crafts” or “gluing stuff. 🙂

Blogging, of course. 🙂

Music: I only had one semester of piano one year in college. I would have loved to have grown up with music lessons (I say now — I probably would have disliked practicing as much as the next kid) but either my parents couldn’t afford it or didn’t think it important. I know I could learn now. I thought it was neat to find out that a grandma in our church is taking piano lessons! But I have too many other interests now to develop it to the place where it would be a joy.

One stroke painting. Took a couple of classes at Michael’s and would love to do more of that.

This Christmas ornament is, I think, the only thing I have made with that style of painting besides what I dabbled with on paper. I had a goal one time to make an ornament with every craft I had tried. I haven’t done so with all of them, but have with many. An ornament is actually a good project to try a new craft with because it is a smaller project.

I think I may have taken one class in knitting, but just didn’t get into it. I like the idea when I see sweet baby blankets at showers or cozy sweater patterns. It’s one of those things that I don’t know if I could do well enough to be satisfied.

There are other things I do occasionally but not enough to be called hobbies. I take photos here and there, more so since digital cameras and blogging came along, but not enough to really say it’s a hobby. I plant things occasionally but am not a gardener. I bake sometimes and enjoy the results but not necessarily the process. I don’t know if you can call decorating a hobby. I enjoy it and enjoy poring over decorating magazines and Pinterest, but I don’t change the decor around too much.

So there you have it. Some things I still do, some fell by the wayside, but I think they all taught me something. I mentioned laying aside some things while my children were young: I talked more about that in an article called The Back Burner. Some things have to be put there for a while, but hopefully the simmering will make it even more hearty and flavorful.

What kinds of hobbies have you had? Are there some you regret not keeping up with, and some you’re glad to have abandoned? Do you have one or two main ones, or do you like to dabble in a number of different things?

Two weeks from today…

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Barbara Harper

…the Laura Ingalls Wilder Reading Challenge begins!

More information is here. I hope you’ll join us!

Book Review: Serenity

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Barbara Harper

I picked Serenity by Harry Kraus, M. D., out of the clearance section of Christianbook.com for a couple of reasons: I have a little great-niece named Serenity, and I thought her mother (my niece) and grandmother (my sister) would get a kick out of a book with her name; and it’s set in North Carolina, and I love books set in the Carolinas, having lived in SC for 26 years. It turned out to be a really good, keep-the-pages-turning book!

It’s a little confusing at first because it is obvious that someone is impersonating a doctor, but the names of the two men are similar and it was hard to keep them straight initially, but after a while it doesn’t matter because the names are then referring to the same man. By the time they’re referring to two different men again, the reader has them straight.

Andy comes into the sleepy seaside town of Serenity, NC, impersonating Dr. Adam Tyson. We’re not sure why he is impersonating the doctor at first, but he chose Serenity because it was supposed to be an easy practice, primarily a tourist town, with major cases being sent elsewhere. But his first day on the job he is slammed with a number of challenging cases and quickly earns a reputation as a kind and excellent doctor.

Beth Carlson is the new director of nursing, having come to Serenity for a fresh start with her teen son. They’re living with her father, who has advancing dementia but is not so far gone that he can’t live at home.

Fairly soon it’s apparent that Dr. Tyson isn’t the only one with whom things aren’t as they seem as strange things start happening around town. I’d like to tell you more of the story — but I don’t want to spoil it for you.

Author Harry Kraus is an M.D. himself, so the technical areas of the story ring true, yet they’re not so technical that we average readers can’t follow along. He’s also an excellent story-teller, unfolding just enough of each character’s situation along the way to reveal more interesting information, yet not enough to give away what’s going on too soon, while weaving an underlying theme of identity throughout, especially one’s identity in Christ.

I’m so glad I came across this book, and I plan to look up more of Harry Kraus’s books as well.

(This review will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

The Week in Words

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Barbara Harper

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 is my collection for today:

From a post titled Are We Required to Attend Church on the Lord’s Day? via Challies:

The key to a Christian use of the Lord’s Day is not drawing up a list of what can and cannot be done, but to give the whole day to basking in God’s Word, loading ourselves up with the treasures of Christ.

This was similar to the conclusion I came to after seriously encountering Isaiah 58:13-14: “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” It dawned on me that the OT regulations about not working on the sabbath weren’t so much about rest from work, though that was a part of it, but about having a day for God. I’m not going to get into the arguments of the OT sabbath vs. the NT Lord’s Day or OT Jewish regulations vs. NT Gentile practices of the day — that would be another whole post. But the key part of this quote for me was that it points out our tendency to draw up our little lists when instead we need to get to the heart of the matter and do whatever we do as unto the Lord.

This was from Robin Lee Hatcher’s Facebook:

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. ~ Annie Dillard

Sounds obvious, yet it’s so easy to think about what we’re going to do with out lives “some day” while forgetting this day’s contribution to our lives.

And finally, from a the Facebook page of a friend who is a teacher:

“To get the best out of someone, you’ve got to give the best of yourself.”

Good reminder for anyone who invests in the life of another…which is all of us. 🙂

You can share your family-friendly quotes 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 hope you’ll visit the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder. And don’t forget to leave a comment here, even if you don’t have any quotes to share.

Tebow-mania

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Barbara Harper

I am not a football fan in any way, yet even those of us who don’t watch football can’t help but hear about Tim Tebow. From everything I hear he seems like the real deal, a genuinely nice Christian young man. Of course, what most of us “know” about him is only hearsay, but this post from a well-known Christian man who does know him backs up that perception.

But a public professing Christian can cause strange reactions in other Christians who observe him. A friend on Twitter shared the link to Can We Please Stop Being Weird About Tim Tebow? and made some excellent points. One of those weird responses is Tebowing, striking his characteristic pose — some students who were suspended for doing so were not being persecuted for their faith, as some thought: they were clogging up busy halls.

Another overreaction is that some Christians get very defensive and almost cultish of their ~~idol~~ object of fandom. One of my sons expressed a difference of opinion on Facebook recently about one of Tim’s actions, and my, you would have thought he blasphemed God Himself by the response he got. Derision, sarcasm, scorn, being called a fool — and that by a church leader in our former church, who apparently conveniently forgot what the Bible says about that. I thought it very odd that some of these people would treat someone they know like that in defense of someone they don’t know, and all over a difference of opinion that that one is not alone in.

As Christians, we should be able to handle differences of opinions with more grace than that. Another interesting article that came up this week is How to Disagree Online Without Being a Total Jerk. The author makes some great points about remembering that the Christian brother we’re disagreeing with (online or off) is a brother, someone created in the image of God, part of the body of Christ, someone for whose soul we should care for more than the argument we’re in.

When many Christians get into any kind of disagreement, especially online, all thoughts of Galatians 6:1 (Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.) and II Timothy 2: 24-26 (And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.) fly completely out of mind. It’s almost a feeding frenzy. Whether the other person is mistaken, misinformed, wayward, or downright wrong, belligerence, condescension, and put-downs are going to drive that person away from the truth and the people who profess to proclaim it rather than to it and them. I think sometimes we’re more concerned about defending our “right” views and putting down anyone who edges a toe across the line than meekly discussing differences of opinion and helping others see the light if they are truly in the wrong. And some differences of opinion need to be left there, as simply differences, while we “agree to disagree.”

But back to Tebow. Tebow Time: 10 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust is an excellent post sharing many things to admire about Tebow and many reasons to be concerned about “Tebow-mania.” Personally, I want to give Tebow the benefit of the doubt. I think he’s a good guy who wants to glorify and honor God. Everyone may not agree on all his methods of doing that, and that’s fine. He can’t really help the “mania” that has arisen about him. But while he is in the public eye we should pray for him, for wisdom for him in maintaining his testimony before the eyes of a watching world, and for protection from the Enemy who does not want God glorified and who would seek to trip His representatives up. We can rejoice that the phenomenon around him might cause some to think about God and pray that they’d find the truth about Him and come to know Him personally, not just as Someone who helps win football games but as Someone who saves from sin and becomes a Friend and Shepherd for life. And we should carefully guard our own testimonies while we talk about Tebow (and anyone else), especially with those who might disagree here and there with particular things he does. We can cheer him on, but we need to be careful not to exalt him above measure. In our conversations around him, instead of exalting him, if he’s the man I think he is, he would want us to exalt God and use those conversations that arise about him to be a stepping-stone to conversation about the God he serves.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Barbara Harper

Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share five of our favorite things from the last week, 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.

It’s been an overcast week here in eastern TN with the possibility of snow tonight. No accumulation expected, though many students, as well as parents and teachers, hope that part of the forecast is wrong! (Update: that part was written yesterday afternoon. We did get a bit of snow, but only got a 1 hour delay for school.)

Here are some of my favorite things from the last week:

1. Audiobooks. Wow, that has really transformed driving time! I’ll say more about it when I finish the first one.

2. Looking through a box of his mom’s old pictures with my husband. Jim’s sister had sent it just after their mom moved to be near us and we had been meaning to get that down from the attic for a long time so she could help us identify some of the people in them, but thankfully Jim knew who most of them were. We found several of his mom as a child, which Jim had never seen before, and several with her sister, who had passed away many years back.

3. Twice-baked potatoes using this recipe. I’ve had them a couple of times, but this was the first time I made them. So good! And though I am not the best planner in the kitchen, I did even plan ahead for this by making extra baked potatoes for a dinner earlier in the week.

4. These:

They say you shouldn’t go shopping when you’re hungry. They’re right. :blush: I dashed in for some supplies for Jim’s mom, saw this, and grabbed it. It’s a layer of brownie with a layer of chocolate chip cookie on top. Wonderful.

5. Finished projects. Jim’s mom’s new place has a shadow box outside each resident’s door for photos or whatever. My main project this week has been working on a collage for that (thus the looking through old pictures mentioned above). I wanted to include some older ones and some more recent ones. I got that finished yesterday — but forgot to take a picture of it! But here’s one of my favorite pictures of his mom:

And this is hot-off-the-press just finished last night — I haven’t even rinsed or pressed it yet:

Normally I like to use as much as floss as possible and not leave any white space behind the Xs, but this was a kit and I didn’t know if there would enough floss to use more strands than called for, so I just followed the instructions. But I like it overall.

Hope you have a great weekend in your part of the world!

Book Review: Belonging

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Barbara Harper

I’ve been wanting to get Belonging by Robin Lee Hatcher ever since it was published a few months ago, but I had enough books stacked up to last til Christmas, so I put in on my Christmas list and made myself wait til then, when I did indeed find it under the tree.

If the book had been authored by anyone but Robin, I probably would not have picked it up based on the plot of a new schoolteacher coming west to make a life for herself. When I first began reading Christian fiction some 30 or so years ago many books had this element to them. But I’ve enjoyed others of Robin’s books, and they have a soft spot in my heart because they’re frequently set in Idaho, where my husband grew up. But just a few pages into this one I forget about any other plotline involving going west.

Felicia Kristofferson lost her mother at a young age and was sent with her brother and sister on an orphan train until they were each taken in to separate homes in separate cities. Felicia grew up in the home of an older couple where no love was expressed: she was really more of a housekeeper and caretaker. She went to college to become a teacher but afterward stayed with the Kristoffersons til their deaths. When she hears of an opening for a schoolteacher in Idaho, she heads west despite the small amount of pay, trusting God to lead and keep her.

Colin is a widower with a young daughter who is not happy about the school board hiring an inexperienced young single female teacher. He assumes she’ll marry at the first opportunity, leaving the board and the students in another upheaval to find a new teacher. But his daughter, Charity, takes to Felicia immediately, and he reluctantly decides to give her a chance. Colin is also not on the best of terms with the God who took his wife from him.

Though Colin has no desire to marry again, he can’t help but notice the attractive widow Kathleen has been especially friendly toward him (at her mother-in-law’s urging). It would make sense for them to marry in many ways, yet he can’t help finding himself attracted to the new schoolteacher in spite of himself.

Felicia, meanwhile, doesn’t understand why Colin is warm toward her sometimes and gruff and distant at others or why her friend Kathleen’s mother-in-law seems to be sowing seeds of discord against her.

Felicia, Colin, and Kathleen each have issues to work through, which, of course, makes up the plot of the book. I did enjoy their journeys, especially Colin’s. I love how Robin doesn’t write “just” a romance story, but rather a “life” story, dealing with the deeper issues in people’s hearts and their walk with the Lord.

(This review will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

Book Review: Anne’s House of Dreams

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Barbara Harper

I am so glad Carrie set her annual Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge to occur in January. I picked up where I left off from last year’s challenge with Anne’s House of Dreams, and it’s such a cozy read. This was one of my favorites the first time I read the books, next to the first, Anne of Green Gables.

In this book Anne and Gilbert finally marry and move to Four Winds Harbour where Gilbert takes over the medical practice of his uncle. The first few chapters are given over to preparations for the wedding and then the wedding itself, and it’s a joy to see Diana (grown, married, with young children), Marilla, Rachel Lynde, and all the rest. One of the most poignant scenes to me was when Marilla stood at the gate as Anne and Gilbert drove away after their marriage.

The house they rent as newlyweds is truly a house of dreams, with all the delightful things Anne loves as well as a lighthouse and it’s keeper, Captain Jim, as near neighbors. The eccentric Miss Cornelia (whom I frankly got a little tired of in places), “Susan at the helm,” and the mysterious, beautiful, yet initially aloof Leslie Moore with her tragic lot in life round out the main cast of characters.

I like, though, that LMM didn’t make the whole book idyllic and fairy-taleish. Anne faces her first deep sorrow of her adult life, and she and Gilbert have their differences of opinion in places. But they are happy overall. It’s fun to see Anne “grown up,” still passionate and dreamy yet more mature.

It was funny to read that Anne wasn’t sure if she liked the idea of Avonlea being “spoiled” by the “modern inconvenience” of the telephone. Every new technology will have its detractors. 🙂

There were a couple of things I didn’t like, namely the china dogs being referred to as the “household gods,” and references to ghosts, but overall it’s a sweet book with just the right blend of delight and pathos.

When I first read this book, I was hoping that the Anne films by Kevin Sullivan & Co.would continue until they got to this one. I was so happy to hear they were going to make a film about Anne and Gilbert’s first years as a couple — until I saw it. It’s a travesty. Instead of this sweet story that LMM wrote, Sullivan took the characters and placed them several years ahead, to the time that corresponds with Rilla of Ingleside, a later book, and incorporates some of that story.

I got to wondering if Four Winds harbour was a real place and had fun looking around “The Geography of Four Winds, Glen St. Mary, and Ingleside.”

I enjoyed rereading this book and visiting with Anne and Gilbert again.

(This review will also be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

The Week in Words

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Barbara Harper

Though I didn’t plan it this way, all the quotes I have for today are good for starting the new year and putting those plans, resolutions, and goals into practice.

Seen on Lisa‘s Twitter:

What is not started today is never finished tomorrow. -JW von Goethe

I forgot to note where I saw this:

The way to do a great deal, is to keep on doing a little. The way to do nothing at all, is to be continually resolving that you will do everything. ~ Spurgeon

I read this in Anne’s House of Dreams by L. M. Montgomery:

“Welcome, New Year,” said Captain Jim, bowing low as the last stroke died away. “I wish you all the best year of your lives, mates. I reckon that whatever the New Year brings us will be the best the Great Captain has for us.”

I hope the same for you, friends, “that whatever the New Year brings us will be the best the Great Captain has for us.”

You can share your family-friendly quotes 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 hope you’ll visit the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder. And don’t forget to leave a comment here, even if you don’t have any quotes to share.