Giving Thanks Challenge, Day 18

Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs is set in Scotland in 1745 and drawn somewhat from the Biblical book of Ruth. What does Ruth have to do with 18th century Scotland, you ask? I’ll get to that in a moment.

Lady Marjory Kerr lives very happily with her two Lowland sons and Highland daughters-in-law in fine style, her only sorrow buried in Greyfriars Churchyard. But life is just on the verge of major changes. Bonnie Prince Charlie is heading their way, seeking to build up his army and coffers to take the city and eventually the crown. She would never dream that her loyal sons might some day follow the Prince, that the sordid rumors swirling about son Donald are true, or that daughter-in-law Elisabeth has secrets of her own. As one by one everything she trusts in is taken away, and her own faults and failures become all too clear, she senses a call from a voice she had long ago stopped listening to.

Elisabeth, meanwhile, keeps the auld ways of worship of the moon that her mother taught her, yet her soul is not satisfied and her prayers are not answered. Grieved and disillusioned in her faith, the words of the Buik begin to open her eyes and her heart to the unseen Holy One.

Marjory and Elisabeth, you may recognize, are based on Naomi, the mother in a pagan land who loses her husband and sons, and Ruth, the daughter-in-law who loses her husband and leaves her home and her god for her mother-in-law’s. I’ve mentioned before in other reviews that I am a bit wary of Biblical fiction because so often it takes the story too far afield from the Biblical narrative. I don’t think this story is meant to be an exact retelling or parallel, but rather, the characters and basic plot arc are just drawn from the Biblical story. If this kind of a parallel bothers you, you could probably enjoy the book on its own. I can see the value, though, in exercising the imagination this way to explore a little more what the characters were going through (sort of like if a pastor or Sunday School teacher were telling a Biblical story and then, trying to make it more understandable to hearers, said, “Now that would be like…” and relating it to something the readers might more readily identify with). Knowing that the story was based on Ruth helped to hold my interest in some points, anticipating what was to come and feeling with them what they might have felt in the face of their losses, wondering how Ruth came to be dissatisfied with her own rites and what brought her to faith even when she did not have the best of examples before her, experiencing and understanding Naomi’s bitterness and wondering how and when the Lord first began to call her not only back home to her country, but to Himself.

It took me a good third of the book to really get into it, however. I am not sure why: I enjoy historical fiction, and the details were pertinent to the plot. Liz Curtis Higgs’ actually having been in Scotland was evidenced in the rich details, and I found myself inclined to speak with a wee bit of brogue myself. But, as I said, knowing what was going to happen and wanting to see how it played out kept me reading, and after a while I was riveted and sorrowing along with Marjory and Elisabeth in their losses.

Some readers may be especially miffed at Donald’s character, especially as there is no hint of his particular besetting sin in his Biblical parallel, but Higgs explains in her notes at the end that both his and his brother’s characters were drawn from the meaning of their Biblical names.

Here Burns My Candle is drawn from Ruth 1:1-18. The rest of the story will be told in Mine Is the Night, due out next spring.

Here is a trailer for Here Burns My Candle:

(This review will be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday review of books and the next 5 Minutes For Books I Read It column.)

The Week In Words

Posted on November 15, 2010 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 are a few that made me stop and think this week:

I have not read anything by John Piper except the occasional quote, but I agree with this, found on a friend’s Facebook:

We have thankful days and unthankful days. And even our thankful days are not as thankful as they should be. Just think of how joyful and thankful you would be if your heart responded to God himself and his ten thousand gifts with admiration and gratitude of which He is worthy. – John Piper

This was from another friend’s Facebook:

Fight for us, O God, that we not drift numb and blind and foolish into vain and empty excitements. Life is too short, too precious, too painful to waste on worldly bubbles that burst. Heaven is too great, hell is too horrible, eternity is too long that we should putter around on the porch of eternity. — John Piper

I have to admit I am struggling a bit with this one. I’d be interested to know the context from which it came. I don’t think he is calling for a life of asceticism: I don’t think there is anything wrong with playing word games on Facebook for relaxation and brain exercise or watching a video with the family. I think the latter, in fact, can enhance the spiritual — if everything we ever say to others is serious and spiritual, I think they’d turn us off after a while, but just relaxing and having some fun and fellowship can open the gateways for relationships and for other serious conversations. But, yes, by and large we do need to be careful to maintain focus and balance and not let “good” pursuits crowd out the “best.”

And from yet another friend’s Facebook:

In fear-based repentance, we don’t hate sin for itself, and it doesn’t lose its attractive power. We learn only to refrain from it for our own sake. Fear-based repentance makes us hate ourselves, but joy-based repentance makes us hate sin as we rejoice over God’s sacrificial love …& see what it cost him to save us. What most assures of God’s unconditional love is what most convicts us of the evil of sin. — Tim Keller

I am struggling a bit with this one, too. I think fear has its place and I’d like to understand more what he means by “joy-based repentance.” The Bible does talk about godly sorrow leading to repentance. But to me the value in the quote is the focus that our repentance shouldn’t be just about getting ourselves out of trouble or fearing consequences, but rather it is based on the offense of a holy God and yet His mercy and grace in making a way for us to be forgiven.

Finally, this from F. B. Meyer’s Our Daily Walk for November 10 on gentleness as a fruit of the Holy Spirit struck a chord with me:

It is not easy to cultivate this fruit of the Spirit because it has many counterfeits. Some people are naturally easy-going, devoid of energy and ambition, at heart cowardly, or in spirit mean. Many of us are characterized by a moral weakness and decrepitude that make it easy for us to yield rather than contest in the physical or intellectual arena.

But in gentleness there must be the consciousness of a considerable reserve of force. The gentleness of God is combined with omnipotence…It is the prerogative of great strength to be gentle.

The thought of gentleness as being strength under control rather than just being easy-going and yielding gave me much food for thought.

In that same devotional Meyer quotes Thomas a Kempis:

“If thou wilt be borne with, bear also with another. Endeavour to be patient in bearing with the defects and infirmities of others, what sort soever they be: for that thyself also hast many failings which must be borne by others.”

Amen.

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~~ in the comments. 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.

Note: The Mr. Linky site says: “System is currently down for emergency maintenance.” If it comes back up during the day, I’ll add your links: meanwhile, just leave them in the comments. Sorry about that!

Giving Thanks Challenge, Day 15

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Barbara Harper

It’s Day 15 of the Giving Thanks Challenge hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm.

I am thankful that I can cool or warm my home at the touch of a button.

Giving Thanks Challenge, Day 14

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Barbara Harper

It’s Day 14 of the Giving Thanks Challenge hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm.

I am thankful that I know Whom to thank.

^{Psalm 136:1}O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

²O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.

³O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.

⁴To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.

⁵To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Laudable Linkage

Posted on November 13, 2010 by Barbara Harper

Here’s my weekly round-up of riveting recommendations from ’round the Web. 😀

How to Encourage Missionaries During the Holiday Season.

From It was the best of NaNo; it was the worst of NaNo by Johnnie at Kindred Heart Writers I saw a link to the 100 Best First Lines from Novels as listed by the American Book Review. It was pretty interesting — I wonder how long some of these writers had to work to craft a compelling first sentence. Some of them, though, weren’t so compelling to me. Johnnie notes that eight of them start out with “It was…” — considered a major no-no these days because of its passivity, but to me, if what comes just after “It was…” captures your interest and attention, it’s fine. Most of the “It was..” openers were intensely more interesting than the first line to Robinson Crusoe and a few of the others.

Another on writing from Kindred Heart Writers: Self-Editing Tips from Jerry Jenkins.

I must try Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies, recommended by a friend on Facebook. Sounds right up my ally.

How to transfer an image to fabric with gel medium from How About Orange.

Some fall decorating ideas:

How to make leaf trivets from Martha Stewart

Leaf motifs for table linens from Martha Stewart

Maple leaf coasters by the long thread.

And for Christmas, awesomely cute Festive Felt Christmas Trees from allsorts.

And this was sent to me by my oldest son and made me smile for a long time. You can only use a play like this once, though!

Have a great Saturday! I have some mending and cleaning to do.

Giving Thanks Challenge, Day 13

Posted on November 13, 2010 by Barbara Harper

It’s Day 13 of the Giving Thanks Challenge hosted by Leah at South Breeze Farm.

I am thankful for Facebook, for the way it helped me reconnect with old friends, for a fun way to touch base with family and friends, and even a couple of its games which provide a little brain exercise and a fun way to relax.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Barbara Harper

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. $400+ instead of $2,000+. A few weeks ago my mother-in-law lost her hearing aid — not a favorite thing! My husband and a couple of ladies who work at the assisted living place looked in every nook and cranny they could think of but just could not find it. We had not seen an audiologist here yet, so had to find one, and they couldn’t get her in til last week. The audiologist called the company to find out if the hearing aid was still under warranty, and it had just barely passed the end date, but they authorized covering it anyway. That was a huge blessing! We still had to pay the audiologist fees for the appointment and had to pay for the mold, the part that goes down into her ear canal, but that’s much better than having to pay over $2,000 for the whole thing.

2. Oven meals. I don’t turn the oven on much during hot weather, even with central AC, and especially not for those meals that take 45 minutes to an hour in the oven. But with our first cold snap it’s been fun to pull back out some of those oven recipes. Besides enjoying some dishes we haven’t had for several months, it’s nice to get everything in the oven and then have some time to relax for a bit before dinner.

3. A surprise package. When we moved from SC, I told my “Secret Sister” at church who I was and told her good-bye, then the plan was that the person who had my name would take the name of my Secret Sister. But when they lady coordinating the Secret Sisters tried to arrange that, the lady who had my name said she “didn’t want to give me up.” So she has sent me a couple of packages since we’ve been here. One a few weeks ago contained some nice autumn dish towels, and I’ve loved using them. Then I received another this week containing several goodies:

Though I hate to think of her paying postage, I am incredibly touched that she would want to keep up with me even though I’ve moved away. I can’t wait to find out who she is!

Oh, and the lady whose name I had was not left out in the cold — the lady who coordinates the Secret Sisters did give her name to someone else.

4. A working furnace. We turned on the heat for the first time this week. The furnace here is a gas one, but everything seems to be in good working order. I am always grateful for central heating and air conditioning — it is not something I have always had!

5. Starting on a new room. I may have mentioned that our new home has what is classified as a three car garage in an L shape, but my husband planned to turn the third car space into an office/guest bedroom. That project was planned for some time within the first year here. But with Jason and Mittu here and Jeremy coming for Thanksgiving, my husband decided to try to get that room habitable before then. The boxes from the attic were in that space, so we sorted through those and then my husband and Jesse were able to organize them into the attic (and it is so nice to have an organized attic!) one weekend. Then my husband had to take down pegboards and such from the walls and last weekend started putting up the framing for the wall and door that will be between the garage and the room. At some point we’ll put a door actually into the house from that room, but that is probably one of the bigger undertakings that will have to wait: for now we’ll have to go through the garage from that room to the house.

I wish I had a first “before” picture of the garage with nothing in it, then another one of it lined on all three sides with boxes. But this is an “in the beginning stages” picture: