Friday’s Fave Five

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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:

I mentioned fall last week, so I won’t include it as one of the five. But whereas it seemed fall was just starting to show last week, it’s in full force this week. I hope such a rapid change doesn’t mean the leaves are going to fall off too soon. But right now they’re gorgeous and I am starting to see a variety of colors. Having the temperatures a little cooler helps, too!

1. A nice Saturday outing. Jim needed some clothes and had a $50 rebate from a Father’s Day deal at Sears. Normally he would just go by himself, but Jason and Mittu were here for a few days and Jesse was away at a youth activity, so we made a double date of it and ventured out to the mall. I’d been there a few times but had just time to get my business done and hadn’t really explored. Jim found some good buys, then we walked around the mall a bit and then had lunch there at the food court (stuffed pizza at S’barros! Hadn’t had that since we left SC). Normally I am not much of a mall person, but that was just an overall good day.

2. Mountain moods. The Smoky Mountains run along the eastern US, which includes eastern TN, and I see a small offshoot of them almost every time I go anywhere here in our new town. One of my little pleasures is seeing what they look like every morning while taking Jesse to school. Well, of course, the mountains look the same, but the sky. clouds, etc., around them give them a different appearance from day to day. I’ve been meaning to take my camera with me to get a series of pictures of them, but kept forgetting til this week. Here are a couple:


I just missed the most glorious sunrise today — the clouds in the above picture were pink and the light from the sun was glowing from the left side. But I’d forgotten my camera again, and as I raced back to the house after dropping Jesse off at school, all the color was gone. Oh well — next time!

3. Easier housecleaning. In our old house, each room was compartmentalized, and we lived in a split-level, so we have to drag the vacuum cleaner up and down stairs and unplug it and replug it in almost every room. In our new house I discovered yesterday that I can vacuum almost the whole house by just changing where the vacuum is plugged in twice. A little thing, but it really made my day! And no stairs!

4. Picking up my cross stitch again after…I don’t know, some months of having laid it aside.

It was kind of prompted by the fact that I found the perfect place for a different stitchery project I haven’t even started, but I decided I wanted to finish this one first.

5. My daughter-in-law Mittu got a job offer — here in TN! About 30 minutes away from us! We don’t know yet what it will all mean, as far as moving, Jason’s needing a job as well and the situation with his headaches, etc., but that was a blessing, especially after having other interviews that seemed to go well, but resulted in not getting the job. We’ll see what happens!

Have a great weekend!

Book Review and Giveaway: I’m Outnumbered!: One Mom’s Lessons in the Lively Art of Raising Boys

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(The giveaway and comments are closed: the winner is Ann!)

I first “met” Laura Lee Groves at her blog through Susanne‘s Friday’s Fave Five weekly meme (thanks, Susanne!) I identified with her immediately as we’re near the same age and stage of life and she has four boys while I have three. She mentioned in one of her earliest comments that it was like we were in parallel universes. 🙂

When she announced she was about to have a book published, I was on the alert for it. And then when I heard it was about raising boys, well, that especially made me want to read it even though I only have one still at home.

In I’m Outnumbered!: One Mom’s Lessons in the Lively Art of Raising Boys, Laura Lee Groves draws from her own experience in raising four young men as well as her years of experience in the classroom as an English teacher, plus she weaves together quotes from a number of books on the subject. She writes as a mom who was the only female in her house trying to relate to the male mindset and who wants to share what she has gleaned with other moms. There are a few pointers for those households who have girls and boys especially along the lines of their relating to each other.

There is a lot of practical wisdom as well as a solid Scriptural basis in Laura Lee’s advice. She writes in a conversational style that is easy to follow. The book includes chapters on managing expectations, sibling rivalry, intentional parenting, education, conversation, organization, respect, and media influences and management. She also includes a chapter titled “A Word From the Boys” with some of their thoughts on the way they were raised and a list of resources.

I think this book is a treasure trove for any mom of boys. In fact, I’d like to give this copy to a mom who would benefit from it, so if you’d like it or know someone who might, just let me know in the comments. I’ll draw a name a week from today, Thursday, October 21.

Laura also sends out a helpful weekly newsletter which can be signed up for at her blog.

(The giveaway and comments are closed: the winner is Ann!)

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

Booking Through Thursday: Rewrite

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btt button Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme centering on the subject of books. The question for this week is:

Suggested by Joy:

If you could rewrite the ending of any book, which book would it be? And how would you change it?

I wouldn’t really rewrite an ending: I respect the author’s decision to end things as he or she sees fit. But I have wished for a different ending some times. The only one that comes immediately to mind is Angela Hunt’s Uncharted, reviewed here. Of course, I can’t reveal the ending without spoiling the book, but it is very sobering. It fits with what the book is portraying, and the warning that choices have consequences, some of which cannot be undone, and that we only have a short time in life to make the right choices or rectify wrong ones. The ending does reinforce the gravity of the message, so it is justified and understandable. I guess there is a part of me that wishes the characters could have somehow had a wake-up call and have been allowed to make changes based on what they learned, yet I understand that a happier ending might have taken away from the message of the book. God does warn that “My spirit shall not always strive with man” (Genesis 6:3), and some day an end will come for each of us, with no do-overs, and we need to be prepare for that now.

98 books and book series that have enriched my life

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Sherry at Semicolon posted a link to one pastor’s list of 99 Books That Made My First 50 Years Worth Living. He was going to make a list of 50 but ended up with 99. That, of course, got me to thinking about what books I would put on such a list. If I keep strictly to the first 50 years, I can’t include the ones I have read in the last three, which is unfortunate since I’ve only been chronicling the books I have read since starting a blog. But I might just sneak a couple of those on the list. I think I am going to separate them into categories just because that will help me, I think.

Later in his post he asked for ideas for books one should not die without reading. That would be a much shorter list. So I am going here for those that have most enriched or impacted my life.

OK, let’s see how many I end up with…

Classics:

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens

Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott

Anne of Green Gables and all its sequels by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Ben Hur by Lew Wallace

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Biographies:

Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank Houghton

Hudson Taylor: Growth of a Soul by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor

By Searching, In the Arena, and Second Mile People by Isobel Kuhn

Mountain Rain: A New Biography of J. O. Fraser by Eleen Crossman

Goforth of China by Rosalind Goforth

Climbing by Rosalind Goforth

The Small Woman by Alan Burgess (about Gladys Aylward)

Evidence Not Seen: A Woman’s Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II by Darlene Deibler Rose

In the Presence of My Enemies by Gracia Burnham

Mimosa by Amy Carmichael

Gifted Hands by Ben Carson

The Valley Is Bright by Nell Collins and Mary Beth Moster

Marriage to a Difficult Man:The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards by Elisabeth D. Dodds

Through Gates of Splendor, The Savage My Kinsman, Shadow of the Almighty, The Journals of Jim Elliot by Elisabeth Elliot

To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson by Courtney Anderson

Heir to a Dream by Pete Marovich

Beyond My Dreams by Dr. Bill Maher

Twice Pardoned by Harold Miller

The Autobiography of George Muller

The End of the Spear by Steve Saint

Daktar: Diplomat in Bangladesh by Viggo Olsen

Mrs. C. H. Spurgeon by Charles Ray

Mary Slessor: Queen of Calabar by Sam Wellman

Cowboy Boots In Darkest Africa by Bill Rice

The God I Love by Joni Eareckson Tada

Charlie’s Victory by Charlie and Lucy Wedemeyer

One Candle to Burn by Kay Washer

Children of the Storm: The Autobiography of Natasha Vins

The Reel Story by Larry D. Vaughn

More Precious Than Gold: The Fiery Trials of a Family’s Faith by John Vaughn

Dorie: The Girl Nobody Loved by Doris Van Stone

Biography of William Cary (can’t remember which exact one I read)

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Christian Books (not fiction or biography):

The Bible

Changed Into His Image by Jim Berg

Spiritual Depression by David Martin Lloyd Jones

Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders

Full Assurance by H. A. ironside

Sometimes I Prefer to Fuss by Verda Peet

Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot

Winning the Inner War: How To Say No to a Stubborn Habit by Erwin Lutzer

The Shaping of a Christian Family by Elisabeth Elliot

Dare to Discipline by James Dobson

The Ministry of Marriage by Jim Binney

On Asking God Why, Passion and Purity, Keep a Quiet Heart, A Path Through Suffering by Elisabeth Elliot

The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Ormartian

When God Weeps by Joni Eareckson Tada

When Is It Right To Die by Joni Eareckson Tada

Rose From Brier by Amy Carmichael

A Woman After God’s Own Heart by Elizabeth George

Becoming God’s True Woman by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, et al

The Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer

Hoping For Something Better by Nancy Guthrie

Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman, Disciplines of the Heart, and Disciplines of the Home by Anne Ortlund

Hints on Child Training by H. Clay Trumbull

Christian Fiction:

Jan Karon’s Mitford series

Not My Will by Francena Arnold, possibly the first Christian novel I read

Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly and A Prairie Legacy series, particularly A Quiet Strength

Ted Dekker’s Circle trilogy

Francine Rivers’ Mark of the Lion series

The Princess and Sophie’s Heart by Lori Wick

This is an almost impossible task, especially with the last category, because I have enjoyed and been greatly enriched by many books, but to keep this list at all manageable, I’ve just listed the ones which had the most major impact on me in some way. They are in no particular order — I mostly jotted them down as they came to mind. By my count that is 98 if I only count each series as one. On any given day this list would probably vary a bit, but these, I think, are the standouts. Yet even so, I feel I must be forgetting something….

Any of these on your list? Which ones? What others would you include?

The Week In Words

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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 caught my eye this week:

From a friend’s Facebook:

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”

Seen at Challies:

I will stay in prison till the moss grows on my eyebrows rather than make a slaughterhouse of my principles. —John Bunyan

From I’m Outnumbered!: One Mom’s Lessons in the Lively Art of Raising Boys by Laura Lee Groves in a chapter about media, p. 117:

A reader is an understander — he knows what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes.

She goes on to talk about how reading can develop empathy, compassion, and understanding by experiencing another’s viewpoint. I don’t think I had ever thought about it quite like that, but I agree.

From Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper, in a chapter about Esther Ahn Kim, quoting from her book If I Perish,

Wherever Mother was, it was like a chapel of heaven around her.

I don’t think my kids could say that of me, but I wish they could. This was particularly remarkable because they were surrounded by idol-worshiping relatives, and her mother did not have church or a Bible but tried to live by what she was taught as a child by a missionary.

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.

My Father’s Love

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The world’s wealth and riches can be bought and sold.
But I possess a treasure far greater than gold;
‘Twas a gift passed down to me from heaven above,
‘Twas the gift of my Father’s love.

And my Father’s love is strong and true,
Always believing, always seeing me through.
So no matter what happens in His grand design,
I’ll be fine with my Father’s love.

Safe and secure now in His love alone,
I find here my place of worth as one of His own.
And I don’t need ev’rything this world wants to give,
‘Cause I live with my Father’s love.

And my Father’s love is strong and true,
Always believing, always seeing me through.
So no matter what happens in His grand design,
I’ll be fine with my Father’s love.

So, no matter what happens in His grand design,
I’ll be fine with my Father’s love,
with my Father’s love.
I have my Father’s love.

Text and music by Amy Susan Foster, Mike Harland and Niles Borop, recorded by the Soundforth Singers on their CD A Strong Tower.

Laudable linkage

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My weekly collection of interesting stuff seen around the Web:

Chris Anderson’s new hymn is lovely on many levels..

The “prayer fixer.” Funny, but too true.

In Bigger than your personality Lisa shares how God can help us with things that don’t come easily or naturally to us.

Love this wall display.

I would love to refinish something in my house with this antique-looking finish. My bedroom furniture sorely needs touching up. Hmmm…

These herb cheese rolls in tulip cups and brownie cookies look and sound really good.

This article about marketing books is interesting — I didn’t realize a lot of that was left to the author.

And this Kung Fu Hillbilly instructional video is hilarious.

What out for that Ninja whoppin’ action.

And “don’t be ninjain’ nobody that don’t need ninjaing.”

“There ain’t much call for a one-legged Ninja.”

“Ninja stars!”

Have a whoppin’ good Saturday!

Friday’s Fave Five

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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. Fall. A few people mentioned this last week, but in our area it just began feeling and looking like fall over the past week. I love the coolness in the air and can’t wait to see more fall colors.

2. Jesse’s jacket. He had grown out of his last year, so we went to the mall this week to look for another one. I hadn’t yet been to the particular store I wanted to try first, so I didn’t know the best place to park, but we ended up going right in the door that led to the men’s department. And then we found a nice leather jacket on sale for about half the price I had in mind! I meant to take a picture of it before he left for school, but I forgot. Then I checked the women’s department and found a couple of sweaters for Jim’s mom — I had been seeing a lot of “fashion sweaters” but had trouble finding just a functional cardigan, but I found two for her there. I love quick successful shopping trips!

3. Pretty little note pads. I keep one on my desk and one on the kitchen counter besides the magnetic one on the refrigerator. I don’t even remember where or when I got these — I found them when I unpacked.

4. Coca Cola cake at Cracker Barrel. My family doesn’t really like that restaurant and I haven’t found any new Cracker Barrel buddies here yet, but I had a hankering for it yesterday, so I got a take-out order. The cake was the best part!

5. Friends who pray. I was very touched by the responses of blog friends to our family news in general, but those who said they pray for us especially touched my heart. Thank you! ♥

I mentioned last week that we’d been having some visitors to our bird feeder. I’ve been trying to get pictures, but, of course, if I open the door, they scatter. So these are the best of the ones taken through the window zoomed in as much as I can zoom!

There is a very little one that looks like a shadow on the left side! Since it can fit into the feeder and usually comes at it from the back side, it’s hard to see. But I do see his silhouette pecking away in there.

Have a great Friday.

Flashback Friday: Games and Puzzles

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Mocha With Linda hosts a weekly meme called Flashback Friday. She’ll post a question every Thursday, and then Friday we can link our answers up on her site. You can visit her site for more Flashbacks.

The prompt for today is:

Did you play many games when you were growing up? What were they? (Include outside games as well as board & card games.) Who did you generally play with? Did your entire family play games or just the kids? Were there any traditional games your family always played? What were your favorites? Are they still around today? What about puzzles? Was that a popular pastime at your house? Were puzzles saved for holidays or did you do them any time? Were they set out for anyone to work or just one person?

I am glad we had a week’s heads up on this one, because at first I could hardly think of any games. But after a while a few came to mind.

We did have Candyland when I was a child, and something like Sorry, only it wasn’t called that. Chinese checkers and regular checkers, of course. I do remember playing Chutes and Ladders, but I think it was different from the version we played when my sons were small.We played Concentration, like the Memory games, with regular playing cards. We played Life, Monopoly, and Yahtzee as I got a little older. Friends and I played a game called something like Dream Date (just looked it up — it is called Mystery Date — and they still make it!) where the guy you didn’t want to get was “the dud.” Probably not the best of games for a young girl’s psyche!

As for outdoor games, it seems we had a number of variations of tag. Regular tag, freeze tag (where you have to freeze in whatever pose you are in when you’re tagged until someone unfreezes you) and one of my favorites, statue tag. In that one someone swung the person around and they struck a pose as they were let go of and landed. Then “it” had to guess what they were supposed to be posing as. Other neighborhood games were Mother May I and Hide and Seek. Red Rover was played on the school playground and  7-Up and Simon Says were often played in school at recess on rainy days.

My grandmother loved card games and Canasta was her favorite. I often played with her but I don’t remember how it is played now. She also played several variations of Solitaire. We played Double Solitaire together often, something like Dutch Blitz but with regular playing cards.

Scrabble has been one of my favorite board games, but I don’t remember playing it growing up. I don’t remember where and with whom I first played it. I also liked Boggle and a game called Crossword Cubes which I wish they still made.

I don’t remember playing many games with my family as I grew up, but as all the siblings got older, we enjoyed games when we gathered together. Scattergories and Balderdash are the only two I remember, though I know we played several others.

When my own kids were small we played many of the same board games I did growing up as well as newer ones like Uno. As they got older we enjoyed games like Settlers of Cataan and its variation, Ticket to Ride, and Apples to Apples. My oldest and youngest love lengthy strategy games that take a couple of hours or more and played each other as well as a regular group of friends they got together with.

And though we still occasionally play board games, they mostly play video games now. I can’t handle any but the Wii — for some reason other video games bother my eyes. And my older kids and I play Scrabble via Facebook.

I do usually really enjoy games when we play, but somehow we don’t play them that often! I generally prefer games that are more than just chance or continually being knocked back to the beginning, like Sorry, but sometimes I’ll play those if someone else wants to.

Sometimes at church fellowships we’ve played group games like Outburst, Pictionary, and Guesstures. I like those just occasionally, but can’t handle too much noise and commotion for very long.

I really don’t remember any puzzles from my childhood. I used them a lot with my own kids when they were little, but only once when they were older did we have a big puzzle out that everyone worked on over several weeks. We just never seemed to get much into them, and to do all that work just to take it apart and put it back in the box seemed a waste to me. I know you can get a type of glue to hold it all together and frame it, but that just never appealed much to me.

How about you — what games did you grow up with?

Book Review: The Thorn

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The Thorn by Beverly Lewis is the first of her new Rose trilogy. Rose’s sister, Hannah (Hen for short) had run off a few years earlier to marry an Englisher and leave the Amish lifestyle behind, but now that her young daughter is displaying worldly attitudes, Hen’s roots tug at her heart and pull her back to her home and community. Her husband wants no part of Amish life, leaving Hen at a seeming impasse.

Rose has long been the only real friend to the bishop’s foster son, Nick, who seems to resent his Amish upbringing and has never quite fit in. Rose has been the primary caretaker for her invalid mother since her accident, and though she loves caring for her mother, she wonders if she will ever be free to marry. When kind and handsome Silas shows an interest, Rose is thrilled. But Nick seems to be pulling her closer to what he calls “the edge,” the desire to experience what the non-Amish world is like beyond the confines of their community.

Beverly Lewis was the first author I read in the Amish fiction genre, and to me she’s the best. I enjoyed the exploration of some of the different issues that came up in this book, and, as always, immediately identified with her characters. I am looking forward to seeing what is in store for Rose, Hen, and Nick.