Love orbs, flat and sweet
Peace-bringers, sighs, smiles, sorries
Flour and sugar white flags.
A.M. Pine ๐
{Happy February! February brings my third annual participation in the World Peace Poets Postcard Fest and I hope to share some poems here, too!}๐๐๐โฅ๏ธ๐๐โฅ๏ธ๐๐๐
Hello Friends! I trust the new year is easing in kindly for you. โบ๏ธ๐โ๏ธ๐๐ โ๏ธ๐It was hard to narrow down my favs, but here they are {not really in any particular order} with a small snippet to celebrate each one! I definitely picked the books and characters I keep thinking ๐ค about. How do you pick your favorites?
~2023~
1. Klara & the Sun โ๏ธ by Kazau Ishiguro ~ 5 ๐ a sympathetic story that considers what makes us human from the viewpoint of Klara, an Artificial Friend (AI) to an ill teenager, Josie. I keep thinking about all the themes and questions brought up in this one. I loved the audiobook! (Possibly my favorite of the year?! ๐ฑ)
2. The Sword of Kaigen โ๏ธ by M. L. Wang ~ 4 ๐ The set up to this Asian -inspired fantasy world was very (too) slow, but you find yourself gripped by a mother and son trapped in an insular community that is holding onto the old ways. They face danger and questions from within and without. Extremely violent, FYI, check trigger warnings. This is such a beautiful story about standing tall in the face of adversity and self-sacrifice.
3. Wormwood Abbey ๐ by Christina Baehr ~ 4 ๐ This was a cozy, Victorian-time period, family-centric fantasy story. I looooved the main protagonist, Edith Worms. She has a few secrets of her own, not unlike the new abbey her father has inherited. Looking forward to next in series!
4. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ๐ฅ by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows ~ 5๐ (reread) I adored visiting again with these characters through the letters they exchanged. WWII historical fiction set on the island of Guernsey ๐ฌ๐ฌ. The audiobook was fantastic.
5. Disenchanted: The Trials of Cinderella ๐ by Megan Morrison ~ 4 ๐ This MG/YA retelling was deeper and more thoughtful than I expected. It felt like the themes of Elizabeth Gaskellโs North & South except with fairies. ๐ There were a few things I didnโt love, but overall, I sooo enjoyed this story of standing up for the suffering people in the world.
6. Evelina by Francis Burney ๐ ~ 4 ๐ Honestly, not a lot really happens in this coming-of-age Regency story. I found the excessive formality hilarious and enjoyed following teenager Evelina as she grows. I listened to this long novel and really enjoyed being along for the ride.
7. Gods, Graves, & Scholars ๐ฟ by C. W. Ceram~ 4 ๐ I found this nonfiction fascinating about the beginnings of archaeology and I loved how it made my Old Testament reading come alive. A bit dated, but a fascinating read!
8. Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth ๐ง๐ป๐จ๐ผโ๐ฆณ by Sheila OโConner ~ 5 ๐ Heartwarming and heart wrenching story about a young girl who befriends an ostracized Quaker on her paper route. Her and her brothers navigate the world of conscientious objectors during the Vietnam ๐ป๐ณ War.
9. Marilla of Green Gables ๐ก by Sarah McCoy ~ 4 ๐ I keep thinking about this one that my daughterโs friend recommended to me. Fun retelling of sorts for Anne fans, but I wasnโt expecting the historical fiction side about the Canadian Underground Railroad. Fascinating!
10. Ourselves, School Education, both by Charlotte Mason, and Parents are Peacemakers by Essex Cholmondeley ๐ญ๐จ๐ โ๏ธ~ 5 ๐(rereads) This was my cheat, lumping all these nonfiction educational beauties together. Powerful encouragement for raising children- educational philosophy at itโs finest.
11. Unearthing the Secret Garden ๐ชด by Marta McDowell ~ 5 ๐ Beautiful and truly lovely look at the 3 gardens created by Frances Hodgson Burnett in her lifetime that definitely shaped her life and writing.
12. Katherine Wentworth ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ by D. E Stevenson ~ 5 ๐so gentle, full of peace, hope, nature, and a charming cottage. Second chance story with lovely mother & children. This reminds me slightly of The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery, although not quite as quirky!
13. Mrs. Lorimerโs Quiet Summer ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ by Molly Clavering ~ 5 ๐A sweet family tale set in beautiful Scottish scenery. I found out that Clavering and D.E. Stevenson were friends and that this is semi autobiographical.
14. Grapes of Wrath ๐ by John Steinbeck ~ 4 ๐ This is a Great Depression/Dust Bowl era historical fiction. This was gorgeously written, raw, heartfelt, and disturbing. Ma Joad was my favorite! Adult content and language.
15. Everything Sad is Untrue ๐ฎ๐ท by Daniel Nayeri ~ 4 ๐ A slow, but heart-wrenching stream-of-conscious nonlinear fictionalized memoir of a young Iranianโs experience as a religious refugee in Oklahoma. It took me a long time to get into this as it had a very unconventional writing style , but then I loved the thought-provoking themes it brought up.
16. Seasons of Your Heart ๐ by Macrina Wiederkehr ~ 5 ๐beautiful poetry and short Christian devotional entries. A bit unorthodox and slightly mystical, but really spoke to my weird, word lover side. My friend gave this to me as a gift and it was such a blessing!
17. The Belton Estate ๐น by Anthony Trollope ~ 5๐A super interesting story about a Victorian woman who bucks tradition in a situation involving male entailment of property. This had so many interesting themes around marriage of convenience and friendship with a woman of โdubiousโ character.
18. The Historian ๐ by Elizabeth Kostova ~ 4 ๐A deep, rich historical thriller with a slight fantastical twist. The atmospheric setting of this was a amazing! Told through multiple timelines and flashbacks, the story of a daughter tracing her fatherโs discovery of a strange book with connections to Dracula. This has a lot of travel, Balkan culture, history, and so much more.
19. The Last Cuentista ๐ช by Donna Barbara Higuera ~ 4 ๐This was a darker, dystopian, scifi middle grade book and coming of age story. I loved the main character Petra and how she kept hope alive through storytelling.
20. Pat of the Silverbush ๐ฒ by L.M. Montgomery ~ 4 ๐wow! So beautifully atmospheric! I loved this book for the writing, but overall, this was not a happy book. It felt sad and lonely. However, it was full of interesting, quirky characters that Montgomery does so well. I really enjoyed discussing this book with Chantel Reads All Day YouTube channel.
21. Grace of Wild Things ๐งโโ๏ธ by Heather Fawcett ~ 5 ๐This was a charming middle grade fantasy twist on Anne of Green Gables. A young girl has nowhere to go and attempts to apprentice herself to the local, grumpy witch. I loved the found family, adventures, and gorgeous writing style.
22. Dune ๐ชฑ by Frank Herbert ~ 4 ๐I listened to the audiobook of this one and was so pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this political, sci-fi family story. It moved EXTREMELY slowly, but it was just what I needed at the time. I loved thinking of the influence this had on Star Wars. I loved Lady Jessicaโs perspective.
23. Julie ๐๏ธ by Catherine Marshall ~ 4 ๐A buddy read with my penpal via Voxer. This was a wonderful Depression era historical fiction story set in Pennsylvania. I loved the male characters in this book, and Julie and her fatherโs relationship was such an interesting dynamic. Julie and her family take over a failing newspaper in this coming of age story that brought up so many thought-provoking themes.
A few honorable mentions: The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer (ridiculously hilarious), Hindsโ Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard (faith-building reread), All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor (heartwarming), Two Old Women by Velma Wallis (inspiring), Distilled Genius by Susan Branch (inspiring), and Cottage Fairy Companion by Paola Merrill (inspiring). All the poetry I read was also SO enriching!
2023 was a โYear of Changeโ for me and I found myself drawn to darker stories that show the protagonist overcoming! I had a wonderful reading year mostly due to narrating, interacting, and discussing what I was reading with so many wonderful friends (Voxer and Zoom for the win!), writing in my journals (here and in the regular paper & ink kind ๐คฃ), and sharing a little on Booktube. Engaging deeply instead of just inhaling mindlessly. Granted I still read my fair share of fluff, ๐ฅฐ but my reading life felt more life-giving this year. How about you? How was your reading in 2023? Iโd love to chat below!
Time’s waters will not ebb, nor stay;
John Keble, except from The Christian Year
Power cannot change them, but Love may;
What cannot be, Love counts it done.
Deep in the heart, her searching view
Can read where Faith is fixed and true,
Through shades of setting life can see Heaven’s work begun.
O Thou, who keep’st the Key of Love,
Open Thy fount, eternal Dove,
And overflow this heart of mine,
Enlarging as it fills with Thee,
Till in one blaze of charity
Care and remorse are lost, like motes in light divine;
Till as each moment wafts us higher,
By every gush of pure desire,
And high-breathed hope of joys above,
By every secret sigh we heave,
Whole years of folly we outlive,
In His unerring sight, who measures Life by Love.
Each life is like a weaving, a tapestry of various threads arranged in parallel lines on a loom – threads consisting of work, creativity, talents, drudgery, dreams, weaknesses, longings, failings, successes, satisfying achievements, moments of reality, frustrating failures, fresh ideas, surprises of joy, spurts of energy, disappointing weariness, deadlines met in time, hindrances cutting into work seeming to go well. Prayer is woven in (in this picture I see) helping day by day to turn the threads into fabric with a pattern that brings forth what your life and mine could be. As history moves on, the history of your time and mine, prayer is the thread that helps us find out what God wants us to know from His Word and moment by moment ask for His guidance in the practical next step of doing it, as well as really depending on His strength to enable us to run and not be weary.
Edith Schaeffer, The Life of Prayer, p. 101-102
Thinking on this quote: ๐ญ
..is my surrender to the crushing narrowness of earthly existence the beginning of my liberation from it, precisely because this surrender is my โAmenโ to your human life, my way of saying yes to your human coming, which happens in a manner so contrary to my expectations?
Karl Rahner, Watch for the Light, p. 74
Spiritual
Iโve begun a reread of The Life of Prayer by Edith Schaeffer and have really been enjoying a refreshing and convicting look at prayer. Iโm loving how she lays out that prayer is first worship, then for repentance, and FINALLY for requests. A reminder that I sorely needed, (looking at you, whiny prayer journal)! ๐๐๐ I decided to choose a reread for my Advent devotions from my shelf, Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas, and it has been so thought-provoking. Iโve streamlined my prayer journal a bit, also, to help refresh my reflection time. Iโm also slowly buddy reading The Christian Year by John Keble with two friends this year.
Physical
Honestly, Iโve made some huge health goals, but have really been struggling. I tend to hide and binge ๐ฅฒ eat through my exhaustion or big emotions. ๐ฉ๐ค Food addiction is a real thing, friends. This trying to process in unhealthy ways. Iโm laying out here what I mentioned to my support group, too, Iโd love to fit back into these lovely Carhartt overalls that I had got for myself in 2021. But more than size, I want to learn to be vulnerable with people when I need help, deepen my prayer practice, and use my love of creativity and journaling to process my thoughts and feelings. I acknowledge here, too, that sometimes I actually need to get OUT of my head/books/social media ๐ and feelings and change my thoughts upward to Jesus and outward to others. ๐ค
Mental
Iโm finding that taking short walks with music or an audiobook has been clearing the mental cobwebs. Iโve also really enjoyed instrumental music/soundtracks. Iโm seeing that Iโm handling the early sunset and waning light of this year much better than last year, by pressing into the unique beauty of THIS season. Iโve REALLY been blessed by poetry this year and hope to do a post about that soon.
Emotional
Iโve been noticing lately that overwhelming feelings threaten to drown me if I donโt purposefully choose to take life in small moments. Our whole, โwild and precious lifeโ is made up of these minute moments. Iโve forgotten the way of small bits of joy and gratitude a bit, ๐ฅฒ and it is always so wonderful to hear that still, Small Voice gently guiding us back into The Way. I found that free with my Audible account, the audiobook of Hinds Feet on High Places, is available and while I know that the allegory is very โon the noseโ in this book, it is one of my favorite books of all time. I identify with Much-Afraid SO much, but I mostly love this book for the picture of Jesus, my Lovely Shepherd.
Beautiful Jackie Morris postcard from a friend.
Servanthood
My son and I were talking the other day and we realized that this really isnโt an easy area. Some individuals may be a bit more servant-like naturally, but I know that I need to practice it and make it a habit. Iโve been working hard to reach out consciously to one person a day. This could be a text or popping a card in the post, focused listening to those right in front of me, or bigger things as the Holy Spirit leads. Of course, I also end up being SO blessed ๐ฅฒ in return by this.
But as for me, I will watch โฅ๏ธexpectantly for the LORD. I will wait โฅ๏ธ for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. โฅ๏ธ Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; โฅ๏ธ Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me. โฅ๏ธ
from Micah 7, I recommend listening to this song after savoring these verses.
Thank you for being here. You are a blessing and are loved. How โbout you? How are YOU truly doing? Glad to be doing this life with you. ๐ฅฐ๐พ๐โจ๐โ๏ธ๐ฅโ๏ธ๐ฒ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐ฌ๐๏ธ๐งบ
Let the Word, I pray, be to me, not as a word spoken only to pass away, but conceived and clothed in flesh, not in air, that he may remain with us.
โฆlet the Word be to me, not as a word written and silent, but incarnate and living.โ
excepts from Bernard of Clairvaux, Watch for the Light, p. 43
There is wonder all around us…
Listeningโฆinteresting audiobook by Gretchen Rubin and โPlease Donโt Changeโ ~ reminding myself of the unchanging faithfulness of Jesus!
Readingโฆfinishing up the quiet, intriguing Makioka Sisters by Junichio Tanizaki.
Watchingโฆreading journal setup videos! Iโm much simpler than this style, but itโs still fun watching others ideas.
Noticingโฆthe Beaver Moon and gorgeous sky lately. Lift up your eyes, friends! โฅ๏ธ
What are you listening to, reading, watching, and noticing? ๐คโจ๐คโจ๐ค
{previous whole person work check-ins}
Lord, it is time. The summer was so great.
Impose upon the sundials now your shadows
and round the meadows let the winds rotate.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Spiritual
Iโve been plugging away at my devotionals, Bible, reading, and journaling. Iโve really tried to concentrate and put a little more focus into it as I had gotten so distracted this summer during my meditation time. Iโve also noticed Iโve really enjoyed taking notes at church, helping me to concentrate. Thereโs so many things the Lord has been showing me, He is SO faithful! Iโm excited about Advent readings soon.
Physical
Iโm back in my food program called Bright Line Eating. It has been a bit bumpy, but October was the best so far! Iโve been texting a friend for accountability and thatโs really helped. Writing my food down for each day helps with not making bad, emotional decisions. Iโve gone back to Instagram after a 10 month break for the purpose of using it as an encouragement to others, but also to keep myself accountable in many areas. I will watch carefully my usage. Iโve been re-listening to Rezoom by Susan Peirce Thompson and itโs been to good to refresh myself. I have to be purposeful about my health, so I can be of service to others.
Mental
Iโm challenging myself to read a little deeper and I have some great buddy reads lined up in November. Dombey & Son, The Makioka Sisters, Countess Kate by Charlotte Mary Yonge, and Julie by Catherine Marshall. Nourishing food for my brain instead of โcandyโ. Iโve been reading more poetry, especially Emily Bronte, Rilke, and Sara Teasdale. Iโm trying to write more poetry too, as a healthy, healing way to work through emotions and feelings (instead of eating and binging on media). Iโm thinking on the tagline, โrage and graceโ, that I saw on the artist RMโs Instagram a few days ago.
Emotional
This ties into the mental category too, while in reality, all of this is in relationship together, but Iโve been journaling, writing penpals, taking nature photos, and dipping into seasonal books. Taking drives in nature (the leaves!!!!) and keeping track of the moon phases has been a relaxing and enjoyable experience lately. Godโs creation is a gift given for the taking if I just open my eyes and heart and RECEIVE. โฅ๏ธโจ
Servanthood
Our homeschool activities are in full swing and itโs been good and stretching for me to give! ๐ฌ๐ฅฑ๐ Weโve been getting back into better daily rhythms and Iโm continually learning that servanthood can mean something as simple as shutting my mouth and listening. ๐ถ๐ค๐โฅ๏ธ
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.
from The Beatitudes, Jesus
How about you? How are you doing? Iโd love to chat in comments or drop me an email! ๐พ๐โฅ๏ธ๐โจ๐๐ค๐๐๐ Blessings over your new November month ahead!
Hello ๐ Friends! Back here for a favorite ๐คฉ post to share with you. These are quick snippets of favorite reads from the summer! I was surprised by all the nonfiction, coming-of-age, and Victorian favs. โฃ๏ธ
Charlotte Fairlie by D.E. Stevenson – charming story – about a single woman, head of a girlโs school who feels a bit stuck. She finds herself getting involved in one of her studentโs lives, helping her through her parents divorce. I especially loved how Charlotte and the student, Tess, help another student and her brother who are in an abusive situation.
Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri – slow, but heart-wrenching stream-of-conscious fictionalized memoir of a young Iranianโs experience as a religious refugee in Oklahoma. It took me a long time to get into this as it had a very unconventional writing style , but then I loved the thought-provoking themes it brought up.
Seasons of Your Heart: Prayers & Reflections by Macrina Wiederkehr – beautiful poetry and short Christian devotional entries. A bit unorthodox and slightly mystical, but really spoke to my weird, word lover side.
The Belton Estate by Anthony Trollope – super interesting story about a Victorian woman who bucks tradition in a situation involving male entailment of property. This had so many interesting themes around marriage of convenience and friendship with a woman of โdubiousโ character.
The Historian by Elizabeth Koskova – deep, rich historical thriller with slight fantastical twist. The atmospheric setting of this was a amazing! Told through multiple timelines and flashbacks, the story of a daughter tracing her fatherโs discovery of a strange book with connections to Dracula. This has a lot of travel, Balkan culture, history, and so much more. Iโd love to reread someday with the audiobook.
Klara & the Sun by Kazau Ishiguro – I listened to the audiobook of this and I loved being in the head of the AI Klara. The interesting way Ishiguro made you think and view Klara with sympathy. The teens Josie and Rick were interesting characters and this book brought up so many themes and questions on what does it mean to be human, love, technology, loneliness, etc.
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera – this was a darker, dystopian middle grade book coming of age story. I loved the main character Petra and how she kept hope alive through storytelling.
House of Dreams: The Life of L.M. Montgomery by Liz Rosenberg – I loved this heart wrenching biography on Montgomery.
Three Men in a Boat ( To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome – This was charming story and the travel/ nature writing superb. It had a humorous, arm-chair philosophical twist to it and it was a bit slapstick and so relatable.
The Stokesley Secret by Charlotte Mary Yonge – Christian fiction novella from the Victorian era! This may come across โpreachyโ to some, but I loved this tale of Miss Fosbrook, a young governess, to a large family. She was compassionate, but just. So charming!
The Cottage Fairy Companion by Paola Merrill – I donโt totally connect with the authorโs YouTube channel, but I loved her book. Overall, her watercolors, photos, poetry, and short essays were sweet and inspiring. Her and I donโt totally agree on worldview, but I still think about the gentleness of this title.
Home for Christmas by Susan Branch – a very short memoir of her childhood Christmasโ in a large family. The care that Branchโs mother put into everything was so inspiring.
All-of-A-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor – This was a charming story of a religious Jewish family of 5 girlโs living in New York in the early 20th century. The audiobook was fantastic! I loved the sweet librarian and the mother was lovely!
Pillars of the House Volume 1 by Charlotte Mary Yonge – the first half of a massive family saga surrounding the lives of an orphaned family of 13. An in-depth coming of age story that Iโm LOVING reading with a wonderful bunch of Victorian literature lovers. ๐
Distilled Genius by Susan Branch – a charming collection of handwritten and illustrated quotes. Branch and I differ on worldviews a bit, but I really adored this overall.
Two Old Women by Velma Wallis – a short story based on true events of two tribal Alaskan women who get left behind as their band is starving. A tale of survival and forgiveness. My friend recommended this and I loved it!
Pat of Silver Bush by L.M. Montgomery – wow! So beautifully atmospheric! I loved this book for the writing, but overall, this was not a happy book. It felt sad and lonely. However, it was full of interesting, quirky characters that Montgomery does so well. Another coming of age tale that I listened to via a YouTube recording, as one of the main characters has a heavy Irish accent.
How about you? What were your favorite reads for the summer? Have you read any of these above? Letโs chat! ๐๐ค๐โ๏ธ๐๐ปโจ๐ฅ๐๐พ๐๐๐๐ฅโ๏ธ๐จ
The house remembered her whole life. It had always been the sameโฆit had never changedโฆnot really. Only little surface changes. How she loved it! She loved it in morning rose and sunset amber, and best of all in the darkness of night, when it loomed palely through the gloom and was all her own. This beauty was hersโฆall hers. Life could never be empty at Silver Bush. Somebody had pitied her onceโฆโso out of this world.โ Pat laughed. Out of the world? Nay, she was in the world hereโฆher world. โ I dwell among my own people.โ Wise Shulamite!
A mysterious content flooded her. This was home.
L. M. Montgomery, Pat of the Silver Bush, p. 278
There is just something about September๐พ๐๐ that has gotten under my skin and deep down into my soul. The golden tinge, the lazy, drift-y woodsmoke through the warm sunโs slant, the cool, autumn-touched mornings, and the swirl of leaves ๐ behind my van as I go a toolinโ down the road. Sigh. I declare September as my โnew yearโ, the sitting among fluttering Queen Anneโs Lace with the Chicory and Golden Rod as my only resolution. Oh, glorious September, donโt go with your woody smell of freshly sharpened pencils, favorite cardigans pulled out, and bold Zinnias flaring out of gardens. The cicadas screaming buzz, green speckled grasshoppers, and that deep, dark secretive cricket singing from behind the refrigerator. There is an end of summertime, early autumn ๐ rustle and crunch to everything, cornstalks, leaves, and a rattle and roll to the landscape. It is SO unbelievably beautiful and Iโm thankful for new seasons and new, fresh beginnings.
Never put the key to your Happiness in somebody elseโs pocket.
Tom Ziegler
{Previous Whole Person Work Posts}
Spiritual:
Iโm really trying to get into focused prayer and devotions. I have a well established devotional time, but it has been very distracted and disjointed. Iโm loving the second half of Ezekiel! Itโs an intense book, but oh, thereโs some richness and encouragement, too.
Again He said to me, โProphesy to these bones, and say to them, โO dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the LORD GOD to these bones: โ Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live.
Ezekiel 37:4-5, NKJV
Physical:
Iโve really struggled and I know itโs because my good habits were not well established again after letting them fall by the wayside. Homeschooling began and it has been a battle for me in getting enough well, everything. ๐๐ Sleep, water, walks, and healthy, nourishing meals. Pray for me to slowly integrate these back in as our homeschool days are evening out now.
Mental:
Honestly, with school beginning, Iโve felt myself feeling โcrazyโ and even though homeschooling is going well, itโs just that added โon- nessโ that I know contributes. We have extra outside obligations, also, and I know that adds to this feeling. Iโm recognizing I need to adjust some of my summer habits and be very choosy about what Iโm giving mental space to and also remembering to judge my feelings by Truth. Taking my thoughts captive! My sister sent me this quote to think on:
The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not be able to do something, and enter Godโs realm where everything is possible. He specializes in the impossible. Nothing is too great for His Almighty Power. Nothing is too small for His love.
Corrie ten Boom
Emotional:
Iโve been *trying* to turn off social media (curse you, Booktube- jk, jk! ) and actually use my hands to make bouquets, write penpals, and lately, create altered composition notebooks. Creating with my hands always helps encourage and calm my emotions. We took a little โTookishโ adventure the other day to a cemetery with gorgeous leaves and had a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie ๐ช snack there, yes, I know thatโs sort of weird , but we loved reading the history of peopleโs lives on the headstones ๐ชฆ and enjoying the autumn atmosphere. We then visited a new-to-us public library and it was fun setting aside my Baggins habits of wanting to hide in my house all the time. ๐๐
Servanthood: thinking ๐ค on this quote! ๐จโฅ๏ธ๐
Nothing disciplines the inordinate desires of the flesh like service, and transforms the desires of the flesh like serving in hiddenness. The flesh whines against service but screams against hidden service. It strains and pulls for honor and recognition. It will devise subtle, religiously acceptable means to call attention to the service rendered. If we stoutly refuse to give in to this lust of the flesh, we crucify it. Every time we crucify the flesh, we crucify our pride and arrogance.
Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 130
Verse focus:
I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing. Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase and they will be secure on their land. โฅ๏ธ
from Ezekiel 34, NASB
Last, but certainly not least, Iโve been so encouraged and enjoying my reading. I finished Volume 1. of Charlotte Mary Yongeโs delightful family saga, The Pillars of the Home, with my favorite online book people, Victorian literature lovers. Victorian literature is fast becoming a favorite genre! We will continue Volume 2 for Victober! I also SO enjoyed Distilled Genius by Susan Branch, a collection of her illustrations and hand lettered quotes. Branch and I differ in some worldview and lifestyle aspects, but overall, I loooved this collection. Iโm currently rereading for the third time, her Marthaโs Vineyard: Isle of Dreams, one of my favorite memoirs of all time.
How about you? How are you? ๐ธ๏ธ๐ช๐ท๏ธ๐๐ชฆ๐๐๐โฅ๏ธ๐โ๏ธ๐๐๐๐๐๏ธโค๏ธโ๐ฉนโฃ๏ธ๐๐ Please chat below, Iโd love to catch up!
It was really beautiful to come home at nightโฆto step out of darkness into the light and warmth of home.
L.M. Montgomery, Pat of Silver Bush, p. 67
A.M. Pine - Hearth Ridge Reflections 