“Does it make you sad that your son doesn’t believe in God?” Jacques asked his grandfather.
“It used to, yes. But now I tell myself, the important thing is that God believes in your father.”
Anne Berest, The Postcard, p. 80
{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
I’ve been plugging away at my devotionals, Bible, reading, and journaling. I’ve really tried to concentrate and put a little more focus into it as I had gotten so distracted this summer during my meditation time. I’ve also noticed I’ve really enjoyed taking notes at church, helping me to concentrate. There’s so many things the Lord has been showing me, He is SO faithful! I’m excited about Advent readings soon.
Physical
I’m back in my food program called Bright Line Eating. It has been a bit bumpy, but October was the best so far! I’ve been texting a friend for accountability and that’s really helped. Writing my food down for each day helps with not making bad, emotional decisions. I’ve 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. I’ve been re-listening to Rezoom by Susan Peirce Thompson and it’s been to good to refresh myself. I have to be purposeful about my health, so I can be of service to others.
Mental
I’m 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 “candy”. I’ve been reading more poetry, especially Emily Bronte, Rilke, and Sara Teasdale. I’m trying to write more poetry too, as a healthy, healing way to work through emotions and feelings (instead of eating and binging on media). I’m thinking on the tagline, “rage and grace”, that I saw on the artist RM’s Instagram a few days ago.
Emotional
This ties into the mental category too, while in reality, all of this is in relationship together, but I’ve 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. God’s creation is a gift given for the taking if I just open my eyes and heart and RECEIVE. ♥️✨
Servanthood
Our homeschool activities are in full swing and it’s been good and stretching for me to give! 😬🥱😂 We’ve been getting back into better daily rhythms and I’m continually learning that servanthood can mean something as simple as shutting my mouth and listening. 😶🤐😂♥️
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.
from The Beatitudes, Jesus
How about you? How are you doing? I’d love to chat in comments or drop me an email! 🌾🎃♥️🍄✨🍁🖤🍂💌📚 Blessings over your new November month ahead!
Hello, friends and fellow beauty chasers! ♥️☺️🌿 I’m finally getting a chance to list my favorite reads from the first quarter of this year! Hopefully, you find a delicious new read among these!
Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson- 5 stars 🌟 This is a children’s WWII historical fiction with a classic feel to it! We follow Tally as her widowed father sends her out of the city to an alternative, unschooling-type boarding school. This felt so cozy and it reminded me of our Charlotte Mason homeschool. Matthias was such an interesting character and there was an assignation plot with a Nazi angle.
The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede- 4.5 stars 🌟this was a slow, introspective clean YA fantasy! It is an alternative history of the westward expansion in America’s frontier. Magical beasts threaten the pioneers and magicians help set protective barriers. Eff is the 13th child of a family of 14 children and seeing the world through her eyes was interesting! I love stories with big families! The 2nd in this series is a bit slow, love the 3rd.
Live No Lies by John Mark Comer – 5 stars 🌟 This reads like a classic nonfiction on the Christian faith. This was super challenging and a high calling while being “relevant”, in which Comer shared his thoughts on today’s cultural and spiritual landscape. He really dove into the resistance of the world, the flesh, and the devil with Scriptures and practicing spiritual disciplines. It will be interesting to see if the specific topics he addressed will make this book feel dated, but I really was challenged!
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien – 5 stars 🌟 (reread) What can I say?! My reread of this was only made more wonderful by discussing this via Zoom with some Booktuber friends. 😄♥️
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arim – 5 stars 🌟(reread) This was sooo what I needed to read at the time I picked it up! Beauty and nature as a healing agent, the intricacies of marriage, being fully human, religion vs. relationships, and so much more! This follows the lives of four women who spend April together in an Italian villa. I also rewatched the film and it was just as good as I remembered!
Sinking City by Christine Cohen – 4 stars 🌟 wonderful, clean YA fantasy set in a dreamy Italian setting. Creepy sea creatures have a mysterious pack with the Italian nobles. We follow the daughter of one of these nobles who has to take matters into her own hands and teems with a powerful, unstable magician!
Dragon & Thief by Timothy Zahn – 5 stars 🌟 This is the 1st in the Dragonback series, a children’s sci-fi fantasy story! This surrounds a symbiotic relationship between dragon-like alien and a orphaned boy! The dragon becomes a tattoo on the boy’s back. They work together to try and find out who betrayed the dragon’s kinsfolk and to clear the boy’s name.
Disenchanted: The Trials of Cinderella by Megan Morrison – 4.5 stars🌟 The plight of the working class weighs on Ella’s shoulders and Prince Dash is lost without the curse that has plagued their family for generations. Fairy-Godfather Serge is struggling to return to his roots of caring for people in a meaningful way. These three characters as well as many others, converge into a WONDERFUL adventure story with a surprising deeper message. One caveat, I wouldn’t give this to younger children, due to some content.
Above Suspicion by Helen MacInnes – 4.5 stars 🌟 This 1940’s thriller/ mystery follows a married couple who find themselves falling into an espionage plot right before Britain entered WWII! This was a psychological, slower, introspective story and I loved the married couple’s relationship. Slight humor and the last third of the novel picks up the pace.
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park – 5 stars 🌟 Tree-Ear and Crane- Man are lovely characters in this story set in 12th century Korea. Tree-Ear admires and befriends a celadon potter. Beautiful lessons about found family, hard work, and love.
The Doll’s House by Rumer Godden – 5 stars 🌟 This follows two girls and their doll family, with interwoven reality and “unreality”. So poignant , deep, thoughtful, and full of longing. About family, love, and what does it mean to be alive. This is very sad and maybe a bit scary for a sensitive child. The Tasha Tudor illustrations make it shine. I read this with a friend via Voxer.
Gods, Graves, and Scholars by C.W. Mercam – 4 stars 🌟 I believe I got this recommendation from Carol years ago and I’m so happy I finally tackled it! This was a fascinating nonfiction look at archeological discoveries up to about the 1950’s and the people that broke the codes, made the discoveries, or dug up the ruins. Egyptian, Greek, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Central America/Mexico finds were all touched on. I think what I loved most about this is how much this tied into my Bible reading especially in the beginning Old Testament books, because this made the Bible come alive.
Evelina by Francis Burney – 4 stars 🌟 This long novel is said to be Jane Austen’s favorite! This was set in the 1700’s and is full of subtle, snarky British humor and a lot of class dynamics. I can definitely see Burnley’s influence on Austen’s writing. I found the excessive formality hilarious and there was a large cast of quirky characters. This has very little plot, but it was interesting to follow the young woman, Evelina, as she navigates growing older and finding her way in society. I listened an audiobook of this and really enjoyed the reader.
How about you? What have you read this year that you REALLY enjoyed? I’d love to chat below! ♥️🌿
Scholars read the great words of the world. But you and I must learn to read the world itself.
Linda Sue Park, A Single Shard , p. 7
…Lord of my merry cheers,
My grey that turns to gold,
And my most private tears
And comforts manifold,
‘Tis wonderful to me
That I am loved by Thee.
excerpt from “Brooding Blue” by Amy Carmichael
release your hold,
your icy grip off of
Saint Valentine’s wrist,
Janus, you selfish giant you,
you two-faced, greedy,
grasper, holding at
arms length from us
your children, the hint
of green, your snowy
finger still extending
over the land, but your
days are numbered
white witch melt
warmth will rule
once more
A.M. Pine, originally for Peace Poem Project 2023. Drawing from this well.
I cracked the Montana mug
I lost the swallow earring
flea market finds from my man
is this all marriage is
feeling cracked & lost?
but that’s how hope crawls in
through the cracks & crevices
in small corner light is found
loneliness is lumped & kneaded out
not unlike what that
potter did with the clay
back in Montana
turning something
rough into a little something
different one day
the beader who set
my earring soaring
didn’t see a marriage
celebrated as her
dangling art pierced through
my earlobe
the cracked & loss
a little more whole
A.M. Pine, originally written for Peace Poem Project 2023
-drawing from this well ♥️
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me. If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things…
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
•blank page, cut hand
ink dribbled off edge
down onto palm of mine
mingle with blood
can they course through
both vein & pen?
can winged words
life blood be
ink that oxygenates
black to bloody red
soaring over pulsating sea
red & black scribbles
across wide, white expanse
staunch the wound
bleed the ink
my heart is lanced •
A. M. Pine, originally for the Peace Poem Project, drawing from this well.
If the wind from the promised land is at times cruel, it is to remind me that my journey is not yet complete.
Michael D. O’Brian, Strangers and Sojourners, p. 193
2022 was SUCH a great reading year for me! I learned more about what I really love, what encourages me, inspires, and challenges. I’m hoping to bring my insights into my 2023 reading and have an thoughtful and nourishing year. In no particular order here are my favorites in small snippets!
1. High Rising by Angela Thirkell ~ English humor, a widowed author and her young son embroiled in village life.
2. Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson ~ orphan Maia travels to live with distant relatives on the Amazon. Brazil, found family, nature, and a wonderful governess, Miss Minton!
3. Family Sabbatical by Carol Ryrie Brink ~ Professor Ridgeway is heading to France with his authoress wife and three children. In the same vein as the first book, they have heartwarming family adventures.
4. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot ~ a lovely, humorous memoir on a Yorkshire Dale veterinarian’s adventures.
5. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson ~ a quiet, introspective look at the relationship of a grandmother & granddaughter and the natural world.A gentle look at youth and aging.
6. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith ~ a coming-of-age story with an eccentric, surprisingly human bunch of characters. A peek at a writer’s soul in Cassandra.
7. All Manner of Things by Susie Finkbeiner ~ gentle historical fiction set around Vietnam War and one family’s love and lessons in a small Midwest town.
8. Skellig by David Almond ~ grief, fear, and new beginnings through the eyes of a young boy as he befriends an angelic being.
9. Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace ~ a coming-of-age story with a deep theme of sacrifice and selflessness. Young girl changes the lives of those around her in a meaningful way, gifting herself beauty in the process.
10. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens ~ lovely, deep characters ! So many favorites, Mrs. Boffin, Mr. Wilfer, and Bella – John Harmon was so interesting. The antagonist, Bradley Headstone reminds me of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. May be my current favorite Dickens!
11. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn ~ sobering look at one day in a Soviet work camp. I read this in January and STILL think about it!
12. Wives & Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell {reread} ~ such a lovely, introspective look at a widower doctor and his daughter and the surrounding village. Mr. Gibson’s remarriage brings about change and growth.
13. The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge {reread} ~ a second chance for a single older woman as she inherits her aunts cottage and memories in the countryside.
14. Martha’s Vineyard: Isle of Dreams by Susan Branch {reread} ~ Susan’s thoughts and dreams as she begins again after a hard divorce. Domestic and creative, so inspiring!
15. Christy by Catherine Marshall {reread} ~ a young girl travels to teach in the Smokey Mountains, growing in faith and love. The strong female friendships in this story touched me deeply. This was probably my favorite of the year.
16. The Magic Summer by Noel Streitfeild ~ four children have to stay in remote Scotland with their great aunt. They learn resourcefulness and cooperation toward each other.
17. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery {reread} ~ lovely second chance of life story. There is SO much to love about this. Parts are a little far fetched, but Valancy’s story is so inspiring!
18. The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange ~ Henrietta’s care and concern for her ill mother and her baby sister are so inspiring. I love that nature and books help in this slightly scary tale of courage.
19. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen {reread} ~ I found the antagonists in this book to be SUCH amazing character studies. Mrs. Norris in particular, her sly, manipulative ways, so disturbing. This book is a lesson in what NOT to be.
20. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell ~ Murder, selfishness, growth, classism, forgiveness, redemption, and so much more made this an amazing read. So many great characters, Job & Margaret Leigh, Jem Wilson, and the Sturgis couple…Alice & Will…all stand out to me!
21. The Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth Braddon {audio book – performed by Richard Armitage} ~ this was a charming, heartfelt story about a selfish grandfather estranged from his daughter and grandchildren. It hit me just at the right moment and Armitage was an AMAZING reader.
22. Aggressively Happy by Joy Marie Clarkson ~ a lovely Christian nonfiction that touched me deeply. About knowing you are loved by God and living content in whatever season you find yourself.
Have you read any of these? What were your favorite reads of last year? 😍♥️🌿📚
…Oh, it is well to waken with the woods
And feel, as those who wait with God alone,
The forest’s heart in these rare solitudes
Beating against our own.
Close-shut behind us are the gates of care,
Divinity enfolds us, prone to bless,
And our souls kneel. Night in the wilderness
Is one great prayer.
excerpt from “Midnight in Camp” by Lucy Maud Montgomery
A.M. Pine - Hearth Ridge Reflections 