Life Lately, Part 2

Remember last night when I was mentioning the mischievousness that is surely coming?  My suspicion stems from moments like this ...

This is the "figuring it out face" and whatever new thing Little Bit sees has GOT to be figured out - camera, Scrabble tiles, earrings, Daddy's security card for work, Mommy's cell phone, etc.  The funny thing is, Daddy's "figuring it out face" involves a strikingly similar crinkling of the brow.

On an unrelated note, I think I'm going to have to face the music and admit that my child does not like green beans.  I was in denial for quite some time - "He just doesn't care for the texture"  "He fussed because I was singing off key" - but I can't run from the truth any longer.  He thinks they're nasty and that my feeding them to him is some kind of cruel joke.  Oh well, we'll have to find another green vegetable for him to eat I suppose.

And on my last unrelated note, I've finally updated the Book Nook sidebar.  I hadn't stopped reading for the past two months, just got too busy to upload new cover images.  I've enjoyed some Agatha Christy, some Mindy Starns Clark, and an excellent read in Sacred Influence by Gary Thomas. 

You'll notice that its time again for "Summers with Dickens" a tradition I started back in college of reading ... wait for it ... Dickens in the summer.  There's something about the long evenings of summertime that just beg for a long classic with rich characters who feel like your friends by the time the days start getting shorter again.  One year, I tried to branch out with Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, but, well, lets just say that I like happy endings and poor Anna doesn't end very well.  But I digress. This year's "Summers with Dickens" pick is Great Expectations.  I know I've read it one other summer, but its been long enough for me to forget that Pip is called such because his name is Phillip Pirrip (poor kid!) but all he could say as a toddler was "Pip" and other such endearing details.

So, I think I'll curl up with a book for a few minutes while Benjamin finishes his nap.  What are you reading this summer?

The Book Nook

A few weeks ago I ran across a blog (no idea whose) whose author posted her current reading list on the sidebar of her blog. I thought it was a great idea and have been wanting to add something like that to my blog, so here ya go! Not that anyone necessarily cares what I'm currently reading, but what's the point of a blog except to post details of your life that you would normally share with a friend over a cup of coffee? and since most of the people I would share a cup of coffee with are a 6-24 hour drive away, I have my blog.

Over the past several years, I haven't had the time or energy to read much, and so, I thoroughly enjoyed the summer when I had time to read all kinds of things - The Birth Book, Guide to Childbirth, Shepherding a Child's Heart, David Copperfield, The Baby Whisperer, and even the Duggars' 20 and Counting. It seems I've rediscovered a childhood habit of reading several books simultaneously - I remember reading three Ramona Quimby books at the same time when I was seven-years-old, and deciding that I shouldn't read more than one kind of book at the same time, since I kept losing track of what Ramona was doing in which book :) Also, for the record, I believe my mom does this same thing :)

Now that Benjamin as joined us, I have less time to read, but still, my current reading list is now posted on the side of my blog, and I'll try to keep it updated.

On a related note, I just finished reading The Horse and His Boy, my favorite of C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. (Caution: if you've not read this yet, go get it now and don't finish reading this post - i'm gonna spoil the ending for you!) I love the beauty of Lewis' writing, how he weaves the character of Christ into the figure of Aslan the Lion, and how the peasant boy Shasta finds out he is really the long-lost prince Cor destined to save the kingdom. The story reminds me of the incredible truths in this passage...

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10

I think my favorite line in the book, though, comes at the very end... "Aravis also had many quarrels (and, I'm afraid even fights) with Cor, but they always made it up again: so that years later, when they were grown up they were so used to quarreling and making it up again that they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently."

Gotta love good ole' Clive Staples! :)

Finally, a most encouraging thought from When Two Become Three, "Besides the basics of food, clothing, and shelter, [babies] need affection, love, and human interaction. Also, make sure they don't stick a fork in an electrical outlet. The rest is just gravy."

Got us thinking...

Will and I have really been enjoying extra time to read over the past few months. And, harking back to our days as an engaged and newly married couple, we've read several books together, including The Heavenly Man, the story of Brother Yun, a house-church leader in China.

While we would highly recommend this book to anyone, don't read it unless you're ready for your heart and mind to be challenged and convicted! We've had several conversations about what it really means to follow Christ, to abandon all for the sake of the Kingdom, to pray, worship, etc. While there are so many portions of the book that have stuck with me, there is one that I don't think I'll ever forget, so I wanted to share...

"Christians who are in prison for the sake of the Lord are not the ones who are suffering. The people who really suffer are those who never experience God's presence. The way to have God's presence is by walking through hardship and suffering -the way of the Cross."