Recovery Group

No, I haven't joined a twelve-step program.

But I am part of the "re-covery group" at church. We're working on the theater renovation, and our part is the refreshing of the seating. Head over to the Minot Building blog for a brief update and some photos.

Anything? Really?

Please pardon a little shameless self-introspection. It's been a rough 24 hours. As I got in the car today to run work errands, I flipped on the car radio (to our network, of course) and said, "OK, God, I need a little encouragement here."

Despite my treatment of the Lord as my personal "genie-in-a-bottle", He did answer my prayer...just not in the way that I expected, or wanted.

The song "Jesus Bring the Rain" by MercyMe was playing when I turned the car back on. This is NOT the song I want to hear. Here's the chorus:

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

So I can't sing along, because right now it's a total lie. I don't want "anything" that brings Him glory. Right now I want a little relief. I want the $5000 a week for life from Publisher's Clearing House. I want a foot massage. I want a vacation at the beach.

Whiny self-introspection over. I'll try to have a better word of encouragement tomorrow. Of course, blogs that are always happy-happy-nice-nice bore me to death.

So I'm a Lemming...

Hey, everyone else is doing a retrospective of favorite posts from 2007! I just want to be part of the gang...peer pressure has gotten the better of me! Here they are: enjoy reading (and re-reading).

North Dakota Beauty (a reminder I need in mid-winter!)
I'm With the Band (back from last March, when I was very cool for a fleeting moment)
The Food Fairies (hi neighbors)
Housekeeping 101 (because I needed a gentle reminder myself)

And with that, I will go to work.

Happy New Year!

As we all rise this morning with a fresh page in our journals upon which to write, with new resolutions to be thinner and healthier, to read higher quality books, to write more often and with more thought, we ponder upon the following.

First, a thanks to the Lord for what Has given us, and second, a slightly more cynical look from Mr. Mark Twain.

We meet today
To thank Thee for the era done,
And Thee for the opening one.
~John Greenleaf Whittier

Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.
~Mark Twain

A New Venture

I am beginning the next year with a whole new venture. Small, but fun! Stay tuned...

Some Days I Feel Like Odie...

...but most days my Garfield-like superiority complex takes over. Hey, I'm just being honest here.

I had a Garfield comic book when I was young, and this strip was in it. It's interesting how 25 years later I still remember this particular cartoon, but last night at the store, couldn't remember 7 items on my list.

2007 Book Recap

This was a rather slow year for reading in my life. I am just now settling into a rhythm in the evenings that is more beneficial to spending time with the written word. Here is a mostly inclusive list from the past 12 months. I left out books that were total fluff, or that I didn't finish, or that were so bad that I couldn't recommend them at all. Although there are a couple on that list that I may end up reviewing just to have an excuse to rant. As if I need an excuse!

• The Road to Reality (by KP Yohannan): My 3rd or 4th time through. I read this book when I need to be reminded of what my priorities should be.
  
• The Last Days (by Joel Rosenberg): 2nd in a series...not as good as the first, but I'll probably keep going.
  
• Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead (by Anne Morrow Lindbergh): read my most recent review here.
  
• Miss Julia Strikes Back (by Ann B Ross): Light, but not fluffy, this is the 7th or 8th in the Miss Julia series. I like her character's practical outlook on life, and that fact that she is a woman "of a certain age", something lacking in much of today's fiction.
  
• The Moonstone (by Wilkie Collins): My 2nd attempt...and I made it. Once I got into the story, I enjoyed it greatly.
  
• The Remarkable Record of Job (by Henry Morris): A wonderful commentary on the book of Job, looking more at the marvels of creation and the power of God than on the suffering of Job.
  
• Faith Undone (by Roger Oakland): Interesting book on the emerging church. Roger is not the best writer in the world, but he is very well researched and his content is important.
  
• The Decoration of Houses (by Alexandra Stoddard): A textbook for decoration. I enjoyed it and was inspired by this book.
  
• With Christ in the School of Prayer (by Andrew Murray): Read this for a discipleship/leadership class. I plan to go through it again this year with no agenda in mind. It's meant to be a 30 day book, and we had 2 weeks!
  
• Friends, Lovers, and Chocolate (by Alexandar McCall Smith): #2 in a series. Loved it. I don't subscribe to the main character's worldview, but for fiction, I enjoyed the literary twists.
  
• Mornings on Horseback (by David McCullough): Bio of Theodore Roosevelt. After visiting Medora, ND, I really enjoyed learning more about this man. Highly recommend this book.
  
• The Last Jihad (by Joel Rosenberg): First in a series. Riveting.
  
• The Bad Quarto (by Jill Paton Walsh): A mystery. Well written, and thought provoking.
  Living a Beautiful Life (by Alexandra Stoddard): read a few thoughts here.
  
• Why Revival Tarries (by Leonard Ravenhill): Ouch. Excellent book. Very convicting. Ouch.
  
• George Muller (by Basil Miller): Another read for our class. I dislike poorly written bios, but I love George Muller's faith.
  
• The Soulwinner (by Charles Spurgeon): The first half of the book is excellent and conversational. The second half gets rather bogged down in the tedious. Overall, a worthwhile read.
  
• The Sunday Philosophy Club (by Alexander McCall Smith): read my review here.

Book Review: Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead

Anne Lindbergh was only 23 when she wrote the letters and diary entries found in Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead. I was impressed that, while she was still so youthful, she was also extremely literate. She writes to her family with amazing candor about "celebrity" and being followed by the media of the day. She touches upon her fears about motherhood, and in a section that is very poignent, she frets to her mother over the safety of her little son.

Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead is the second in a series of 5 books containing Anne Morrow Lindbergh's personal letters and diaries. I didn't realize that when I picked it up, but it stands alone, and was an enjoyable and thoughtful read. This book covers the period of 1929-1932, during which Anne married Charles Lindbergh, gave birth to their first child, and flew to the Orient with C.L.

But the Hour of Lead is the most riveting section, detailing the infamous "Lindbergh kidnapping" and the death of the Lindbergh's first son.

Anne was pregnant with her second son when little Charlie disappeared. As we know from history, after ten weeks of negotiations with kidnappers, the boy's body was found not far from their home. He had been killed the first day.

The book caused me to reflect upon my own grandparents, who also lost a child when my grandmother was carrying my mother. They never found out what happened to the boy that they lost, it is generally thought that he drowned, and I don't believe that either my Grandpa or Grandma really recovered from it.

Anne Lindbergh expressed her concerns that she would not be able to feel for the second child what she had for the first, that she would be always comparing the two. I wonder if this is how my grandmother felt. My grandmother's family was thousands of miles away in a time when travel was not easily available. Anne Lindbergh was blessed to have the close and loving support of her family, which greatly comforted her.

This book affected me in that it caused me to think about others, and to look at my grandmother (who was difficult, to say the least) with a different eye...perhaps a more sympathetic one.

Overall, a good read. I recommend it and am looking forward to reading North to the Orient, the chronicles of Anne and Charles Lindbergh's 1931 trip to Alaska, Russia, China, and Japan.

Quote of the Day: Matthew Henry

It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day.
~Matthew Henry

Amen, Mr. Henry. It's all about eternity...

Merry Christmas