TreasuresInTerraCotta

The Nesting Place:  It Doesn't Have to be Perfect to be Beautiful by Myquillyn Smith Myquillyn Smith of  Nesting Place has been blogging for over six years and her first book just hit the shelves of our library.  She has been featured in several magazines, many other blogs and is wildly popular.  I have to admit, however, that I have never really followed her.  I just don't love her style.  Perhaps, because of that, I felt like she had nothing to contribute to my life or home.  In fact, I almost didn't read this book. But I must recommend: Read this book.  It is way more than a Do-It-Yourself guide to decorating and thrifting and painting.  It is not Design 101.  Rather, she gently and graciously reminds us to focus on gratitude and joy and love.  She gives permission to live in and love the place we're in right now.  She hit the nail on the head...

Bread and Wine - a love letter to life around the table with recipes by Shauna Niequist I met Shauna at the Global Leadership Summit last month where she was on stage and I was watching by simulcast 1700 miles away.  She was spunky and charming and when I discovered she had written a book entitled Bread & Wine  I reserved a copy at the library while they were still "on order."    In my minds eye, I see the joy and connectedness that occur at the table: the gathering and the sharing and the stories and the laughter.  And yet, I feel a constant lack in this area of my life.  As a result, I have read books devoted to the topic, tried various methods to facilitate conversation and connection, and consciously attempt to relax as a host.  But the desire still lingers and the vision seems elusive.   Before I even finished reading the Introduction to Bread & Wine I felt that familiar lon...

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp I was introduced to the joy of Ann Voskamp's blog a few years ago.  Her lyric style of writing, beautiful photography and rich spiritual leaning cause her blog to top my short-list of regularly visited sites. When  One Thousand Gifts hit the shelves I put it on my wishlist, but ultimately decided to borrow it from the library.  Funds and shelf space are increasingly limited.  I waited on the waiting list. And then I read...late into the night...I filled it with tabs; moved by the words, aching with sad familiarity, hoping for revelation, feeling the illumination that only happens when the Holy Spirit whispers truth.  The beginning of the story goes like this. See if you can relate to any part: I wake to the discontent of life in my skin. I wake to self-hatred. To the wrestle to get it all done, the relentless anxiety tha...

I have been putting off reading The Hole In Our Gospel. I don't know if I will do a Book Review about it, but maybe I need to confess that I own it and that I have a book mark somewhere in the Forward. Is that accountability? I don't know. Maybe I should also confess that I want to read it, but really I don't want to read it.

When You Rise Up: A Covental Approach to Homeschooling by R.C. Sproul, Jr. R.C. Sproul quickly moves through many of the battles surrounding education. Who is called to do the teaching? What should be taught? And by what method? However, he takes a step backwards and states, "Before we can even try to agree on the answers, we need to see if there is anything prior we can agree on." (p13) And then goes on to address three prior questions: Is education important and valuable? By what standard? What exactly is the goal of education? I found his discussion of these six questions clear, concise and compelling. Not to mention that the simplicity of his answers relies on the simplicity of Scripture's response to these questions. It is very easy to get distracted with the importance of algebra and phonics, preparing students to get good test scores and good jobs, and what the experts have to say. For this reason I found Sproul's simple balance appropriate. "I am n...

I have not read through this book in many years, but I pull it off the shelf every time I have to write a word of condolence. I used it when a teen age daughter of a co-worker at church was killed in a car accident. I used it when my supervisors spouse died after a prolonged illness. And I used it this week when writing a letter to two young men, whom I did not know, after a former co-worker of mine, their mother, passed away unexpectedly. The Art of Condolence: What to Write, What to Say, What to Do at a Time of Loss by Leonard M. Zunin, M.D., and Hilary Stanton Zunin. In the first chapter the authors succinctly and, I believe, accurately pinpoint the difficulty we have with condolence. "The wish to condole is such a human trait, yet most of us are at a loss to acknowledge, in a caring and loving way, the grief of others. That's understandable. No one has ever taught us the art of condolence." This book briefly (and not over-clinically) walks the reader through t...

Every Secret Thing by Ann Tatlock I loved it! All the way from the Prologue to the Epilogue. Who couldn't resist the first line: The first thing I want you to know is that there really is a state called Delaware. And that's all I'm going to say about Every Secret Thing.

The Scribe by Francine Rivers The story of Silas from the Sons of Encouragement novella series. When I was introduced to the joys of Christian Fiction a few years ago I was introduced to Francine Rivers. She has come to be one of my favorite authors and I have read many of her books, novellas and series. The Sons of Encouragement series includes five five books, however this is the first one I've read. We meet Silas in a place of reflection and recovery after he has flead the persecution of Rome and watched many of his friends martyred. I felt Silas' fatigue on the first page, "But all Silas saw was the darkness of men, the triumph of evil. I am tired, Lord. I am sick of this life. Lord, please take me home ." The story then follows Silas as he reflects on his experience with Jesus, his journeys with Paul and Peter, and the encounters they have along they way. The narration closely follows Acts with pieces filled in from Paul's epistles and with beautiful f...

I have been thinking about doing book reviews here on my little blog and have, in fact, had this post half-composed for over two weeks. I attend a book group once a month and it is one of my life's great joys. In addition to reading for book group I usually read one or two other books a month. While I'm certainly not a voracious reader or even an "adventurous" reader I do love books. And sometimes I think I might like to share them. So if that's something you, my three readers, are interested in I think I'll do it. I am going to start with Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations by Alex and Brett Harris Why did I read this book? I am nearly 20 years out from the teenage years and I didn't even love them when I was there. I don't work directly with teens and I don't have teenagers. Honestly, I don't know what initially drew my attention to this book but the concept caused me to place it on my wishlist months ago. P...