bekahcubed

Categories What's on Your Nightstand?

Nightstand (October 2010)

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On last month’s nightstand:

On my nightstandOn my nightstand

What I actually read this month was…

I was a little surprised at how much reading I HAVE been able to accomplish this month. Nevertheless, you’ll see that I have plenty of books carrying over.

Fiction

  • Amorelle by Grace Livingston Hill (My Review)

Nonfiction

  • The Church Supper Cookbook
    A wonderful collection of recipes, several of which I’m determined to copy for my own personal use.
  • Crochet Inspiration by Sasha Kagan
    A collection of great crochet stitch variations with glossy photos, clear instructions, and charts if you prefer those.
  • Dreaming of Dior by Charlotte Smith (My Review)
  • Founding Faith by Steven Waldman (My Review)
  • Justice that Restores by Chuck Colson (Review coming later)
  • Money Saving Slow Cooking by Sandra Lee
    I wasn’t impressed. Too many processed foods, not enough that looked appealing.
  • The Narnian by Alan Jacobs (Review coming later)
  • Nothing to Wear? by Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo (My Review)
  • Not Quite What I was Planning
    Six word memoirs. These are great.

Juvenile

  • Children’s Picture Books author Balian-Balouch (10 titles)
  • C.S. Lewis: The Chronicler of Narnia by Mary Dodson Wade (My Review)

Currently in the middle of…

On my nightstand

The asterisk marks the book I picked up over the course of this month–all the rest are holdovers from last month’s list.

  • Ask Me Anything a Dorling-Kindersley book
  • *Boston: Moon Handbooks
  • The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (Lisa’s Review)
  • Desiring God by John Piper
  • Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris
  • A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
  • The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy
  • Nina Garcia’s Look Book by Nina Garcia

On this month’s nightstand:

On my nightstand

Again, the asterisks mark the books I picked up over the course of this month–all the rest are holdovers from last month’s list.

Fiction

  • Love’s Abiding Joy by Janette Oke

Nonfiction

  • *30-Minute Get Real Meals by Rachael Ray
  • *Boiling Mad: Inside Tea Party America by Kate Zernike
  • How to Write & Publish a Scientific Paper by Robert A. Day
  • Making the Big Move by Cathy Goodwin
  • *Nasty, Brutish, and Long: Adventures in Eldercare by Ira Rosofsky
  • Radical by David Platt
    Reviews by Lisa of Lisa Notes, Vitamin Z, Sandra Peoples, Lisa formerly of 5M4B, and Carrie–basically, the whole world is talking about this one! :-)
  • *Four wardrobe makeover books–who knows how deep I’ll go into these
  • *Another Boston guidebook–cause I’m headed to Boston this fall for a professional conference!

Juvenile

  • Children’s Picture Books author BANG-?
  • The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart
  • Nebraska an “America the Beautiful” book by Ann Heinrichs
  • Nebraska a “Celebrate the States” book by Ruth Bjorklund
  • The Old Motel Mystery created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
  • The Secret of Skull Mountain by Franklin W. Dixon

Drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading.
What's on Your Nightstand?

Categories The Week in Words

WiW: God’s Rights

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The Week in Words

Human rights are a huge deal for citizens of the United States of America. We’re all about upholding human rights. And so we should be. We should be concerned about preserving others’ rights.

At the same time, I’ve oft been convicted that I am not to seek my own rights.

I don’t have rights. I ceded them when I became a follower of Christ. I can’t expect to be dealt with fairly, to be given my due. When I became a follower of Christ, I was promised persecution, hatred from the world. When I became a follower of Christ, I was called to lay down my life for my brothers and for the world.

When I became a follower of Christ, I took up my cross. I no longer have any rights. I am a convicted man.

So I’ve thought quite a bit about my rights or lack thereof–but this week, I read something that made me think about rights from a new perspective.

What about God’s rights?

“So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.”
~George D. Watson, quoted by Tim Challies

I struggle with where God has me, with what He’s calling me to. I’m frustrated that His plans for me don’t align with my plans for me.

But you know? God has the right to do whatever He wants with me.

And, of course, I have the promise that even if I don’t understand–even if I never know–the reasons He has in the things He does, the purposes are good nonetheless.

But, as I was reminded this week, reading Jeremiah 29, those good purposes don’t necessarily look they way I’d have planned them.

Have you ever noticed that the nice feel good Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you…thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” falls right in the midst of God’s telling Israel that they WOULDN’T be delivered from the present Babylonian affliction?

Nope. God says, “You’re not gonna be saved. You’re gonna be carried away. What’s more, you’re gonna be in Babylon for a long time.”

“Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”
~Jeremiah 29:5-7

So settle in, Rebekah. Make yourself a home in Columbus, Nebraska. Seek the peace of that city. Don’t just wait it out in the place I’ve appointed for you–choose to thrive in the place I’ve planted for you.

“For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.”
~Jeremiah 29:10-14

And that’s where I have to realize. God has the right to do whatever He wants with me. But He also has the right to do whatever He’s promised in His own timing.

God promised them deliverance. It took 70 years. He called them to be content and productive in the interim.

Maybe God will see fit to fulfill some of my dreams. Maybe it’ll take a life time. He calls me to be content and productive in the interim.

He has the right to do so.

Collect more quotes from throughout the week with Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”.

Categories Family & Friends

Snapshot: Conservative Casual

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My little sister texted me this Friday afternoon to ask if she could hitch a ride to our church’s ladies retreat.

Then she asked what she was supposed to bring.

I checked the informational piece I’d been given and saw that the dress was “Conservative casual.”

Now I know how to do business casual–but I’m not exactly sure what conservative casual means. So Grace and I decided to play it safe:

Grace and Rebekah dressed in long skirts

Long skirts make for conservative, T-shirts for casual, right?

(Just for the record, these were on over our normal garb–school clothes for Grace and work clothes for me. I brought some casual-ish corduroys to wear with my fitted knit top on Saturday.)

Categories Memes

Memorable Movie Meme

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Joyce recently snatched this little movie meme from a Facebook friend–and I decided to snatch it from her!

The idea is to list fifteen memorable movies you’ve seen. You shouldn’t take too long–list the first fifteen you can remember in no more than fifteen minutes.

Grabbing my timer…

And Go!

  1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
    Saw TTT and ROTK at midnight showing opening night. Watched all three extended editions through straight multiple times. Am true nerd.
  2. The End of the Spear
    Seen in theatre. Understood nuances of plot better than others. Never happens. Figured out why–subtitles, of course!
  3. Amazing Grace
    Remember crying when I realized who the old blind man was.
  4. Ben Hur
    Endless rewatching of the chariot races, watching for ketchup squirting. That great little hug thing and “hunting jackals and lions. But now we have become too dignified!” [Chortle, chortle]
  5. The Taming of the Shrew
    The tongue and tail dialogue. The angry exchanges. Liz Taylor’s flashing eyes, Richard Burton’s mischievous smiles.
  6. Pride and Prejudice
    I can never decide who I like better: Elizabeth, Darcy, or the dad?
  7. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
    “That is a movie of sex and violence!” my Grandma says. Yes, but I so badly wanted to be Dorcas, with her flowing long black hair and beautiful white undergarments.
  8. That one Shackleton documentary whose name I can’t remember
    Chills up and down my spine as I hear the survivors’ children speak of the fourth man on the mountain. Set me off on a binge of Shackleton reading (particularly two great books, both named The Endurance, although with different subtitles. One by Caroline Alexander and another by Captain F.A. Worsley himself.)
  9. Beauty and the Beast
    Disappointed me so much when the beast turned ugly at the end. But Belle was beautiful–and a bookworm too!
  10. My Fair Lady
    I could have danced all night, I could have danced all night… And how could I NOT love this musical?
  11. Fiddler on the Roof
    For some reason, I never managed to take Tzeitel’s caution about the matchmaker–and still sing “Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match, find me a find, catch me a catch….For papa, make him a scholar; for mama, make him rich as a king; for me, well, I wouldn’t holler if he were as handsome as anything…”
  12. Les Miserables
    Do I even need to explain? Most compelling story of redemption ever put to screen. Or something like that.
  13. Stalag 17
    I can’t pinpoint what exactly makes this as great as it is. But it is.
  14. Some Like It Hot
    Our video-taped copy ended abruptly after the cross-dressing lead tells her (his) admirer that she’s a man–to which the admirer responds, “That’s okay, nobody’s perfect.” After many years and several rewatchings, we rented it so we could see the ending–only to discover that that WAS the ending.
  15. The Court Jester
    Who can resist a purple-pimpernelled baby’s bottom, a wily fox in jester’s garb, and a beautiful maiden with unexpected skill in seduction (despite the horrible disease she may or may not have… the disease named after her father, who died in excruciating pain… the disease that can be transmitted by, well, just about anything–the brush of a hand…)?

Whew–that was hard. I feared that I might run out of time–and ended up answering with some, yes, rather frivolous family favorites. In this case, memorable might just mean “movies I’ve watched so many times over I can probably retell them in my sleep.”

May I reiterate that I am NOT a movie person?

What about you, are YOU a movie person? What are your most memorable movies?

Categories Flashback Friday

Flashback: Architecture of a Family

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I often like to say that I was born out of season. And my hearers often agree with me. One friend memorably told me (after urging me not to take offense) that he could see me as Little House on the Prairie.

Yep, so could I. I could see myself in quite a few different generations–all of them older than my own.

But the truth is, the family structure I grew up in really was from a different generation than my own.

Linda’s asking us about family structure today…

Flashback Friday buttonPrompt: How was your family structured when you were growing up? Did you grow up with both original parents in the home? …Was yours a multi-generational household with grandparents living with you? Did your mom work outside the home, and if so, was it full-time or part-time? Was there a clearly delineated division of labor between your parents (or parent and step-parent) and how traditional was it? Did your parents believe in child labor?! That is, how structured were chores? What responsibility, if any, did you have for things like doing your own laundry, fixing your own school lunch, etc.? Were your parents do-it-yourself-ers or did they hire people for repairs, painting, etc.? …

We were an old-fashioned family in a new-fangled day, a country family in the middle of the city. In the age of increasingly blended families, dual-income households, and latchkey kids, we were a holdout from an earlier age.

Dad worked at “the office”, Mom worked at home.

And I do mean worked. Mom was no welfare queen popping bonbons and watching soaps–and neither was she a harried housewife running children from one event to another. Instead, she homeschooled her seven children, put homecooked meals on the table twice a day (breakfast was cold cereal, usually), and kept a massive garden. Every summer she put up over 200 quarts of tomato products, not to mention the pickles, the beans, the beets, the fruit, and the jam. And then there were the frozen products–corn, especially. On top of that, she sewed much of our clothing and frugally purchased the rest at used stores and garage sales.

Dad bought bikes from police auctions. Mom took them apart and reassembled them into useable bikes for us kids.

We kids roamed the neighborhood on bikes and by foot. We had an 1100 square foot house on an almost 3/4 acre yard. The house was far too small for the nine of us–but the yard made it okay. We swung on the rope swing in the backyard tree, played in our “Eagle’s nest” and made up our own games to play.

That’s not to say that we didn’t work too. We were a country-fied family–there was too much to be done for anyone to sit back and twiddle their thumbs. There was a garden to be hoed, beans to be stemmed, tomatoes or apples to be “squitted”. There was an (enormous) lawn to be mowed with our push mower, to be raked in the fall. There was a long driveway to be shoveled in winter. There was a house to be cleaned and dishes to be done. There was trash to be loaded up and taken to the dump.

Our tasks were a mixture of scheduled chores and things we were simply expected to pitch in with when they had to be done.

In one sense, we were a family of the fifties, when Dad went to work and Mom stayed home with the kids. In another sense, we were a family of long before that, when the family business of farming took every member’s involvement. In many ways, we were a family from every era of recent modern history–every era except our own, that is.

Hear how other families were structured by following the links at Linda’s

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Fall Break

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Today I’m thankful…

…for the fall break that meant I didn’t have lectures to prepare on Sunday–which meant I could enjoy a fantastic BET party instead

…for the fall break that meant I didn’t have a lab to teach on Monday–which meant I could fly up to Columbus to get some work done and attend a Continuing Education opportunity

…for the fall break that meant I didn’t have a lab to teach on Tuesday–which meant I could spend the day doing a luxurious nothing (that is, laundry and sewing and blogging and reading and watching a movie with my little sister!)

…for the work I got done at work during fall break which meant I could leave work a little early on Wednesday–which meant I could actually sit down and enjoy a meal with my sister before Bible study

…for the work I got done at work during fall break which meant I didn’t have to feel rushed to get everything done today

And then there’s the non-Fall break related stuff.

I’m thankful for…

…the house Anna and I got to look at this morning–and that we at least have an opportunity to be in the running for it (Please let it be, Lord–This house is practically PERFECT.)

…the health that I’ve been blessed with when so many are getting sick these days (knock on wood!)

…the air mattress I sleep on in Columbus–and the hope that I’ll soon be sleeping on my own bed up here (in my own home, as well)

…the coworker who took a considerable amount of time hunting down a weight for me today

…the realization that God is in control (even when I’m steaming at how ObamaCare is affecting our industry. It’s a tough time to be in healthcare, especially in long-term care.)

Thankful Thursday banner

And I’m just thankful that, well, that God is and that He made me and that He places me where He wills and that His plans are always good–beyond my wildest dreams, even when they’re considerably “less” than my wildest dreams.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Amorelle” by Grace Livingston Hill

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It’s funny how perspective changes preferences.

I remember reading Grace Livingstone Hill when I was a pre-teen and loving the homemaking ingenuity of her characters. I enjoyed the old-fashioned romance of her once-contemporary novels.

By my late teens, I had definitely developed a bias against Hill. I considered her a writer of pablum, meaningless, bland, run-of-the-mill Christian fiction.

And now I’m reading her again–partly because I’ve read a few bloggers who spoke of their admiration for Hill and partly because she’s at my library and is an easy read.

I hadn’t read Amorelle during my earlier years–so I can’t compare my thoughts on this specific title from then to now–but I can make some observations.

Amorelle goes to stay with her worldly aunt, uncle, and cousin after her pastor father dies, leaving her homeless. Her aunt and cousin quickly consign her to the status of household help. She excels in this role, creating delicious little snacks and doing pretty handwork. Yep, just what I remember from my earlier days–homemaking ingenuity.

Amorelle’s old-fashioned Christianity (with its certain social taboos) contrasts sharply with her cousin’s brash worldliness. Louise is loud and scheming. She calls her mother by her first name and pettishly insists on her own way. Amorelle, on the other hand, is sweet, acquiescent, and courteous.

So is Amorelle meaningless, bland, run-of-the-mill Christian fiction, as I would have said in my late teens?

That’s what I’m not so sure about any more. Certainly, Amorelle is not top-tier fiction. It’s not likely to win any literary awards. But there is a depth to this novel and an almost natural quality with which faith is woven into the storyline.

Amorelle is swept off her feet by a young member of Louise’s set, a handsome business-like fellow who is nevertheless quite taken with Amorelle. Almost without realizing it, Amorelle finds herself engaged to George. But the moment their engagement is announced she starts to wonder whether this decision was wise.

Is George really the right man for her? Do they have that unity of heart and soul that Amorelle’s parents seemed to have? Is Amorelle in love with George? Or is she really just in love with being in love? Amorelle must learn to lean on the Lord’s wisdom to guide her through these difficult questions.

Like I said, Hill isn’t likely to win any literary awards for her writing–but I did find Amorelle to be a nice, comfortable read. It isn’t meaty enough for a main course, but neither is it the meaningless fluff of a dessert. It’s a salad book, a nice, nutritious break from meat and potatoes reading.

Rating: 3 stars
Category: Christian Romance
Synopsis: After the death of her pastor father, Amorelle moves in with her relatives–and shortly finds herself engaged to a dashing young businessman. But is George really the right man for her?
Recommendation: This isn’t spectacular reading, but it’s a nice, medium-weight novel for relaxing on a lazy day.

Visit my books page for more reviews and notes.

Categories Family & Friends

A Psychoanalysis

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My parents observed me dancing around the BET (Burn Evil Things) fire from their vantage point at the adjoining food fire and attempted a brief psychoanalysis.

They decided that I spent so much of my childhood wishing I were older–and now that I’m old, I’m now enjoying my childhood.

I prefer to think I’m now mature enough to not care how ridiculous I might look dancing wildly about a fire of burning paper.

Do you have any particularly child-like (or childish, depending on how you look at it) behaviors that you cling to? Why do you act that way?

BET photos are now available on my photos page, or view them directly here.

We closed out our evening with s’mores and singing around the cooking fire–and I was so nice as to record some of our singing for your enjoyment. (Please forgive the loudness of my own voice–I have yet to figure out how to avoid having my voice overshadow everything else when recording on my little camera!)

King of Kings sung in round.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: Nothing to Wear? by Garza and Lupo

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What woman has not opened up her closet, surveyed its contents, and declared, “I have NOTHING to wear”?

And what woman, if she has declared this in the presence of a man or child, has not heard the response, “What are you talking about? Your closet is stuffed with clothes”?

Many a book attempts to help women out of this predicament–some helpfully, others not so helpfully. The majority of books within this category lay out a simple solution: Create a basic wardrobe where everything goes with everything and then accessorize from there.

Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo’s Nothing to Wear? offers this standard piece of advice–and gives a 5-step process for making it happen.

The five steps are:

  1. Define your style
  2. Edit your wardrobe
  3. Fill in the gaps
  4. Pull it all together
  5. Nurture the new you

I think the biggest advantage of this particular book’s approach to a wardrobe makeover is its first step. Defining your style consists of identifying your age group, your body type, your lifestyle, your arena, and your style type and then using that information to create a personal “style statement” that gives you a point of reference to use in evaluating your current wardrobe and any purchases.

A disadvantage to this book’s approach is that the authors recommend taking a great deal of dedicated time for making a wardrobe overhaul–and recommend purchasing several specialized closet organizers for the project. I don’t see the need for devoting so much time or money to such a project.

Of course, any wardrobe overhaul is going to take time–but I don’t think it has to be done in a single window of time, or that it needs to take as long as the authors of this book intimate.

I decided to reassess my wardrobe a couple of weeks ago and completed steps one and two in an afternoon. Now, admittedly, I might be a little more aware of my wardrobe and its quirks than many women are. For example, I didn’t have to try on many items during my “edit your wardrobe” step because I am already very aware of how each clothing item fits or doesn’t fit, flatters or doesn’t flatter, etc. So I spent most of my “editing” time holding up each item and evaluating how I felt it fit within the “style statement” I’d made for myself. From there, I divided my items into a giveaway pile (which I let my little sister “shop” in that evening), an alteration pile (for items that needed mending or tailoring or perhaps a complete makeover), a fabric scraps pile (for items in too poor of condition to give away, but which still had potential for quilting/sewing/crafting.) Clothes that could be kept were returned to my closet.

I am a bit anal-retentive, so as I returned each item to my closet, I logged it on an Excel spreadsheet. That meant that once my closet was complete (after 3 or 4 hours), I had a complete list of each article of clothing I owned. I categorized these by major categories and created a shopping list for myself (and a budget, since I’m that kind of person!) The next morning, I went shopping and completed step 3 in another 4 hours.

Total time for steps 1 through 3 and reading the entire book? Nine or ten hours. A far cry from what the book would suggest is necessary.

I also skipped step 4, which I thought was pretty extraneous. Step 4 consists of creating a collection of looks with your different separates and photographing yourself in them so that you can just pull out your personal “look book” and have a complete outfit ready to go in minutes. This might be useful for some people–but I find that I enjoy the spontaneity of creating different variations day by day. And since I set out my clothing for the next day as part of my evening rituals, I don’t have to worry about being pressed for time in the morning and ending up with a less-than-professional look.

In short, this book was pretty typical of its genre and perhaps a little too regimented to be of use to some people. Its great strength was the idea of creating a personal style sheet with which to evaluate your closet. Its great weakness was insisting on uninterrupted time and specialized closet organizers. If your library has a copy, I’d check it out and read through the first two steps, following the first to a T and using the second as a general guideline. But I wouldn’t buy this book.

Rating: 2 stars
Category: Fashion/Style
Synopsis: Two stylists talk about how to get your closet under control–so you never again have “Nothing to Wear”
Recommendation: First few chapters are interesting, first “step” is definitely worthwhile. The rest is ho-hum. Borrow it from your library and scan it, but don’t buy it.

Visit my books page for more reviews and notes.

Categories Following Christ

Pride: My heart’s dark core

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It’s a comfortable sin, one I barely recognize until I’m called on it, until something bumps it and causes it to bristle.

Pride.

The root that says I deserve, I have a right, you ought to treat me well.

I tell my Bible study how I don’t want a Mephibosheth. I had one once–a student who was completely dependent on me. I had great motives when I started discipling her–I saw her need and I wanted to share the love of Christ with her. But she and her family abused my care. They were careless with my time, with my money, with what I was giving. I don’t want another Mephibosheth. I don’t want to be used like that again.

My Bible study leaders ask me what I learned through that experience. I struggle to come up with an answer. All I can think of is the injustice done to me–and when I was trying to be altruistic.

“It’s Pride.” Kathy says.

I realize she’s right. It’s pride that insists on its own rights, insists on being treated well.

Cathy shares her story of discovering her own pride in thinking that a woman she’s sharing with couldn’t teach her anything.

I discover my pride when I read an article from Practical Shepherding on how a newly married man can disciple his wife.

I bristled at the thought of a husband trying to disciple me. Who would he be to teach me anything? Encourage me, sure. Rebuke me, yes. But teach me? I don’t need to be taught.

“That’s pride,” the voice of the Lord said.

And once again, I was forced to grapple with my heart’s dark core.

Pride.

Pride that makes me think I can teach others but need not be taught myself. Pride that makes me think that I have something to offer others but that no one else has anything to offer me.

Pride that makes me think I deserve to be made much of. I deserve to be appreciated. I deserve to be treated fairly, nicely, with mercy.

I find myself arrogantly agreeing with Mr. Darcy that “pride, where there is a real superiority of mind–Pride is always in good measure.”

But it isn’t.

First, because compared to Christ, I have no superiority of which to boast. Second, because even Christ, who was superior in every way, humbled Himself and became obedient.

My heart needs a makeover–but not of the outside. My heart needs a coring, a removal of its center. My pride must be excised before its cancer corrupts my whole being. My pride must be rid, or I will have made myself an enemy I can’t afford to have.

‘God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.’

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

~James 4:6-10