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Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Routines, New and Old

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After the busyness of last week, it’s been wonderful to ease back into some normal routines – except that I’m not just going back to normal. I’ve begun to feel that I spend a lot of my day purposelessly on the computer – and then feel rushed in caring for Tirzah Mae and for our home. Yet as a younger woman, I have certain responsibilities, certain things to which God has called me: “to love [my husband and child], to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to [my] own husband, that the word of God may not be reviled.” (Titus 2:4-5 ESV) When I let computer time eat away at my time, I am not exercising self-control. Depending on what I’m reading (some of the “gossipy” stuff can be a real temptation), it can lead me to not be pure in mind. It keeps me from working at home. It inhibits my ability to love my husband and my daughter well.

So I’ve been working to intentionally prioritize the things I ought to be doing – instead of letting the computer distract me from my real job. And since routines are how I roll, I’ve set specific routines in place to help me do what I ought to – and to provide structured and productive computer time.

This week I’m thankful…

…for getting up earlier
Daniel had been in the habit of bringing me breakfast in bed around 7 – which has been wonderful. But Tirzah Mae is often awake at that time and we had been breastfeeding in bed around that time, which means she wants to strew my eggs all over the bedsheets – which is not so wonderful. This, combined with a desire to be more productive in the mornings, has compelled me to start getting up in the mornings so we can sit at the table for breakfast. This week, I’ve been getting up at 6 or 6:30, helping Daniel pour the coffee or toast the bread, and then sitting down with him (and Tirzah Mae if she’s up) for breakfast. Then, rather than my previous habit of lingering over my coffee in front of the computer, I’ve been staying at the table with my Bible, spending time in personal devotions then in Sunday school preparation.

…for getting back into exercising
It’s hard to return to an exercise routine after I’ve been gone for a while (even just those five days off mean renewed muscle soreness and being more out-of-breath.) But it feels good to be moving again. And with the jump-start that getting up a little earlier (and getting moving earlier) provides, I’ve been able to get both the exercise and my hygiene routines in while Tirzah Mae takes her morning nap.

…for intentional playtime
Perhaps the biggest thing to suffer because of my aimless computer time has been time just playing with my daughter. Now, I believe (strongly) in the power of undirected play for children – but children also need their parents’ undivided attention every so often throughout the day. Not having the computer be my default (or trying to cram all my household chores into the wee bit of time left over once I’m done at the computer) means that I’m making time to walk with Tirzah Mae around the living room a couple times a day, that I’m getting on the floor and just letting her climb over me while we laugh together, that I’m reading to her more.

…for a clean kitchen
It used to be that I’d let the dishes slide until I was already in the kitchen preparing dinner. Then I’d go through the house and get all the dishes and wash them and dry them and put them away and wipe the counters – and just as soon as that was done, I’d set the table so we could make the next round of dishes (that would then sit on the table or the countertops) until I was in the midst of preparing dinner the next day. Now, I’m working to get the dishes done right after lunch, which means I can have clean countertops from lunch to dinner prep – and have dry dishes in the drainer to put away just before dinner so that I can clean the dinner dishes right after dinner – and have clean counters again until lunch. It’s great.

…for afternoon naps
Rachel at the Purposeful Wife shared about power naps this Tuesday – and I put it into practice starting that very day. The early morning Monday did leave me feeling pretty fatigued by the end of the day – and I didn’t want to burn out. Seeing that article, I purposed to make a power nap the first thing I did after I put Tirzah Mae down for her afternoon nap (even if I was in the middle of dishes!) And I have, Tuesday and yesterday. I didn’t actually sleep either time, but just the 20 minutes of rest gave me sufficient energy to finish the day out and to do so with a good attitude (that’s the REALLY important thing!)

…for enjoying non-computer forms of enrichment
I already mentioned playing with Tirzah Mae. What fun it is! But now that I’m back to exercising, I get some reading in (while marching for warm-up and cool-down). And now that my bathtime coincides with Tirzah Mae’s nap, I can get some more reading in during her nap. And when I’m doing dishes? I’m listening to podcasts, a couple new ones that I’m really enjoying. Then, when I do sit down at the computer, whether while Tirzah Mae is nursing or during my dedicated time in the afternoon, I can enjoy computer tasks and entertainment without guilt.

…for the hymns at the end of the day
It’s one of those old routines, but one I’ve not always been faithful with. When I put Tirzah Mae to sleep, I change her, I feed her, I read her a story from the Jesus Storybook Bible, and I sing the next hymn I know in the hymnal. (Now that she’s got teeth, toothbrushing goes at the end there!) And this week, I sang hymn #259: “Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted”.

“Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
‘Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!
‘Tis the long expected prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
‘Tis a true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress:
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice appointed!
See Who bears the awful load!
‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost.
Christ the Rock of our salvation,
Christ the Name of which we boast.
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.”

What delight have I, to open and close each day gazing upon the Lamb – stricken, smitten, and afflicted for me!

Categories Book Reviews

Essential Oil Books

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Yesterday, I posted a very long review of the current state of research on essential oils. My conclusion was that

“There’s a lot of buzz about essential oils these days – and essential oils show some promise for enhancing health. But, the current state of research is such that an evidence-based practitioner should be extremely cautious about making any recommendations regarding essential oils. We simply don’t know enough.”

Those who read yesterday’s post will likely be unsuprised to find that my reviews of the following books about essential oils tend to be critical, especially of the health claims made within.

Even while I am skeptical regarding supposed health benefits of essential oil use, I tend to think that most essential oils, when diluted minutely and administered either topically or by inhalation (such as being diffused into a room), are unlikely to be dangerous. There are few documented adverse effects of essential oils in their usual uses, so I would feel much more comfortable using them in the “usual ways” than in some novel dilution or route. (I would be extremely cautious of using essential oils internally, as this is NOT a common use and therefore more of an unknown as far as potential toxicity goes.)

The Essential Oils Book: Creating Personal Blends for Mind & Body by Colleen K. Dodt

This is the first book I read on using essential oils – and the subtitle accurately represents what you’ll find within. The bulk of the book is “recipes” for essential oil blends to be used as cosmetics, bath blends, cleaning solutions, and the like. There are a wide variety of recipes, some using specific oils (particularly the ones for use on the body) and others simply giving direction to add “15 drops essential oils” (generally the cleaning or room freshening recipes).

The author is clearly fond of aromas and she shares her enthusiasm not only by encouraging the use of essential oils but also the use of fresh and dried flowers and herbs. That was fun. On the other hand, the author also seems pretty flaky and frequently mentions pseudo-scientific things (which might just be the state of aromatherapy at this point) like detoxifying for weight loss.

The third chapter describes around 30 essential oils, giving its information in loose headings: “Nature”, “Benefits”, “Suggested Uses”, “Blending”, and “Cautions”. Some oils contain all these headings, others only a few. Often information that seems to best fit under one heading appears under another. Sometimes cautions that I read of other places aren’t given here. And, of course, very few of the claims can be supported by scientific literature.

Nevertheless, I found this to be a useful introduction into how essential oils can be (and are) used in a variety of ways both in personal care and in the home.

Essential Energy: A guide to aromatherapy and essential oils by Nikki Goldstein

This full-color “artsy” book ended up being a fascinating blend of historical and practical information about aromatherapy. The first chapters describe the use of aroma throughout history (and throughout the world) and how smell and touch work together to accomplish aromatherapy’s magic. This book too describes a list of around 30 essential oils, giving historical information, “benefits”, “safe use”, and “cautions” for each one in addition to giving the common name, the botanical name, the source of the essence, where the plant is cultivated, what the aroma is like, and which perfume note the essential oil has. Finally, the author describes multiple ways to use essential oils (massage, aromatherapy baths, infusions, compresses, etc.) and lists a variety of ailments along with the essential oils that are purported to treat them.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m skeptical of many of aromatherapy’s claims, feeling that there simply isn’t sufficient scientific evidence to encourage (or discourage) the use of aromatherapy. The “practical” portions of this book tend to make me more skeptical, as they give wildly improbable and unscientific potential mechanisms for aromatherapy’s action (smells don’t purify the blood, the liver does.) Furthermore, I struggle with all the contradictory results – oils that are both stimulating and relaxing? But that says more about the state of the science on aromatherapy than it does about this particular book.

For those interested in learning about the history of aromatics or in the steps to do a full-body aromatherapeutic massage, this would be a good resource. I enjoyed reading it.

Categories Health

Essential Oils: Worth the Buzz?

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I think you’d have to be living under a rock to have not heard of the powers of essential oils (popularly abbreviated “EOs” on natural living blogs). DoTerra or Young Living are the next Tupperware – parties where you can receive demonstrations of the amazing powers of essential oils and where you can plunk down cash for your very own starter kit.

I tend to live under rocks and managed to not notice or ignore the trend for, well, I’m not sure how long it’s been a buzz – but I first started looking into them at the beginning of this year when a friend recommended Young Living’s Thieves oil as a cold preventative. Then I talked briefly with a sibling who uses oils internally. Since then, I’ve browsed a few online articles, primarily linked from Pinterest; I’ve attended a Young Living party (where I bought nothing); I’ve read two books about essential oils and aromatherapy (I’ll post my mini-reviews tomorrow).

And I’ve spent somewhere between 20 and 80 hours exploring PubMed’s database for research on different essential oils and reading the most recent research regarding essential oils.

While I’d originally intended to simply write a brief introduction summarizing my thoughts regarding essential oils prior to my short reviews of the books I read, I scrapped that idea once I realized how LONG that would make my review post. Instead, you get two full-length posts (Oh joy!)

I think it’s important that you realize that I am a skeptic regarding complementary and alternative medicines. I don’t have any special affinity for “natural” (or, for that matter, for “artificial”) things. Rather, I am a practitioner of Western Medicine (inasmuch as dietetics is medicine) – and believe strongly in evidence-based medicine. Furthermore, while I believe anecdotal evidence is worthwhile as a spur for further research, it is NOT appropriate as a source of practice recommendations. (For example, a supercentenarian attributes her long life to 3 beers and a whiskey daily – but that doesn’t mean we should start recommending 3 beers and a whiskey daily.) So, recognize that I am much less likely than the average “all-natural” mom to recommend the use of, well, anything for treatment of disease or health-enhancing properties.

As I’ve conducted extensive reviews of the existing literature regarding essential oils, I’ve seen that the study of essential oils (from a scientific standpoint) is in its infancy. A few essential oils have been studied in detail but most have four to five studies altogether – and each study might be looking at a different proposed property for the essential oil. Many of the most rigorously designed studies have been conducted with petri dishes or animal models – which have inherent difficulties with translating to human use. And of the studies that are done with humans? The study designs tend to be quasi-experimental and involve a small sample size (not many people in the study). In other words, in most cases, there simply isn’t enough information to make evidence-based practice recommendations for the use of essential oils.

That said, there are a number of areas of research regarding essential oils that show promise:

  • Many EOs have antimicrobial properties. This is where those petri dish studies come in. Some essential oils kill bacteria, some kill fungi, some kill fly larvae, etc. This is exciting. EOs show promise for reducing antibiotic dependence and offer new options for things like food safety. The majority of applications that are being studied so far involve using EOs in animal feed (chicken feed, especially) rather than antibiotics to promote animal health in confinement and using EOs as rinses or sprays on cut fruits and vegetables to keep them from going bad before you get a chance to eat them. It’s important to note that, while this research shows promise and while some applications have been developed that may be effective, we do not have any information so far about whether a few drops of an essential oil in a household cleaner will prevent germs. Nor do we have any information about oils rubbed on the skin or diffused through the air. Almost all antimicrobials have specific effective doses – and unless that concentration is reached (usually for a certain length of time), there is little or no antimicrobial effect. Also, if something is powerful enough and concentrated enough to kill bad bugs, there’s no guarantee that it isn’t powerful enough and concentrated enough to also have potentially damaging effects to human cells. Until we’ve got research on humans, we just don’t know what might happen.
  • Some essential oils have an effect on the central nervous system (CNS). Inhaled lavender oil seems to be a CNS depressant – lowering blood pressure, decreasing basal metabolic rate, and slowing brain activity. Inhaled grapefruit oil seems to be a CNS stimulant – raising blood pressure and basal metabolic rate, and increasing alertness. As such, these have potential to treat conditions such as insomnia, anxiety, ADHD, panic attacks, or narcolepsy. Except that they haven’t necessarily been studied for the treatment of those conditions – they have POTENTIAL to treat, since we know that the central nervous system is involved in those particular disorders, but we don’t know whether they actually WILL treat those conditions.
  • Odors can affect mood. This is something we’ve known for a long time. It’s nothing new. We know that smelling fresh-baked bread or chocolate chip cookies sells houses because people generally have positive associations with those odors and therefore feel that a home that smells like that is more “homey”. The difficulty is that everyone has different associations with different odors. If your grandma wore lavender, you might associate the smell of lavender with trips to the children’s museum with your grandma, or you might associate it with the smell of a dying woman. The highly individual nature of odor associations means that, if we want to use EOs to affect mood, we won’t necessarily be able to just look up a use in a book. On the other hand, it’s certainly possible that you might find a smell that calms you or that makes you hungry or… well, all sorts of things.

In conclusion, there’s a lot of buzz about essential oils these days – and essential oils show some promise for enhancing health. But, the current state of research is such that an evidence-based practitioner should be extremely cautious about making any recommendations regarding essential oils. We simply don’t know enough.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: Almost Green by James Glave

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I found it amongst the library’s construction-related books, so I must have known, when I picked it up, that James Glave’s Almost Green: How I Saved 1/6th of a Billionth of the Planet was about building. But by the time I got around to reading it, I had forgotten.

By that time, I thought maybe it was a generic “how I learned to be green” book. Which I don’t mind – it’s always fun to see what other people do to be green (the more potentially ridiculous, the better – solar cookers, composting toilets, peeing on your garden…)

The prologue, in which the author waxes eloquent about how he hates that he drives an SUV (but still does it anyway), had a paragraph explaining what the book was actually going to be about – so I did get some warning. I also learned, by the end of the prologue, that I dislike the author.

Why?

Because in the prologue, the author reveals that

  • He cusses. I consider cussing to be a sign of lack of intelligence – and that cussing in writing, where you have time and opportunity to choose your words carefully, is a sign of lack of writing ability.
  • He is apocalyptic. He believes in anthropogenic global warming (I am skeptical about the “anthropogenic” part) – but I expected that. What I have a hard time tolerating (whether by environmentalists or by Christians) is apocalytic thinking: “The sky is falling, the sky is falling.” Glave writes: “You probably already know that global warming presents the single greatest threat to humanity in all of history and the most profound challenge we face as a civilization.” Let’s just say I don’t know that and I can think of much greater threats and much more profound challenges.
  • He’s an eco-consumer. He states he was predisposed against “Eco Chic” (buying cool new “green” things) – but then clearly buys into, well, buying things. My own brand of environmentalism is all about avoiding waste – and Glave already reveals that he’s drunk the consumer-mentality Koolaid.

The body of the book got a little more interesting (to me) because the author was talking about his building process, about building materials, about home positioning and insulation and window e-values. And since Daniel and I are in the process of building our own home, that sort of thing is interesting to me.

But even as the body of the book became more interesting, my dislike for Glave remained.

Why?

  • He makes excuses. He says that global warming presents “the single greatest threat to humanity in all of history”, but then he makes all sorts of excuses for why he can’t possibly do the things that he knows would be best for avoiding that threat (for instance, live in a smaller space.) Now, I know there are plenty of things I could do to be more green – and I’ve made choices that aren’t the greenest. But I don’t think the world is ending because of my choices. I’m not weighing “keeping my kids occupied with lots of plastic and electronics in a too-large house” versus “the end of humanity” and choosing keeping my kids occupied with lots of plastic and electronics in a too-large house.
  • He makes poor trade-offs. Okay, so Glave is committed to making his studio very eco-friendly – and that’s great. He knows that trade-offs will have to be made. Unfortunately, the trade-offs he makes are not pulling his weight with family finances (he was supposed to bring in a certain amount of business with his writing, but slacked on that as he became consumed with his building project) and spending money that he and his wife had budgeted for other things (telling his wife after the decision had already been made). In my opinion, a green studio isn’t worth that price. (But…but…we discover at the end that he has found himself! And surely, self-discovery is worth failing to provide for your family, going back on your word, and being silently deceptive with your wife. Surely!)
  • He’s a chronological snob. He claims that heritage-style homes (made with old-timey features) are the ruination of the earth, stating that “Victorians had different priorities” and implying that historical building is by nature non-green. But he obviously never bothered to study the history of architecture or why homes have been built the way they were in the past. Yes, olden-days homes didn’t have styrofoam insulation or double-pane argon-filled glass – but they were built with local (often sustainable) materials, were designed to maximize heat retention in the winter and coolness in the summer, and were generally designed on a much smaller scale than we build today. (Yes, we see the big houses that remain – but even those were often not as big as we think, especially once we calculate how many people were living in each of those big houses.)
  • He calls those of us who prefer to minimize waste (and avoid the consumer race) “sanctimonious” – as in, “the more sanctimonious greens love to crow about the energy and emissions that go into manufacturing a new vehicle.” And after he’s spent an entire book looking down on his neighbors, his father-in-law (who gave his family the SUV mentioned in the prologue), and pretty much everyone as being not as green as he is – that feels like a slap in the face.

No. I don’t recommend this book. I think the author is a jerk.

Rating: 1 star
Category: Green building Memoir
Synopsis: The author describes the process of building a “green” studio in his yard.
Recommendation: I don’t recommend this. The author is a jerk.

Categories Recap

Recap (2015.08.08)

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In my spirit:

  • Doing lots of crying over the mystery of salvation this week – as I read to Tirzah Mae from The Jesus Storybook Bible, as I listen to Keith Green’s “Prodigal Son Suite”, as I read Titus 3:4-7

In the living room:

  • This week’s busyness has meant I skipped exercise three days in a row! Oh my! But the important thing is to not let the break keep me from continuing on.
  • I’m reminded of God’s faithfulness, that even on the busiest of days, what needs to get done still manages to get done.
  • Friday night, we watched clips from the Republican primary debate – groan. I’m already ready for this election cycle to be over.

In the kitchen:

  • I continue to enjoy making quick breads with my sourdough starter – this week, it’s banana nut bread using last week’s leftover bananas and another version of lemon zucchini bread (this one with blueberries).
  • I made a roasted garlic white bean/chicken chili from Melissa d’Arabian’s Ten Dollar Dinners for dinner on Sunday, modifying it for the crockpot. I think I’ll make a few adjustments in the future, but it was generally a good recipe.
  • Fajitas are a fun meal and can be a pretty healthy option – especially if you choose corn tortillas (whole grain!), make your own seasoning for the meat (skip the salt!), use lots of peppers and onions (I like to use colored peppers in addition to green), and go light on the cheese and sour cream (Salsa, on the other hand? It’s vegetables!) We enjoyed some chicken fajitas and watermelon on Monday.
  • I made this Kielbasa, Pepper, Onion, and Potato Hash for supper after grocery shopping on Thursday – it was easy as promised, but seemed a little bland. We’ll probably try it again but maybe add some garlic and some cayenne pepper or something similar to add some oomph.
  • I love one-pot dinners and this One-pot Spicy Chicken Riggies is one we’ve enjoyed before. I use whole wheat pasta and serve it with veggies on the side. (You can also make it with half and half instead of heavy whipping cream and skip the butter to lighten it up a bit.)

In the nursery:

  • This week is a week for talking – Tirzah Mae’s been jabbering regularly throughout the day (as opposed to just a couple times a day) and thinks that trying to outvolume someone else while matching pitch is Hi.larious. Like, laugh out loud until you fall over hilarious. And then start again. (She might be her mother’s daughter :-P)

In the craft room:

  • We put together a bulletin board for Sunday School. That counts, right?

In the garden:

  • My tomatoes are ripening! We ate the first batch in BLTs for lunch today.
  • I didn’t check the garden for a day, and when I returned, there were enormous slicing-size cucumbers on my trellis (I grow the pickling sort) – yet they were delicious!

On the land:

  • We heard back from the appraiser – and the appraised value of the house once it’s built will be equal to the amount we’re paying to build it! We were a little worried since we’ll be paying extra to build an unfinished space above the house that can be later finished into a 16×35 foot school room.
  • We spent yesterday dismantling a shed so we’ll be ready to break ground as soon as the loan comes through.
Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: I’d Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper by Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile

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I’d Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper is a full-book expansion on a chapter by the same name in Ashworth and Nobile’s I Was a Really Good Mom before I had Kids. Since I enjoyed the former book and this happened to be the first book in my library’s Dewey Decimal system for 646.78 (a section I started reading with Gottman’s And Baby Makes Three), I figured I’d go ahead and see what this book had to say.

The authors continue their previous pattern of starting each chapter with a tongue-in-cheek quiz before addressing what they consider to be important issues in marriage. They then close out with practical steps women can take to improve their marriages in the given dimension. Call-out boxes sprinkled throughout share women’s “Dirty Little Secrets” or other anecdotes from women related to the given topic.

The title might give the impression that the authors consider marriage expendable – but this is not at all the case. They start (and finish) the book with the view that marriages are worth keeping and that a HAPPY marriage is something worth striving for – both for the sake of each party and for their children’s sake.

What the authors found, as they interviewed women across the country for this book and their previous one, is that many women rated their marital happiness around 5 or 6 on a scale of 1 to 10 – but when they were asked what they were doing to make it better, they were dumbfounded. Those that responded often replied that they figured their marriages would get happier when the kids were in school or out of the house or in some other stage than they were currently in.

Ashworth and Nobile don’t think that’s an acceptable answer – which is why they wrote I’d Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper to offer women suggestions for improving the happiness of their marriages right now.

Several of their main points for improving happiness in marriage overlap with their suggestions for improving happiness as a mother: having realistic expectations, communicating with your husband, prioritizing your relationship. Others are new – adjusting your attitude and investing in having a good sex life with your husband. In general, it’s good sound advice.

This book would be a good choice for those who enjoyed Ashworth and Nobile’s style from I was a Really Good Mom and who want to invest more in their marriage. (If you haven’t read I was a Really Good Mom, maybe you should check out my review.) I think there are probably other books that might give equally good advice – this isn’t unique in its advice, per se. But what makes this book stand out among marriage advice books is its readability and light-hearted tone, a tone which overwhelmed moms are likely to find more appealing than the clinical tone many marriage advice books take.

It’s valuable to note that this book is not Christian advice – which means it’s missing some biggies (Trusting God immediately comes to mind, see 1 Peter 3:5-6). It also means there are vulgar terms littered throughout (mostly in the interviews with other women) – and, as I cautioned with the previous book, many of the quotes from other women display distressingly poor attitudes towards their husbands. While Ashworth and Nobile’s advice is generally good, there is little worth emulating from any of the “real woman” anecdotes (The “I’d trade my husband for a housekeeper” is one of the tamer snippets from those real woman anecdotes.)

For the record, I wouldn’t dream of trading my husband for anyone or anything.

Rating: 3 stars
Category: Marriage Advice
Synopsis: Ashworth and Nobile help women learn to “love your marriage after the baby carriage”.
Recommendation: Generally good advice – and less clinical than many books on marriage, which makes it a lot easier to read when you’re in the trenches of motherhood

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: A busy schedule

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Thankful Thursday banner

I’ve wanted to skip Thankful Thursday all week now. Every time I’ve thought of what I might say over the past week, I’ve fallen into a doldrums. What have I to be thankful about busy, busy, busyness that makes me feel like I’m perpetually playing catch-up at home.

But then, finally, I realized what this busyness represents – people – and, for that, I can be very thankful.

This week I’m thankful…

…for crafting with a friend
It’s been several months since we last spent time together, so spending Saturday morning working on our respective projects while catching up on life was wonderful. I got some pompoms made, she got some quilt blocks sewn. And we visited. Nice.

…for fajitas with an out-of-town friend
He was coming back into town for a wedding and asked Daniel if he’d like to hang out sometime. Daniel thought Monday night, since I’d be gone at a meeting, would be a good time – and invited him to dinner beforehand. We had fajitas before I left for my meeting – and it was nice to hear what he’s been up to since he moved.

…for settling things
Our monday night meeting was for Sunday School, and our classroom team hammered out the teaching schedule and center schedule and all that. I don’t particularly like evening meetings – but it was wonderful to have some resolution about how we’ll be doing Sunday school this year.

…for old friends at Happy Food
Tirzah Mae’s birthday buddy, who was born on Tirzah Mae’s due date, moved away a couple months ago – but her family was back in town for a wedding and came to our Tuesday Night dinner club. The two children tentatively interacted with one another and the two mothers compared notes. And it was tremendous fun.

…for friendly faces at church
None of our team particularly wanted to put up a bulletin board before the Sunday School “Meet the Teacher” event this next Sunday – but I had an idea and I’m at home all day with Tirzah Mae, so I had the time (right?) I volunteered to put up the board. Tirzah Mae and I went out yesterday to assemble things – and Tirzah Mae got held by, well, everyone in the office :-) And, as we went from resource room to resource room, we ran into a friend, setting up her own classroom, along with her three children. She told me that the kids had just been telling her “Remember when we went to Barn’rds and met Rebekah and Tirzah Mae? I’m so glad we did.” Awww. The five-year-old opened the elevator doors for us (Tirzah Mae was in her stroller) and told me that we should come over again – and maybe spend the night :-) I agreed that we’ll plan on spending some time together soon – but that we probably needed to sleep at our own house!

…for friends with skills
A friend of ours, a realtor, is coming to look at the house this evening to give us recommendations for whether/what we should fix/improve before we put it on the market. It’s nice having a friend who we can trust who’ll give us advice (even though it’ll be a while before we’ll actually be putting the house on the market – probably. maybe.)

…for the promise of new friendships
We’ve been trying to get together since our Bradley method childbirth prep reunion in January. But life as a brand-new mom (or, in her case, as a newly-minted mother of two) is busy and we’ve gone back and forth with emails but haven’t set a date. Except now we have one – and Tirzah Mae and I are so looking forward to spending time tomorrow with our new friends.

What have I to be thankful for when life is busy?

I am ashamed for this week’s attitude. All my fussing over feeling rushed at home. The busyness of this week is because we have friends. We have people we love and who love us. And that is something worth thanking God for.

Thank you, Lord, for the many people who make our lives rich and full. Forgive me for valuing my processes over people, for complaining when these gifts interrupt my routine. May I ever rejoice in your good gifts, holding my plans loosely and embracing people tightly.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: The Lion’s World by Rowan Williams

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Why did C.S. Lewis write The Chronicles of Narnia?

Some praise Lewis’s “Christian allegory”, while others rage against the heavy handed allegory – Polly Toynbee of the Guardian writes that “Narnia represents everything that is most hateful about religion” and quotes Philip Pullman saying that Narnia is “one of the most ugly, poisonous things I have ever read.” (Her critical column can be found here).

But C.S. Lewis made it clear that Narnia was not intended allegorically – although he did have a purpose in writing Narnia, a purpose Toynbee quotes as to “make it easier for children to accept Christianity when they met it later in life”.

In The Lion’s World, Rowan Williams expands upon Lewis’s stated purpose, suggesting that “Lewis is trying to recreate for the reader what it is like to encounter and believe in God.” It’s a fascinating suggestion, and one that Williams backs up rather credibly with various arguments.

But The Lion’s World is not a book of arguments. Instead, it is more like sitting down for book club with one of the smartest and most widely read persons of your acquaintance and listening with fascinated interest as he gives his thoughts. And lest you think smartest and most widely read equals most pompous, let me quickly dissuade you of that idea. Williams is humble and approachable as well.

I didn’t take notes as I read, didn’t flag paragraphs, didn’t file things away for comment in my review. I just read, delighting as Williams danced from theme to theme, bringing up things I’d felt but not put together as I read the Chronicles.

Williams does not accept Lewis’s theology unquestioningly, he occasionally notes a tricky theological or cultural comment or a clunky bit of prose. But The Lion’s World doesn’t exist either as an apologetic or as a critic of the Chronicles or of Lewis – it is written as a conversation from one Chronicles enthusiast to another.

It was a pleasure to read. And, at just 144 gift-book-sized pages, it was an easy read too.

Rating: 4 stars
Category: Commentary on the Chronicles of Narnia
Synopsis: Rowan Williams discusses a number of themes he sees throughout the Chronicles of Narnia.
Recommendation: Fans of the Chronicles will likely find this book enjoyable.

Categories Book Notes

There is no land called Narnia

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I was shocked, in rereading The Silver Chair for this year’s Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge, to realize how much I’d forgotten from this book. It’s never been one of my favorite of the series, but I’ve still read it at least a dozen times. So why had I forgotten so much?

One scene, though, that I could not at all forget, is the scene where the Lady of the Green Kirtle aka the Queen of the Underworld returns to her throne room to find Prince Rillian free from his chair and in his right mind.

She throws some powder on the fire, filling the room with a sickeningly sweet aroma. She begins thrumming a mandolin with a repetitive, mind-numbing thrum. And at last she speaks:

“Narnia?” she said. “Narnia? I have often heard your Lordship utter that name in your ravings. Dear Prince, you are very sick. There is no land called Narnia.”

The Prince, Puddleglum, Eustace, and Jill all try to counter the sweet smell, the repetitive thrumming, the queen’s patronizing derision. There is a Narnia, they say. They’ve been there. But the queen’s questioning makes clear she thinks it all a childish game, a dream. Since they describe Narnia in terms of what she knows, in terms of the Underworld, she presumes that they are only looking at her world and dreaming of something bigger and better.

Eventually, between the mind-fogging effects of the music and the odor and the scorn of the woman, all the travelers begin to relent.

“No, there never was a sun,” said the Prince, and the Marshwiggle, and the children.

In this scene, Lewis has the witch play the role of the Enlightenment scholar, who declares no need for god now that reason is king. Once upon a time, people needed to create myths of gods to explain their world – but now that we have science to explain, we need no God.

And here Lewis makes one of his most compelling arguments for the existence of God: joy. And the seemingly joyless Marshwiggle is the one to make it.

“One word, Ma’am,” he said… “One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder….So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things – trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones….And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play-world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.”

You see, science might be able to explain a lot about how this world works – but it doesn’t explain the unfulfilled longing for joy that rests in each human heart. It doesn’t explain the hunger that every experience in this world serves only to deepen. A purely naturalistic world would ultimately have us all as nihilists – since we are mere pawns of impersonal natural forces.

One must say that, if religion is a story, it is a much better story than the one naturalism tells. And if there is no heaven, at least the tale of heaven goes further to quench our forever longing than does the naturalistic story of death.

If this be a game, it’s a play-world which licks your real world hollow.

As C.S. Lewis said in prose:

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So even if there is no Narnia, I shall live like a Narnian.

I choose joy.

Categories Book Notes, Following Christ

Down from the mountain

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When I was in high school, our youth group talked about “mountaintop experiences”.

Mountaintop experiences were when we had some sort of emotional experience with God or His word, usually at a camp or other special event. We would get all hyped up about one thing or another – evangelism, personal holiness, being in the word, whatever.

I don’t remember if we had any direct teaching on the Biblical basis for the term, but it hearkened to Moses on the mountaintop receiving revelation from the Lord or to Peter and James and John seeing Christ transfigured on the mountain. Away from people on the mountaintop, each of these had very special encounters with God.

And each of these ran into difficulties when they returned from the mountaintop to face everday life. Moses found the camp worshipping a golden calf. The disciples came down to discover their compatriots unable to cast out a demon.

We were given warnings about life off the mountaintop. We were warned that we’d come home from camp only to be tempted to get into a fight with our parents. And, amazingly enough, the warnings were usually right. It was a lot harder to be obedient, to be in the Word, to tell others about Christ once we were back in everyday life, once we had to clean our rooms and do our homework and get along with our siblings.

I was struck, as I re-read The Silver Chair last month for the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge, that Lewis describes a mountaintop experience as well – and describes the difficulty of coming down from the mountain.

Jill meets Aslan on a vast plateau that sits high, high, high above the land of Narnia. She receives a task from Aslan: to find the lost prince of Narnia. And she receives four signs by which to complete the task.

Before Aslan blows Jill off the mountaintop to meet Eustace, he gives her a last warning – a warning about life off the mountaintop.

“Stand still. In a moment I will blow. But, first, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters. And now, daughter of Eve, farewell — “

Aslan gives two instructions on leaving the mountaintop, but they are really one.

“Remember, remember, remember,” Aslan said. Lewis has Aslan almost quote the words following the Hebrew shema in Deuteronomy 6:

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

~Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (ESV)

Aslan was telling Jill that she needed to remember what he had spoken. She needed to repeat his words to herself multiple times a day. She needed to return to his word again and again and again.

“Let nothing turn your mind”, Aslan said. He was telling Jill that she needed to purpose to be obedient to Aslan’s word. What’s more, she needed to keep on purposing to do Aslan’s word, whatever the inducements otherwise.

“Take great care that it does not confuse your mind,” Aslan said. He was telling Jill that she needed to guard against distraction. I am reminded first of Titus 3:9 (I’m in Titus now, so that’s on my mind quite a bit), where Paul warns the Cretans: “But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” When Jill told bits of their quest to the lady of the green kirtle, she laughed them off with what seemed like enlightened words, dismissing Aslan’s words as myths. Eventually, under the power of the lady’s smoke, she would make Jill and her companions doubt that life above the ground even exists. Confusion was everywhere – but Jill needed to guard against distractions from her purpose – and from what Aslan had said.

“Pay no attention to appearances,” Aslan said. He was telling Jill that she needed to value Aslan’s word above her interpretation. How easy would it have been for Jill to have paraphrased the third sign “You shall find a writing on a stone in that ruined city, and you must do what the writing tells you” as “Follow the directions on the stone sign”? Very easy, I think. And when she saw the words “Under me” inscribed on the stone? She would have been looking for a stone sign, not writing carved on the stone underfoot. She could have missed (and nearly did miss) what Aslan had directed if she’d allowed herself to fixate on her interpretation of the sign rather than the sign itself. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day did exactly that, fixating on what they thought the Messiah was supposed to be and missing the Messiah when He came. “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40 ESV)

Lewis’s advice, given by the mouth of Aslan, is good advice, I think, for those of us who live on this side of divine revelation. We have the signs, they are written in the Scriptures. But as we live our busy lives, if we are to live out the purposes for which God has called us, we must:

  • Remember what God has spoken
  • Purpose to be obedient to what God has spoken
  • Guard against distractions
  • Value God’s word above our interpretations

If we do these four things, I think we will avoid many of the traps that lie in store for us in this world down from the mountain.