Sunshine Days
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April! Started off a bit busier than usual but ended with the beautiful warm weather that we crave so much in New England! As usual, nothing is blooming in my yard yet, but I'm enjoying seeing the flowers in everyone else's gardens. And I just came in from planting a few seeds that will *hopefully* be blooming this summer.
Reading was pretty full this month & next month will look fuller because we will finish school & a few of our books we're reading for that.
This is the one this month. It should be required reading. I've been aware of Dr. Gray for a while, but I had not taken the time to read any of his books. Then, I saw the below clip of an interview between Gray and N.T. Wright, a leading Biblical scholar. To see these 2 fellow believers sitting down and talking about the importance of this book was enough to convince me to give it a try. The book is full of encouragement to create authentic connections with people around you that allow for you to share your faith in those ordinary interactions. Allow people to get close to you so that they can see the difference Christ makes in your life & how He can transform theirs as well.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book.
"When you have inhaled God's grace, sharing your faith becomes a spiritual exhale."
"The church should be a missionary training center, not a country club for the saved."
Rebecca McLaughlin has such an amazing way of making connections in the Gospels that I have never heard before. After reading Confronting Christianity, this one is a bit of a different angle, but it is just as helpful. Apologetics is probably one of those neglected areas in many of our Christian walks. This book is short enough & simple enough to read in the small moments you might be able to snag throughout the day. The truths are so foundational and helpful to have fresh in our minds.
I read this book on a whim based on a random recommendation on Instagram. It wasn't even an account that I follow, but it was just a person stopping people on the street & asking for a book recommendation. A guy said he was reading this one with his kids, so I looked it up as a possible read aloud with my kids. It was yet another dystopian juvenile novel, but I still wanted to give it a chance. Ember is a city that is underground. "The Builders" designed it and set out instructions for how everything should be run. But food is running low, the blackouts are becoming more frequent, and the people are failing to thrive in this subterranean environment. Lina and Doon are just starting their designated careers when they find a connection over their curiosity about what is beyond Ember. It's a series, so I will tell you when I read the next one!
I was given this book by an administrator at our church's school. He had an extra copy & he felt so strongly about its message that he wanted to pass it along to the school board members. I read it quickly & passed it along to the next person, but it had some fairly interesting points that I see applying to parenting & homeschooling, too. One of the main ones was that teachers tend to speak in a way that implies ownership of the classroom or work. "You owe me an essay tomorrow." Instead, Anderson advocates a rephrasing. "You have an essay due tomorrow. If you have questions, I will be in my classroom throughout the day. Feel free to come in and ask." This phrasing puts the ownership of the work on the student. They have to take responsibility for the success of their essay. Some other helpful strategies talk about other facets of tone, demeanor, phrasing. Probably doesn't need to be a whole book, and perhaps there are better resources that encompass broader collections of strategies.
The title sounds a little extreme--like it's written from a ultra-conservative, "shelter your kids from everything" approach. I assure you that it approaches from a much more balanced point of view than that. The book doesn't espouse an unhealthy, controlling sort of parenting approach. Instead, it encourages parents to form and maintain healthy attachment relationships with their kids. Why? Because a parent is where the child receives unconditional love. An anchor when life gets rough. If they are more peer-oriented from too early an age, they are unlikely to be met with that same steadying influence as they grow and mature. As we nurture this parent-child attachment, we set them up to go out to make friends on more healthy terms. They will know who they are before friendships form and will be reminded of their identity as those friendships grow and change. It's all the more important as they are growing up in a digital world. They need to know what authentic connection looks like as opposed to the faux connections they make through social media and video games and all the other media they will encounter. Although this book doesn't go to the extremes that maybe some conservative groups would take these ideas, the authors do acknowledge that this is a somewhat counter-cultural idea and might lead to doing things differently than other parents in your community. But our kids are worth this extra effort!
The second book in the Book of Ember series, this one picks up right where the first one left off. New characters are introduced and more history is given of what made the "Builders" make the underground city of the first book. I won't give away too much in case you want to read it with your kids, but it is definitely an enjoyable follow-up to the first book.
Another book by this author, I read this as part of a book study with ladies at my church. And then, Rebecca came to speak at our ladies conference and taught through much of the chapters here (from memory with no notes). So many great insights! I have never taken time to study the Gospels with this much care, especially not looking at the stories involving women. If you've ever wondered if women mattered to Christ, you will not have any doubt after reading this book. Christ elevated women. He championed their right to sit at His feet as disciples. He dignified those who hovered on the fringes of society. He cared for them, healing them & their loved ones. He spoke with them, revealing incredible theological truths to them! I highly recommend it.
I have been hesitant about this book. I mean one of the main characters is an octopus. After finally giving it a try, I can say that Marcellus the octopus is probably the most compelling of the characters. Tova, the aquarium cleaning lady, is second, but her actions at times are seemingly random like the author didn't have the time to flesh her out. Cameron is a man-child who whines & complains, & some of his actions didn't seem to make sense for a 30-something-year-old person. Despite all of that, it's ultimately a sweet story & I think I saw that it's this author's debut. So, maybe the next one will have some more depth to it.
What an interesting book! Having followed the Charlotte Mason set of ideas & the 1000 hours outside movement, I have long been a believer in the benefits of unstructured, outdoor play for kids. The author here takes time to lament the bygone days when kids would explore the outdoors without adult supervision or build shelters in the woods or take time to study the natural world around them. While many factors go into why we lost this element of childhood, we are seeing the consequences of the deficit in academics, behavior, mental health, & more. The good news is that there are many ways to go about redeeming the lost wonders of nature. On a small scale, you can start in your own family by getting to know the nature in your own yard. What plants, birds, weather patterns, constellations can you observe? Adding just a little more curiosity about the world around us can be helpful & healing for our kids & ourselves!
Lit Up with Love was definitely my favorite this month. I hope you will add it to your TBR pile!
What books would you recommend that you've recently read?
Cheering you on!
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