Sunshine Days
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September started out with lots of sickness & that slowed out progress on getting into the school routine. Around the middle of the month, we took a family trip to the Hudson River Valley of New York. We saw Franklin Roosevelt's Presidential library, toured West Point, & so much more. It was a great time to focus on family, but I did manage to squeeze in a little reading by the campfire.
While I understand much of the religious mindset that this author is writing from & agree with much of the problems that he identifies in how American society views parenting, I don't wholeheartedly subscribe to all of his conclusions. Starting from the "travel team trap" & working through "family-friendly feminism," Carney has done lots of research on these topics. He includes some casual conversations he's had with everyone from orthodox Jews living in Jerusalem to bartenders in a college town to college professors. From this wide array of people came a sundry of opinions. The author seems to go back & forth between pleading with government entities to intervene on the rapidly falling birth rate to berating religious groups for not creating systems where families are better cared for in their communities. I totally get the author's frustrations with how American society views & deals with kids, but no one can hope to solve all those problems in just one book.
If you're around my age & either homeschool or have researched ways to remove the bad chemicals from your home, Instagram might have pushed a video from Really Very Crunchy your way. In case you haven't seen one, the videos usually involve Emily & her husband poking fun at their "crunchy" lifestyle. In this book, Emily does what many have done before. She shares lots of tips & tricks for lowering your family's carbon footprint, lessen the amount of toxins coming in contact with your family, & understand the reasoning behind some of these shifts. What makes this book better than the rest in this space is that Emily weaves plenty of grace into her writing. She reminds her readers that stress & anxiety are just as unhealthy as some of the toxins we're trying to avoid. She ends each chapter with levels of "crunchiness" in an attempt to meet the readers where they are without shame or judgement. It's also full of the lighthearted humor & wit that have made her account one of the most popular on the "crunchy" side of the internet.
I felt a little awkward carrying this book around to read during kids activities, imagining what people must think when they see the title. However, it's such a good message to point us back to the Gospel. As a human being, my biggest problem is my sin. I'm born into it & can do nothing to fix the root problem & would not choose to do the right thing if it was up to me alone. The Calvinist like to call this "total depravity." Scarlet candidly (& sometimes embarrassingly) details her own journey to recognizing her absolute lack of "having it together" in different areas of her life. Then, she gladly shares how God's grace reached down & pulled her up out of those pits. Far from claiming perfection, she points instead to Christ's perfection. The good news of the Gospel meets our biggest need. We have a Savior who lived a perfect life yet suffered the punishment for our sin so that we could be called righteous in Him. The Holy Spirit empowers us to grow & remember what Jesus did for us. Any book that has such a strong Gospel focus is a favorite for me!
If I have learned anything from being a parent (& I'm such an amateur at this job), it is that frequent, frank discussions of hard topics are part of discipling your kids. This book does a wonderful job of walking through the various topics that kids face today as they go to school, interact with media, & spend time with friends. The "truths" that our world holds to seem to change rapidly, but the Truth of God's Word remains the same. The Gospel meets us at every turn. When we start with the Truth that God is the Creator & that He created all human beings in His image, we can start from a firm foundation. We can teach our kids that all people deserve to know the Love of God. We can teach them how & why God instituted marriage & why any variation from it (adultery, fornication, pornography, abuse, homosexuality) breaks from His intention. While we might encounter many people with a variety of opinions on issues, we can always go back to what He says. This author does a beautiful job of weaving her own parenting struggles into her discussions & always points back to the Gospel Truth. While this isn't the only resource you need on this topic, it is a great one to have as you navigate this topsy-turvy world with love & grace.
Based in Oman, this novel follows the stories of 3 sisters & the people that surround them & their journey between tradition, love, motherhood, & much more. It's helpful to read about cultures that are far-removed from my own, especially ones that don't show up very often in the history books or in world news. It helps me understand some of the history & culture of a whole group of human beings that I didn't even know. I really appreciate that aspect of this book. The story was hard to follow at times because there are so many characters! But the stories are each unique & show their own facet of Omani life. While not my favorite book, it had a lot to teach in its own way.
These are the days to curl up & enjoy a good book! I hope all of my fellow book lovers are finding some time to chip away at their TBR pile. Let me know what you've read recently!
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