4 hours ago
Church music has long been an area of interest for me.
I grew up in a picturesque little church complete with a white steeple and bell, on a plain surrounded by mountains, and every Sunday we sang hymns. Having that kind of foundational experience with the great hymns of the faith gave me a very strong appreciation of songs with theologically deep - not just theologically correct, but deep - lyrics. I still love hymns very much, for a multitude of reasons. One reason is that songs that have stood the test of time, not just decades but centuries, tie us to believers throughout all that history until now.
That said, I'm not one to eschew good modern music either. If a modern song is theologically correct and rich (a rarity, unfortunately), I'm apt to love it just as much as my old hymns.
Unfortunately, the challenge with any worship music, new or old, is to make a good judgement about whether this song is rightly praising God, or if it's subtly "me-centered" or praising man. It can get very tricky, and I'll admit that I'm pretty picky about the songs that make it onto my personal list of favorites.
With the challenge of finding Christian music that is sound and has the right focus, I started to wonder, why isn't Psalm-singing more common these days? The Psalms are, after all, songs. If God gave us a songbook right there in the middle of the Bible, why don't we sing them more?
I have personally never been in a church that sang Psalms, and when I realized that, it started to trouble me. There are some that think only Psalms should be sung in church - I'm not of that persuasion, but shouldn't we at least include the Psalms in the musical rotation? Why wouldn't we?
There are a many reasons why a lot of denominations might not sing the Psalms anymore, and I'm not sure I'm completely equipped to give a good summary of that right now. But the more I thought about it, the more I determined that though we might not sing Psalms in church much, that didn't mean we couldn't learn to sing them ourselves. So this year I've been working pretty hard, reading books, trying to figure out how to do just that.
I will write a separate post about how we've started to add some Psalms to our repertoire, but first I wanted to give a few reasons why Psalm-singing is something worth doing - including within your own family.
1. The Psalms are God's songbook.
As I mentioned above, there is no other songbook anywhere that can be rightly described as inspired by the Holy Spirit Himself. All Scripture is God-breathed, and that includes the Psalms. When we sing the Psalms, we are singing God's very words back to Him, and there is something very beautiful in that.
2. When we sing the Psalms, we can be sure we are singing theologically correct songs.
You don't have to analyze the Psalms before you sing them to look for errors or a wrong focus - God gave us these songs to sing from His Word. As long as the Psalm hasn't been "adapted" beyond recognition, there is alot of peace in knowing we are singing Scripture.
3. The Psalms connect us to believers in the Old and New Testaments.
Just as I love hymns in part because I know so many believers have sung those very words before me, the Psalms connect us even more with believers through the ages. The Israelites sang these very songs, Jesus likely sang Psalms with His disciples, the early church sang psalms. It's very inspiring to think we are singing the same praises to God that have been sung through so many ages.
4. I believe Scripture tells us to sing Psalms.
I recognize some people will differ with me on this, but I think Ephesians 5:19 indicates that we should keep singing the Psalms. Paul says:
"...speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord..."
I know many people say that this verse is just referring to different types of music, but I really don't see why the word "psalms" wouldn't mean the psalms of Scripture.
5. Singing Psalms is an effective way to memorize Scripture.
No other book of the Bible has been put to music as much as the Psalms have, and this gives us a prime opportunity to take God's Word and hide it in our hearts! Not every Psalm song is a word-for-word adaptation, of course, but even if it's not word-for-word, a faithful adaptation will get the ideas of the Psalms embedded into your mind.
5. The Psalms are formative.
If you get an opportunity to read Scott Aniol's book Musing On God's Music, I highly recommend it. In it, he points out that the Psalms aren't just empty words - when we read and sing them, they are forming us as Christians. The Psalms are a cohesive book about what it means to live as a believer in a fallen world, until Christ comes to earth as King and reigns forever and ever.
Psalms show us how to respond when we are attacked and persecuted, when we are hopeless, when we sin, when we are needy, when we are full of joy, when we prosper. They rightly order our affections, and train us to respond in a godly way no matter what life brings to us. And they show us how to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord through every bit of it. Why would we not take advantage of this beautiful gift God has given us in the Psalms by learning to sing them from our hearts, until we see Him face-to-face?
I hope I've convinced you to at least consider learning to sing the Psalms if you never have before. I can tell you it's been a beautiful thing to start learning different Psalms with my kids through singing them together. Hearing their little voices singing the songs God gave us is so moving, and I know the words are being absorbed into their hearts while we sing. Since I've started this process, snatches of Psalms have also come to me in the form of a melody playing through my mind, and it's been an encouragement whenever I think of one of our Psalm songs. I know that learning the Psalms through song is going to be an effort that will be well worth it when I look back at how we spent out time together someday.
Another post coming soon on how to go about learning to sing Psalm songs when you are not very musically gifted, like me!
Have you ever sang the Psalms? Does your church use a Psalter?
I'm always interested to hear other people's experiences with Psalm-singing.
Fall is my favorite time of year, as it is for so many people, and I'm surprised that it took me so long to assemble a list of our favorite autumn picture books. These books all capture different aspects of fall, or just have an autumnal vibe!
We are a little picky about fall picture books. It has to have a bit of a nostalgic or cozy factor to make the list. I also didn't include books that have too much of a focus on Halloween, since we don't celebrate Halloween in our family - most of these books don't have an allusion to Halloween at all, and if they do it's very brief and I tried to make a note of it. As a result, this is truly a list that focuses on the season of fall and not any particular holiday!
If you want to expand this list a bit, I also have a list of Thanksgiving picture books that we love as well!
Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak - A beautiful picture book about the transition from summer to fall. This whole series is lovely for the changing seasons.
The Turnip by Jan Brett - This is the story of a particularly huge turnip, and how the animals must get it out of the ground before it snows. This story was fun, and really captures that transition period between harvest and winter.
Autumn Story by Jill Barklem - I love all the Brambly Hedge books for each season! In this one, Primrose goes wandering in the woods, gets lost in some hidden tunnels, and is finally found by her parents and friends. The cozy illustrations really make these books.
The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown - This is a funny story about a scarecrow boy that wants to go work with his dad, but his dad doesn't think he's ready...until he sneaks out one day to scare some crows on his own!
The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson - Using repetition and simple monochromatic illustrations this book tells the story of an apple pie being baked and shared. This would be a cute one to read before actually baking an apple pie!
The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall - All about the process of growing apples and making apple pies. I associate apple pies especially with the fall, and this would be another book to add for an apple pie theme.
County Fair inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder - This is part of a picture book series related to the Little House On The Prairie books. In this volume, Almanzo's pumpkin is contender in the county fair.
The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Diane Arnold - Based on a true story of a sheep farmer who beat out a bunch of younger contestants in a long-distance race in Australia...by eating pumpkins! I don't know if the pumpkin part is true or not, but the pumpkins make this a delightful book for fall nevertheless.
The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger - A yellow leaf desperately holds on to its branch, afraid to let go, until he finally finds a friend to make the jump with him. Very sweet story.
The Berenstain Bears Harvest Festival by Mike Berenstain - The Berenstain Bears are classics, and this is a particularly cute one as the family goes to a harvest festival and then talks about all the blessings God sends us in the fall.
Johnny Appleseed: A Tall Tale Retold by Steven Kellogg - This is our favorite book version of the story of Johnny Appleseed, a frontiersman who planted many apple tress in the Ohio wilderness, and how his legend grew. The illustrations are fun, and it ends on a perfect note for a tall tale.
Hooray For Fall by Kazuo Iwamura - Mick, Mack, and Molly, adventurous squirrel children, are back in this cute fall adventure in their brand-new red sweaters, knitted by their mother! They explore the woods and make note of all the fall changes. We like all the books in this series.
Bear Has A Story To Tell by Philip C. Stead - Bear has a story to tell, but everyone is getting ready to hibernate for the winter and can't listen. Maybe he'll finally get to tell them when they wake up in the spring - if he can remember it!
Fletcher And The Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson - Fletcher notices the leaves are falling off his favorite tree, and he desperately tries to prevent them from leaving. Dejected, he realizes he can't stop the leaves from falling...but then something beautiful comes to take their place. This book is sweet and poignant, and my kids love all of Fletcher's adventures.
Little Tree by Loren Long - In this book, a little tree holds onto his leaves too long, until he realizes he'll never grow unless he lets them book. A beautiful story and touching message.
Lawrence In The Fall by Matthew Farina - Lawrence doesn't have a collection to bring for show and tell at his school, until his dad takes him on an adventure in the woods. He finds a beautiful leaf collection to share with his classmates.
The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri - All the animals want a squirrel to join them in their fun, but Squirrel is too busy getting ready for winter. This would be a fun story to start explaining hibernation for small children. The illustrations are also bright and fun!
Fall Leaves by Loretta Holland - This book explains all the changes we see in nature as fall approaches, in the middle of the season, and as it starts to come to an end. The illustrations in this one are also so luminous and pretty!
Count Down To Fall by Fran Hawk - This book is probably one of my personal favorites for fall - I love the woodland illustrations. The book is written in verse as we explore the way many different kinds of leaves change in autumn, and they even include aspen trees, which are my personal favorite.
Sophie's Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller and Anne Wilsdorf - Sophie finds a perfect squash, and starts treating it like a doll and taking it with her everywhere. Her parents try to convince her to give it up, but she won't until it starts to get soft and squishy - then she tucks it into a warm dirt blanket until it greets her again in the spring. I was amused by this book as a parent - you know it was written because some child somewhere really did become attached to a squash!
Pumpkin Day At The Zoo by Susan Meissner - All the zoo animals get a pumpkin treat in this colorful book! The illustrations in this one are delightful, and I love that it's written in verse.
Tractor Mac: Autumn Is Here by Billy Steers - Fergus, a new calf on the farm, starts to become afraid when everything starts to change in the fall - until he finds out the reasons why and experiences all the fun autumn can bring! I included this one especially because of the illustrations - they are so bright and cheerful and perfect to get in the mood for fall fun.
A Fall Ball For All by Jamie A. Swenson - A gorgeous picture book - the art really makes this one for me. Forest animals all gather to enjoy an autumn windfall "ball".
How Many Seeds In A Pumpkin by Margaret Macnamara - A class of children make guesses about which pumpkin holds the most seeds - and find out that size is only one factor for how many seeds a pumpkin makes. This book is also a great opportunity for a math tie-in with skip counting and multiplication.
The Scarecrow's Dance by Jane Yolen - The illustrations in this book are moody and almost creepy, but the story is cute - a scarecrow gets blown off his stake and dances down the corn rows. Then he hears a sweet prayer from a child, asking for blessing on the scarecrow in the field so they can get a good corn harvest - and the scarecrow realizes the best place he can be is right where he was all along.
Too Many Turkeys by Linda White - A really fun book about a couple who keeps a turkey...but then have trouble as all the turkeys of the forest are drawn to their yard. Fred gives away their gardening secret to the neighbors to solve their turkey problem!
Sweater Weather by Matt Phelan - This is a book of very few words, but the quirky illustrations of a rambunctious bear family were very relatable to us as a large family!
Peepers by Eve Bunting - Two boys help their dad with his leaf touring business, and make fun of the leaf "peepers" behind their backs...until the end, when they realize they sound an awful lot like the peepers as they enjoy the beauty of early winter. My kids laughed at this one. We all related to it since we live in an area with alot of "peepers"...and we sound like them when going on leaf excursions too! One mention of Halloween in this one.
When Fall Comes by Aimee M. Bissonette - This picture book is really beautiful, and explores the way animals - and people - prepare for fall and winter.
In The Middle Of Fall by Kevin Henkes - I really like this book for the younger crowd - bold illustrations, and simple text about all the colors of fall and the transition to winter.
Knight Owl by Christopher Denise - This book isn't specifically related to autumn, but to me it had a fall vibe. An owl applies to be a knight, and to his surprise is accepted! He becomes a night watchman, and uses his courage and wits to befriend the dragon that has been gobbling other knights up. Really cute book overall.
Sleep Tight Farm by Eugenie Doyle - A lovely picture book about all the ways a farm might need to get ready for winter. There are a lot of things related to harvest in this book, which is why I'm including it in the fall list, but it could be great for early winter too.
Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hill - This book shows how a family in the 1800s might have worked to support themselves throughout the year - then the man takes a trip to the market in the fall to sell their produce and trade for wares to last them through the next year.
Earl The Squirrel by Don Freeman - The kids and I enjoy this story of a little squirrel who accepts too many gifts from a little girl, until his mother insists he start working to gather his own acorns. The illustrations are really retro and cute!
Miss Suzy by Miriam Young - Another squirrel story! Miss Suzy loses her cozy home and is rescued by a band of toy soldiers. This is an adorable story with a fall feel to it.
A Fall Treasury Of Recipes, Crafts, and Wisdom by Angela Fererro-Fanning - This is a very kid-friendly craft and recipe idea book. We didn't read straight through it, but we flipped through for ideas, and I loved the cute illustrations too!
The kids remembered a couple books recently that I didn't get from our library this year, so I may very well be adding to this list in the future!
For a printable version of this list, click here!
Bonus Books!
These are books that I'm adding to this list as I find them - eventually I will add them to the printable, but for now, here they are.
The High Hills by Jill Barklem - Part of the Brambly Hedge series, this story follows Wilfred and Mr. Apple as they get lost high on a mountain and are forced to spend the night. As always, the illustrations are adorable, and the ones in this book made me think of late fall.
Otis And The Scarecrow by Loren Long - Otis the tractor plays fall games with his friends, but they can never get the scarecrow to do anything except give a grumpy face. But that doesn't stop Otis from making sure the scarecrow isn't lonely during a rainstorm. Sweet book about friendship. One mention of jack o'lanterns.
The Scarecrow by Beth Ferry - This was a precious story about a lonely scarecrow who makes friends with a crow. It's written in verse, and the illustrations are lovely!
You probably read that title and immediately thought about Confessions Of A Shopaholic, didn't you? When I think of that movie, I think of that scene where Rebecca Bloomwood is sitting among a pile of shopping bags after a spree of uncontrolled, compulsive spending. I think of the scene where she tries to buy the scarf with maxed-out credit cards, and runs over to a hot dog stand to get enough cash to finish her transaction. I think of her selling everything she owns to pay off her ridiculous credit card debt.
But there are other ways that purchasing new things can take on an undue importance in a person's life. Perhaps it won't involve mountains of shopping bags and credit card debt, but subtler ways that it disrupts someone's priorities. Small ways it can lead to disordered loves.
Now, I had been thinking about doing a no-buy project for a long time, but not very seriously. I recognized a long time ago that I sometimes use shopping as a self-soothing habit...if I'm having a particularly difficult month, it's more likely I'll end up buying something I wasn't really planning. After my fifth baby was born, I really wanted to do a no-buy project, but I knew realistically it was a silly time to attempt something like that. My body had changed alot, and sometime while I was pregnant the styles drastically changed as well. I needed clothes that fit me, and I knew I was going to truly need to make some purchases to update some things in my wardrobe. So I didn't do it then.
But when I watched that video last month, everything she said really resonated with me. And I thought, Why not try a no-buy project now? I wanted to share a few reasons that I decided to finally jump in.
1. I would like to spend less money.
Lest you get the wrong idea, no, I don't have any credit card debt. I don't buy things if we don't have the money to pay for it. Shopping is not some sort of compulsive addiction for me in that way. I'm judicious in the prices I'm willing to pay for something, I have alot of frugal habits, I get alot of good deals. I don't overdo it financially.
However, I know if I reined in those few areas where I am personally tempted to purchase too much (clothes, books, housewares), I could save us a good amount of money, and use that money for other things that mean more. I'm excited to see how this experiment will alter my budget.
2. I would like to be more intentional with my spending habits.
This is how my shopping usually goes: I go through pretty decent chunks of time where I don't buy much at all. Maybe I'm more aware of my budget or have a savings goal, maybe I have just cleaned out my closet and remember that I have too many clothes already, maybe I just feel generally satisfied with what I have for a while.
But then inevitably, after a few months, I'll get a bit of a shopping bug, and I'll spend a chunk of money all at once. Usually this bug hits me at the beginning of a new season, when I want to update my house or wardrobe for the changing weather. It's almost become a habit for me to expect to buy a few things before a season change.
I don't like that I have this habit formed to the point where I start to feel dissatisfied with what I own, like clockwork, as a new season arrives, and I start to think I need to "update" things. This is not intentional decision, it's subconscious, and I don't like having something subconscious controlling my spending habits that way.
I want to become very thoughtful and intentional about buying things that will truly add to my wardrobe and home, instead of buying because of some subconscious urge to "freshen things up". This is part of the internal awareness I need to develop surrounding shopping. I think doing a no-buy year will help me learn about when and why I feel that urge to get something new, so I can be more intentional in the future.
3. I want to be more aware of, and learn to resist, marketing schemes.
Companies have fine-tuned the science of getting consumers to buy, with a multitude of psychological tricks. While I am decently aware of when I am falling for those tricks, I want to learn to see them with my eyes even more wide open, and become more proficient at resisting them! If the previous point is learning to develop awareness of my own patterns and temptations, this will be learning to recognize temptations from without, and learn how to overcome those.
4. I want to fine-tune my style.
I think I have a pretty good sense of my style already, and I do enjoy experimenting with my style sometimes (and I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with that). But the fact that I have accumulated so many clothing items indicates I could stand to be a bit more picky in my purchases. Instead of having a closet with too many clothes, I would like to have a smaller closet of clothes that really work for my style and figure and make me feel confident and satisfied with what I have. Taking a break on buying new clothes will give me space to really explore my closet, figure out the things that I like the most, and hopefully curate my style to a point that I'm excited about what I already own, instead of only getting excited when I have something new.
5. I want to stop using shopping as escapism.
As I mentioned above, I know that sometimes if I'm a little bored with life, or having a bad month emotionally, I am more often tempted to add a little interest to things by buying something. It's exciting to get something in the mail, it's exciting to have something new to wear or read!
But when I start to use that new-things excitement to soothe myself or escape something stressful, I know in my heart I'm not turning to the right thing. I should turn to the Lord to be my comfort in those stressful moments, I should learn to develop a heart of gratitude and appreciation for what I have instead of allowing myself to get bored with it all. I don't like that I've put "things" in a role that they were never meant to fulfill. Scripture instructs us to hate sin so much that we would even give up our eye or hand to stop sinning (Matthew 18:9) - if something is taking a sinful place in our lives, we need to cut it out, throw it away. That's what I'm trying to do with shopping. It has the potential to become a form of idolatry, and that's serious.
6. I want to order my affections rightly.
Sometimes we buy too much stuff because our priorities - our affections - are out of order. I would never say I care about things (things!) more than Christ - but when I give shopping an undue place in affecting my mood or attitudes, in my thoughts or my budget, I'm not loving the Lord as well as I'm called to. Material things can become a distraction from what I'm really supposed to be doing, from virtues I'm supposed to be developing (self-control, thankfulness, putting the needs of others first, etc.). I think eliminating that distraction for a while will help me reset and bring my actions more in line with where my priorities lie.
You might remember that in 2021, I gave up social media for a year. I deleted all the apps for the major platforms off my phone, I deactivated my accounts, I took a firm detox.
It was a hard, emotional year in alot of ways. My eyes were opened to deeper sin issues than I even suspected when I started out. I had to wrestle with alot of regrets for wasted time and messed-up priorities. I had to come to terms with the fact that social media was occupying an undue place in my life and relationships, and it was painful to come face-to-face with the selfishness it had fostered in my heart.
At the end of the year, I hesitantly came back to a couple platforms, but this time my eyes were open, and my relationship with and attitude toward social media was entirely different. I had put it in it's proper place. I can't explain the peace that came from that.
The benefits from my social media reset have lasted. The scrolling habit was broken, and even now, two years later, I spend a tiny fraction of the time on social media that I did before my detox. Taking that year helped me love my family and the Lord better, and it took my eyes off myself. It was one of the best decisions I ever made, even though dealing with my own sinfulness was painful.
I am quite hopeful that taking a break from buying certain things will bring the same sort of freedom and peace that my social media break did. If it's even half as impactful on my habits, it will be well worth it.
I'll share another post soon with my rules!
Have any of you considered taking a break from shopping?
I know alot of people will not relate to my particular shopping issues at all, but I'm sure some of you do, and I'd love to hear what's worked for you.
"I wish we had a house this huge!" I hear that little declaration off to my right. I'm typing this on Saturday, and my two little girls are creating a Calico Critter mansion. They can stay occupied with Calico Critters for hours, and I'm so glad because I have always thought Calico Critters were adorable, but I couldn't get any of the girls into them until the last year or so.
There is also screeching and yelling coming from down the hall as the boys play some sort of game in their room, but we're going to ignore that. My oldest daughter is writing letters downstairs, and my sweet husband is just about to make me one of his signature lattes (he's really good at lattes).
We have an unexpected weekend at home due to an injury, and I woke up this morning with a million projects running through my head. A whole free weekend! How should I spend it? I'm nearly stress paralyzed with decision fatigue already, and it's not even 10 o'clock.
High on the list was to write a blog post or two, so I thought, why not write one about all the projects I have in my queue? It'll get it out of my brain, and may be interesting to read I suppose, so here we go.
1. Blogging. I have so many posts in my head that I want to get out, but it's been such a difficult season to find time to do anything for myself, so I unfortunately can't guarantee all of these will get written. But here are a few posts that I hope to write...someday.
-How To Sing The Psalms With Your Kids (And Why You Should)
-I Decided To Start a No-Buy Project - Here's Why
-A Masterlist Of Reformation Day Resources
-Fall Picture Books We're Loving
Those are the big posts I keep wanting to find time to work on, and then there are just the general update posts, like this one. It's alot to carry around in my brain, I tell you.
(Also, tell me which one of those sounds the most interesting, and I'll work on it first.)
2. The family newspaper. I'm not sure I've mentioned this, but over the summer I had the kids start writing a family newspaper, and we actually mailed out two issues to family and friends! It's been really fun, and we've gotten alot of good feedback. We are two months behind now on sending out the next issue (reluctant writers and printer issues), so I would love to get that mailed today.
3. Pumpkin polymer clay earrings. I got into making polymer clay earring this summer - nothing too fancy, just cute little shapes that my girls find particularly fun. It's so satisfying to make something for them and then see their little eyes light up with excitement! I got a pumpkin cutter a few weeks ago, and I've been dying to try it out, but making those clay earrings takes quite a bit of time.
4. Letter-writing. I made a letter writing goal at the beginning of the year, and I didn't do too terribly until the summer hit. Nobody's been getting any letters from me since. I so enjoy sending a receiving letters - it makes me feel more connected to my friends than anything else, including social media. If someone puts something online, it's going out to a bunch of people at once, it's not special; if you receive a personal letter from someone, then they thought about you in particular, and valued your friendship enough to carve out time to connect with you. I love that feeling myself, and I love the idea of giving that thought-about feeling to someone else.
5. Reading. I always carve out some time for reading, but I started several books related to the Reformation and autumn, and I'd really like to finish them before the end of the month! Here are a few I'm hoping to get through this month:
-Martin Luther by Eric Metaxes
-Why The Reformation Still Matters by Tim Chester and Michael Reeves
-Still Protesting: Why The Reformation Still Matters by D. G. Hart
-Luther In Love by Douglas Bond
-Giant Pumpkin Sweet by Melanie Heuiser Hill
As you can see, all of these will be less relevant to the season in a month's time, so I better get moving.
6. Bake a pumpkin pie. We went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze last weekend, and the kids each got to pick out a pumpkin...and unfortunately, a couple of them are already looking a little ripe! I need to start baking asap so we don't waste our pumpkins. I'm thinking of making a pumpkin pie, because why not, and I'm also contemplating pumpkin soup. Other pumpkin recipe suggestions welcome.
7. Develop a birthday card system. We have several family and friends birthdays coming up, and every time I remember that it's someone's birthday, I wish I had taken time to develop a system for sending out birthday cards. I am thinking of doing a little card file system, and I can just sit down at the start of each month and write out all the cards at once. It's so nice to receive a card in the mail (see letter-writing point), and I just wish I could be more organized about birthdays!
8. Research my family tree on ancestry.com. Devoting more time to this has been a goal of mine for a while, and I can honestly say I've been a big failure when it comes to accomplishing this! It takes quite a bit of time to do the family tree research right, even with ancestry.com, and I really need a set time each day to make progress.
Seeing all that typed out, I realize if I really want to accomplish any of it, I better get myself organized and just carve out the time to get it all done! That's what I'll be doing straightaway with the rest of my day.
What's on your autumn to-do list?
Let's not even talk about getting ready for Christmas...I don't have space in my head for that yet.
Fall is in the air, and I am ready to mix up my reading stack so I can prioritize all my coziest books - but first I have to get this post out of the queue! Getting caught up on sharing my reading is something that has been weighing on my mind for quite some time. It was a good reading summer for me, and every time I got ready to share this post I put it off so I could finish just one more book and add it. Clearly that was a mistake, because this book post has ended up being rather long, but I think most of you bookish people won't mind too much.
A Gentle Tyranny by Jess Corban - These first two books are a short series set in a dystopian future. A couple hundred years in the future, after women have suffered ever-increasing abuses due to rampant immorality, most of Earth's population is intentionally wiped out and a Matriarchal society is started with only "gentled" men - men with no testosterone. This new society is named Nede, which is Eden spelled backwards, and Reina Pierce, the granddaughter of the current Matriarch starts to see that things are not quite right in their supposedly idyllic society. She has established friendships with various "Gentles", and as she competes to take over the matriarchy, she truly sees the brutality the Gentles suffer through - but surely Gentles are still better than the "Brutes" of old, right?
A Brutal Justice by Jess Corban - At the end of the first book, Reina discovers that there are "Brutes" (ie. men with their testosterone intact) living in the jungle, and they aren't at all like she thought they were. Now she must find a way to help the Brutes, and the Gentles, who she discovered were not born that way as she was always told, but were made into the frail creatures they are. A running theme through these books is that people choose whether to be monsters or have virtue, and either Brutes or women can become evil if they so choose. The only characters in the book that don't appear to have any capacity for malice are the Gentles, which is also my main gripe with the book. Let's be realistic here - people can be wicked with or without hormones, so I thought the author should have written the "Gentles" in a more balanced way, because males with no testosterone would still be capable of sin, betrayal, etc. The author says she is a Christian, so I think she should have been realistic about the sinfulness of all humans, including her fictional, altered Gentles. Overall though, this series was a very interesting concept, and I quite enjoyed it. The ending was really nicely done - I feel that so many dystopian books end on a somewhat hopeless note, and this one didn't. Content Notes: Reina does murder someone for the "greater good", though she is tormented by her decision. There are some references to the birds and the bees as part of the plot, but not explicit at all. Vague references to same-sex relationships, which are against the culture of Nede. Violence, especially in the second book, but not excessively described. There is some mythology/false religion built up around Nede, and Reina uses a false goddess's name as a curse word.
Wingfeather Tales by Various Authors - This is a book of short stories surrounding the land of the Wingfeather Saga, which I reviewed here. I quite enjoyed this collection of short stories! So many of them perfectly captured the feel of Aerwiar, and added alot of intrigue to an already interesting world. Collectively, some of the stories reminded me of different elements of Narnia, while still being completely their own.
The only story that I'm really not sure what I think of is the last one entitled "Beyond The Edge Of The Maps". I noticed online that this story had alot of mixed reviews, and I can see why. Spoilers Ahead: The story starts out quite dark and hopeless, and I think goes on for a bit too long, though it is written quite well (aside from some intentional run-on sentences, which as a style choice on which I will reserve judgement). The main character of the story is going on a quest to question his Maker, with accusations of injustice since the man has lost his daughter. But he never makes it up the One Mountain on which the Maker is said to dwell, because he realizes he is unworthy to bring an accusation because of a choice he made (though he is quite self-righteous up until that point).
The story ends with a glimpse into the fate of the man's daughter and the afterlife of this world of Aerwiar, but I will say that I wasn't satisfied with how the spiritual questioning element was tied together...or with how redemption is accomplished in this fictional world since the man never really makes peace with the Maker, but is still in paradise in the end. Andrew Peterson is a Christian, and though Aerwiar is it's own world (kind of like Narnia), spiritual principles were woven into the original books in a creative and meaningful way that were also mostly in line with Scripture (at least on a surface level). This last story departs from that pattern a bit, and I found myself confused about what the underlying message or principle was supposed to be, aside from possibly the fact that there are things we will never understand on the earth. I'm probably thinking too much into it. So yes, I nearly gave up on the last story, but at the same time, it is also the story that has me thinking the most, so maybe that says something. Content Notes: The main character in the last story considers suicide.
Only The Beautiful by Susan Meissner - This is an interesting story about how people were forcibly sterilized in California in the early 1900's, which is a travesty. Rosanne, who has synesthesia, works in a vineyard with her family, until they are killed in an accident. She is taken in by the vineyard owners as a foster child, but really ends up being their made. She is taken advantage of by the husband of the family and ends up pregnant, and is sent by his vindictive wife into a mental institution where they sterilize those with mental problems (and synesthesia was considered a mental problem by the doctor). Th second half of the book flashes forward about 20 years, and we find out what happened to Rosie. Content Notes: This books plot was so interesting, but I can't truly recommend it because I think the author went into unnecessarily explicit detail about the night Rosanne became pregnant. Because of that, this isn't a clean book. I believe there was some bad language as well, but it's difficult to remember now.
The MacArthur Commentary on Revelation 1-11 - I've been reading this book as part of my own Bible study this summer, and I always appreciate MacArthur's detailed commentary and extensive Bible cross references! I just read this book alongside the Revelation passages this time through, but would love to go through it again with a notebook handy and go through all the Bible references that are mentioned.
The Confident Homeschooler by Pam Barnhill - I got to read this tiny booklet for free on Kindle. I'm not sure it qualifies as a book, but I think it's a great summary of some of Barnhill's best advice for homeschool moms, so I recommend checking it out!
Our Little Spartan Cousin Of Long Ago by Julie Darrow Cowles - I pre-read this book to see if I wanted to let my kids read it this fall. This is about a young boy living in ancient Sparta, and I thought it provided a really interesting look into Spartan society. I learned alot, but I do feel that the book presented mostly information in a positive light. It glossed over negative aspects of Sparta, such as the brutality of their war games, probably in an attempt to keep it appropriate for children. I will probably let my oldest read it and see what he thinks of it. Content Notes: Obviously stories about the gods of Greek mythology.
God Doesn't Whisper by Jim Osman - In this book, Osman addresses some of the unbiblical ways that Christians try to "hear the voice of God" in our modern times...including many very common practices such as fleeces, open and closed doors, feeling a "peace", etc. Your toes WILL be stepped on by this book, but it's very hard to argue with Osman's reasoning and biblical supports. Even I, as someone who barely has a charismatic bone in my body, was convinced that some of the ways I have supported my decisions in the past, using these frameworks, was not biblical. I love that Osman doesn't just leave us hanging at the end, but gives us a truly biblical model for making God-honoring decisions. Highly recommend.
State Of Lies by Siri Mitchell - I read some of Mitchell's historical romances years ago and quite enjoyed them, and have been meaning to read her first suspense novel for a while now. Georgie is a mom, trying to hold her life together after her husband Sean is killed - but mysterious things keep happening, and then her home is broken into, and she starts to ask more questions. I was truly on the edge of my seat during certain chapters of this book, and did not expect some of the twists and turns! I was rather unhappy about the identity of the villain, but other than that I quite enjoyed it. Content Notes: Somewhat graphic violence as various people Georgie interacts with are killed, and her physical relationship with her husband is referred to in various places in the book, without being described much. Also note: The paperback of this one is really cheap on Amazon for some reason, just FYI.
Truth Or Territory: A Biblical Approach To Spiritual Warfare by Jim Osman - This one is a similar book to God Doesn't Whisper, except in this one Osman discusses the modern church's idea of "spiritual warfare", and how alot of unbiblical ideas and practices have infiltrated modern Christianity. Osman does such a great job of addressing the so-called biblical support for some of these ideas, and then looking at the verses in context to understand the true meaning, which most often is nothing to do with spiritual warfare. Good examples of this would be praying "hedges", or generational curses. I listened to this one and actually wish that I had read it instead so I could have highlighted or taken notes. I may buy a physical copy in the future!
Musing On God's Music by Scott Aniol - This book is an in-depth look at the psalms as an actual book, not just a list of song lyrics. Aniol argues that whoever put the psalter together did so by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (as with all scripture), and that the order of the psalms itself is significant. It's not just a random collection of songs, it's a carefully curated collection that is meant to show us how to live a blessed life in a wicked world, a collection that is meant to form us as we sing them in order. I have never looked at the psalms as being intentionally organized in a certain way, and this book was revolutionary for me. I highly recommend this one for any believer! We don't take the psalms as seriously as we ought, and I think that is because we don't view them as a book with an overarching purpose and point!
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice For Murderers by Jesse Sutanto - This book was alot of fun - Vera Wong owns a "world famous" tea house, but one that is unfortunately about to go out of business...until a dead body shows up in her shop! A host of characters start to show up at Vera's, and she assigns herself as the investigator of the murder - even though the police aren't even sure it is a murder. A really delightful peek into Asian culture, especially the unique personality of a stereotypical Asian mother/grandmother. Also, this book made me really hungry for Chinese food and a cup of tea. Note: Bad language in this one, including several uses of the f-word.
Glitch by Laura Martin - In the future, some people are born with a "time travel gene" that allows them to glitch back in time - but unfortunately that means alot of people hopping around, trying to mess with history! That's what the Glitch Academy is meant to prevent as young people train to apprehend "butterflies" - people who are meddling in historical events. Reagan is a cadet in the Academy, and also the daughter of the director of the program, which leads her classmate, Elliot, to be jealous of how easy Reagan has it. And Reagan isn't a big fan of Elliot's know-it-all attitude either. But when they receive a letter from their future selves, they just figure out a way to save the Academy, and their futures, before it's too late! This was a really fun, imaginative world, and I loved the lessons about history that are subtly presented in this book. The only note is a little bit of violence as the cadets fight butterflies, and within various historical events that they visit.
Famous For A Living by Melissa Ferguson - In this book, a famous influencer is hit with scandal, and has to find a place to lay low for a while - she travels to a small international park run by her uncle. As she tries to help the park with their social media and do what she can to combat her bad image in the press, she falls for a guy who hates the internet. Will she give up her life for the guy or not? Fairly predictable, sweet rom-com type book, and I enjoyed it!
Such A Quiet Place by Megan Miranda - I have a weakness for suspense books set in small towns or communities, where everyone knows everyone, and this book was like that. Ruby was convicted for murdering the neighbors, but now she's been released from prison, and she's back in the neighborhood - and no one quite knows why. Content Note: This book had alot of cursing, which I did not appreciate. But it did scratch that small-won suspense book itch, and I enjoyed it overall.
Black Ships Before Troy by Rosamary Sutcliff - I read this to pre-screen it for school for my 7th grader - It was a really thorough telling of the Trojan War. I appreciated all the information it gave about the different figures, but sometimes felt like the writing was too stiff. The Greek "gods" make appearances in this book, and the Greeks make sacrifices to them, etc, but I wouldn't say those characters had a major role in this version. I'm torn about whether to have my son read this one, or keep searching for a version I'll like a little better.
Gentle And Lowly: The Heart Of Christ For Sinners And Sufferers by Dane Ortlund - This book was a surprise to me. Ortlund reviews some of the Puritan writings about Jesus statement about Himself being "gentle and lowly in heart", and explains what that means. The focus in this book is about Jesus's gentle attitude toward sinners who truly repent, toward His sheep that still fail as we go about life in this fallen world. Though there were certain phrasings here and there that I wasn't quite sure about, I found this reminder of Jesus's love toward His own to be comforting and heartening, and there were many times when I was close to tears reading a needed reminder. I'd recommend it!
Sing A New Song: Recovering Psalm-Singing For The 21st Century by Joel Beeke - This book is a collection of essays regarding Psalm singing, and it covers such topics as the history of psalm singing, why it's important, why we seem to have largely dropped it in the modern church, and why we should not let the art of singing psalms fall by the wayside. Some of the essays got rather academic, but I appreciated learning more history of church music through this book, and it did fire me up to make sure I'm teaching my kids a robust collection of psalms to sing. Definitely recommend if the idea of singing psalms interests you at all, along with the book I mentioned before, Musing On God's Music.
Okay, I'm going to close this out now, even though I'm nearly finished with a few more books I could add! In the future I will try not to get so behind on sharing books so these reading posts don't end up being quite so long.
What did you all read over the summer?
It has been quite some time since I shared a Wednesday Five. They are such easy posts to put together, and easy is what I need right now, so I'm going to try to share these more often.
A Quote
"Whenever the Psalter is abandoned, an incomparable treasure is lost to the Christian church. With it's recovery will come unexpected power."
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I read this quote in a book I read recently about Psalm-singing, which will be in a book round-up post later this week. I've been incorporating psalm-singing with the kids into Bible time with the kids this summer, and it's been so sweet to learn to sing the Psalter together.
A Book
I just started "A Biblical Case For Cessationism" by Tom Pennington, and I can already tell it's going to be thorough and helpful. You can watch his talk about Cessationism from the Strange Fire conference a while back to get something of a preview, since in the book he's fleshing out alot of the arguments he made in that message.
For a fiction book, I finally started "Homecoming" by Kate Morton. Her books always feel perfect for the fall to me. A little bit of homeyness, and little bit of mystery. I'm sure a full review is coming if I ever catch up on sharing books.
A Bit Of Nature
We visited the Botanic Gardens last week, and there were so many pretty plants. It was the perfect time to catch the flowers before things start to die off in the fall. These are some sort of crabapple, apparently.
A Recommendation
I am going to recommend this with an abundance of caution, but if you have long-ish hair, and you are getting a bit sick of it or feel like your hair is boring, this is for you. I have been feeling bored with my hair for a while, and was considering going back to a bob, but I was hesitant because I do like to be able to pull my hair up sometimes. I wasn't sure what to do about it beside going to my hairdresser and asking what she thought, but a hair appointment is also just not in my budget right now. Then one night, I stumbled across this video on Youtube comparing a wolf cut with a butterfly cut, and a wild hair (ha!) must have struck me, because I decided to give myself a butterfly cut. The worse that could happen is that I'd have to schedule that hair appointment sooner than planned. I followed this tutorial.
I'm going to qualify this by saying that I do have some experience cutting my own hair, so I felt pretty comfortable taking the risk of trying this out, because I knew I could probably salvage it into a nice bob if the cut went wrong. But that said, the tutorial worked perfectly. It added lovely, bouncy layers into my hair that look great when I curl them, and my hair has been feeling pretty glamorous ever since.
A Moment Of Happiness
My girls spent some time at their grandma's house for my 8 year old's birthday recently. When they arrived home, my 5 (almost 6) year old ran up to the door shouting "Mama, Mama!" I hurried over to greet her, and she threw her arms around me, sighed, and said "Ah, you're so comfy." I'm not sure if that would be a compliment from anyone else than my children, but from her it just made my day.
I learned from my mistakes last year and broke out my fall decorations on time this week. The autumn season is always more brief than I expect, and I want to enjoy it fully this year: including fall decor, fall candles, pumpkin muffins in the oven, and moody mystery books galore!
Summer eased out rather uncomfortably around here. We started school, but I wasn't as excited about it as I sometimes am. I think the dreary weather for a large part of our summer made it feel as if we didn't get a proper summer break, and this school year, which I've known will be a particularly difficult one, has been looming. I have all five kids homeschooling this year, and even though I feel exponentially more capable as a homeschool mom as the years go by, the challenges that come with more kids in school and older grades always seem to (nearly) cancel out my homeschool-mom gains. This year I can at least give myself the credit of seeing the challenges coming.
(The traditional first-day-of-school donut.)
Our homeschool days have been easier in some ways than I thought, because I have really got my homeschool systems down after perfecting my strategies over the last couple years. But it's also been harder in some ways. I shifted my mindset a few years back about homeschooling as the parent, treating it in my mind as more of a job that could take as long as 8 hours a day if necessary, and that helped transform our homeschool in alot of ways. However, this is the first year that it actually has been taking nearly 8 hours out of my day, and those extra demands are taking a little getting used to (for me). I also know this is most likely a temporary thing - our days will run smoother eventually, expectations will even out, skills will catch up, and I'll likely have more time on my hands again at some point. But right now my days feel packed.
We took a vacation a couple weeks ago, and I'm quite happy to report that it was uneventful! I think this may have been the smoothest trip we've had in quite some time, and a problem-free getaway was much needed. We drove up to South Dakota, we saw Mount Rushmore (including the evening lighting ceremony, which was wonderful), made a day trip to the Badlands with a stop at the infamous Wall Drug, saw a gunfight reenactment in Deadwood, took a tour of Jewel Cave. We stopped at Bear Country ( a drive-through zoo with more bears than I could count), and drove to the South Dakota Air and Space Museum (though the inside exhibits were unfortunately closed). My kids gained a grand total of six badges for various National Park Junior Ranger programs, which was quite an accomplishment.
Last time we went to South Dakota it rained the entire week, quite literally. We were tent camping, I was pregnant and soggy and miserable, and we cut our vacation short because we just couldn't take it anymore. After that experience, we were both a little nervous about this trip, but South Dakota was a winner this time! Overall, it was a nice quiet trip, with no car problems, no hotel issues, and no freaky weather events. Just what the doctor ordered!
Before we headed home we drove to Devil's Tower in Wyoming, and we also read about Custer and Crazy Horse before visiting Little Bighorn. It was a sobering way to end our vacation, seeing all the markers on the hill where Custer's regiment was completely wiped out. We read about the battle, and just seeing the sloping of the hills in person, I could really picture every stage of the battle as the cavalry advanced, and then retreated, finally forming a barricade behind dead horses on a ridge, before they were ultimately cut down. It was chilling, but it peaked my interest to read more about the Wild West, and I listened to "The Summer Of 1876" by Chris Wimmer on the way home. It was interesting to listen about different historical events as we were driving past the very locations where they happened.
The wide open, empty spaces of South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana got into my blood in a way. I live in a rural area already, but it's become very much more crowded than the places we visited, and I've been scheming and planning a fall hike somewhere more remote to get that taste of wilderness again.
I usually like to ease back into life when we get back from vacation, but I was forced to hit the ground running last week. We packed two field trips (one pre-planned, one spontaneous), plus a birthday outing for one of my kids with grandma, into that whirlwind of a week. We topped it off last weekend by visiting our local botanic gardens for a fall plant sale. We didn't end up buying any plants, but we did enjoy the gardens before coming home to watch a football game.
Then I drank some tea and and sat down to write this post before scrounging up some dinner. I've been missing writing on my blog, and I'm very much hoping I can carve out more time for writing despite this extra-busy season. Sharing on social media has always been draining to me, but writing on my blog tends to give me energy. It helps me organize my thoughts and feelings, and somehow that gives me a little boost to get on with what needs to be done. That's worth something! I'm looking forward to making it more of a routine again as we head into my favorite season.
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