CONSIDERING SPARROWS!

Rarely do we find ourselves reading the same book at our house.

But God used "birder" hubby and I who keeps Philippians on many devotional selections each year to join together in reading "Considering Sparrows."  "What Birds Teach Us About Who We are, Where We're Going, And the Joy of Following Jesus" clearly spoke to both of us.

We follow the recommendation of the author as we try to read it together outside when possible. Think a  on a bench at Deep Creek where our seeing often comes through our ears. Hubby knows Carolina Chickadee  one chirps 3 times in a row.  If it's raining we can read on the porch!

A blustery day might have us inside but sitting beside our double open windows and watch birds flit from tree to tree. Just the mountains in the background remind us of God's absolute ownership of all creation in Scripture. "I know all the birds of the mountains, and wild beasts of fields are mine."

Even Psalm 11:1, NKJV reminds of protection: In the LORD put I my trust: How say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain?"

We take turns reading and we even mark references in the book in green and red depending on bird info or Scripture verses or Biblical analogy's

  

CONSIDERING SPARROWS---I give a 5**** review on the parts We have read sp far!

BEST BOOK REVIEW!

Is a book worthy of a great review? How does one remember?

Usually my faves are filled with jottings on almost every page.

This book has no jottings---just lots of post-its!

Why? 

Because the pictures are as exquisite as the words are 

"spot-on".....and it was a gift from a dear friend who knows both my     heart and my needs. 

As it says in the book, "The gospel binds our hearts together to a lifeline of grace!" (p.123)

A book worthy of a GREAT review both visually and with incredible

word choices anchored in Scripture.

EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE!

My morning "cuppa" is not on an African savanna but in my comfiest chair as I'm experiencing the words of author Robin Jones Gunn as she writes of travel to Africa. 

Her book, TEA WITH ELEPHANTS, reinforces lessons God wants to teach the "suitcase sisters" in this foreign land of tea fields, beautiful, graceful and gentle giraffes, along with rambunctious elephants.

Kind words are like honey--sweet for the would and healthy for the body, (Proverbs 16:24, NLT, Gunn, p. 132)

The eye never forgets what the heart has seen. (African proverb, Gunn, p. 225)

Don't let emotional baggage burden you.

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you. (Psalm 55:22)

Leave it at the foot of the cross.

VALLEY OF VISION!

Puritans strength of character came from their prayers and meditation.

Oh that such words could be used to describe all present day Christians! Recently, during Monday Prayer for Revival mornings, Carolyn Wynn read aloud one of the prayers, "Divine Promises" to us.

"All thy promises in Christ Jesus are yea and amen, and all shall be fulfilled."

Oftentimes, I use their prayers to prompt me into prayers and ensuing meditation of my own. 

A gift from Martha Banks in 2011,continues to be a treasure of an oft-needed vision for me.

A WAY WITH WORDS!

It is one thing to be a wordsmith.....

but it's much rarer to express one's self in both words and art. EMYO does just that.

What a privilege it was to attend the launch at Dixon Gallery and Gardens last week of her book, Marisol's Dress. It began with a reading by Emily herself with the accompanying Spanish translation as her mom sat in the audience.

The story itself was inspired by her mother's journey from Cuba during the revolution as she fled the communist revolution there with only her abuela, one white dress that twirled and only one doll to a place across the blue ocean where she knew no one and did not even know the language spoken there.She carried her Mama's words in her heart. 

Remember you are brave and you are loved.

When lonely in her room in America, Marisol has only white paper and some pencils. A great truth enters her mind.

She realized what she had in front of her was enough for today.

The book encourages all to face hardship with courage....

When life gives you lemons, make paper dolls.

EMYO's book has young readers searching for lemons on every page.

From the large impressionist art works from which the illustrations were drawn to the unique words and phrases included, the book itself is truly a complete  work of art.

Marisol's Dress is so special to me because the book depicts the life of EMYO's mom, a dear, dear friend of mine. It also can inspire others, regardless of the age, to know they are brave and loved in the midst of challenges.

Needless to say, I will pass this treasure on to each of my granddaughters.

GENTLE AND LOWLY

Gentle and Lowly.Think kind and humble. Merciful coupled with humility. (Matthew 11:29)

Anyone known people described by those adjectives? Sadly, I would not qualify for those descriptors.

Gentle and Lowly. The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers as Dane Ortland's book title says. Sinner. Sufferer. That's me.

Maybe that's why it's so hard for me, a sinner,  to think I receive that kind of love, forgiveness and comfort in my sufferings, over and over from the Lord....from His heart. 

"Perhaps it isn't sin so much as sufferings that cause some of us to question the perseverance of the heart of Christ. As pain piles up, as numbness takes over, as the months go by, at some point the conclusion seems obvious: we have been cast out." (Ortland, p.64-65) What's God's answer to that. "Come unto Me." (Matthew 11:28) He will never cast me out. Jesus never rejects His own.....those who come to Him. (John 6:37)

Ortland goes on to share more comforting words: "For those united to him,  the heart of Jesus is Not a rental; it is your new permanent residence. You are not a tenant, you are a child. His heart is not a ticking time bomb; his heart is the green pastures and still waters of endless reassurances of his presence and comfort... " (Ortland, p.66, emphasis mine)

He is worthy of our worship. May we "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." (Psalm 29:2) May I see the beauty and holiness of God today.

Gentle and Lowly, 2 words that succinctly sum up His holiness.

Son Buddy sums up the book in 2 words. "It's rich."

CUPPA GENEROSITY

Generosi-TEA! Let's start our last day in 2021 with that cuppa!

As we turn the corner to a New Year, lets turn from getting to giving!

Robert Morgan would punctuate the above sentence with a divine exclamation point! (All to Jesus, Day 365) 

Where do you find yourself? 

I have to give. GRUDGINGLY

I Need to give. UNDER EXTERNAL COMPULSION

I want to give. CHEERFUL, EAGER & READY TO GIVE

How is your spending trending?

A year in Paul David Tripp's, New Morning Mercies has kept me focused on More of Thee and less of me......aka give to others more than to self. "Give us the grace to look at ourselves in the mirror of God's word. Powerful redeeming grace to remove of our heart of stone and replace them with hears of flesh"----giving hearts. (New Morning Mercies, December 10)

TAKEAWAYS:

Give self first to God.

Generous Giving is rooted in the grace of God.

Generosity is about Spirit, not resources.

Donate to your church or favorite charity. Give your time to pray for others.

Keep sipping your cuppa generosity-TEA throughout the coming year!

PENCHANT FOR WORDS!

Most wordsmiths are readers. Most writers are readers. The combos go very well together.

In the literary world, many readers and writers alike are always in pursuit of just the right word for the sake of clarity. .....hopefully not to be presumptuous! (the brazen, egotistical arrogant, not the suspiciously reluctant ones.)

Before I got past chapter 6 in The Personal Librarian, a work of historical fiction book which takes place at the turn of the 20th Century, I had encountered several unfamiliar words. Contextualy, I could define a few. Two words intrigued me because one of them was a librarian's term. Incunabulum. FYI--a book printed before 1501? Who knew? Not this librarian. K-12 school librarians typically don't have rare editions in their collections.

The other intriguing word, chary, I thought was a typo. Contextually, my definition was on target as wary or cautious, on one's guard,  but it was NOT a typo. Chary. I didn't pursue the word origin but it was in my Scrabble dictionary so it's a legit word in my eyes, regardless of the source.

BTW, I'm barely into the book, but the racial prejudices of the times seem "spot on." The protagonist, a young black girl passing for white, becomes the librarian for J.P. Morgan. (New fact for me, Morgan's middle name, which he prefers, is Pierpont.) An extraordinary, intuitive, woman of style and wit shares her struggles of preserving her carefully crafted white identity, for the sake of her family's financial well-being, in 1905's racist world in which she lives.

I have a penchant for words. I also have a penchant for tea. 

These two go very well together---especially when the words come from a book on my "to read" list for librarians!*

Disclaimer-----Before I uploaded this entry, the book took a few zags and the "changed moral tone" disappointed me.

SHARED FUNNIES

Inside jokes for the family = a feel good dopamine.

I've needed some feel-good dopamine lately. 

My go-to in such times is a cuppa and a cozy mystery. Light reading, not Eliot's Middlemarch, Dostoevsky's, Crime and Punishment or Wilkie Collin's, The Woman in White, though these are some of my old faves.

The enervating quality of humid days of "Dog-ust" has me drawn to a "lighter" sweet tea (iced) & a book whose title brings back a family memory. It also helps that a murder has taken place in an English hamlet graveyard. Miss Davenport, (a family name proudly selected for two of my grand boys) the protagonist is shocked at her own "mercenary bent." To this day my children have a variety of frugal, cheap adjectives for me in the area of finance. I would much prefer economical or prudent.....I'm certainly glad "mercenary bent" is not one of them. 

So....what's the funny?

This book was chosen just for the title.      *

Our shared funny occurred in the balcony of Highland Heights Presbyterian Church in the early eighties. Hubby and I and our 2 boys were sitting in the balcony. Their baby sister was in the nursery. In the sermon message Rev. Thad Grimstead used the idiom, "cut the mustard" and our 4 year old lost it!

His ticklebone had been engaged and was out of control. We all knew why!

Being a nursing baby, his sister's poops looked similar to runny mustard. Anytime a brother acknowledged, usually by holding their nose, that she needed changing it was announced loud and clear.

"Molly cut the mustard." To say that laughter ensued in our balcony pew is putting it mildly. Even the pastor raised his eyebrows and looked in our direction. 

A private family joke. A shared funny. To this day it makes me smile whether I hear the term or read it in a "light" book......a time for laughter which I need. (Ecclesiastes 3:4)

*Garden bouquet of flowers from sweet Jerrie was a real spirit lifter as well.

STAYING PUT!

What does an avid reader do when snowed in?

Rhetorical question, right!

As the bookmark quotes, "Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are."

This dual time-line gem took me from Manhattan, NY & California to Vienna, Austria & Auschwitz in search of art---all in a 24 hour period, no less.  A hidden masterpiece novel as it is dubbed. 

A warm read when it is -8˚with wind chill.

A big thanks to friend, Dixie, for the recommendation.

It made staying put a lot easier!

SERENE SABBATH READINGS

Serene Sabbath Readings

My QUARANTINE COLLECTION had me finishing a wild west audio book about the Navajo Indians, and an eBook by Greg Gilbert's Where is the Gospel?, which our pastor referred to a few weeks ago.

After scanning the Commercial Appeal Comics, I finished a hardcover of Nancy E. Turner's, Light Changes Everything (2019) a loaner from avid reader friend, Beth. 

The story began in 1907 and took me back to the Prine family in the Arizona Territory, then to Wheaton College and back again. With the regional voice of the time, in which Turner excels, I was drawn in to this poignant and emotional story! A worthy read.

Then I picked up my current read, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer---my Mother's Day gift from son Buddy. We are reading portions of the book at a time. We will discuss the first part on June 15 and the last portion when we're together in Florida in July. 

As I moved the CA cartoons and my "finished" book aside, I noticed Mason Cooley's quote from Patrick McDonald's "Mutts".

Reading gives us
someplace to go
When we have to stay
where we are.

So perfect for these times----- of quarantine.

BOOK----UNFINISHED.

The verdict is still out on the rating of this Charles Martin Book. It's not his "typical" writing style. 

Of  course, I've only read his fiction and this is my first non-fiction by Martin. Plus, I have not quite finished it,

His meticulous research is delivered in a very readable form. Martin is a seasoned storyteller and this strength shines in the pages I have read so far......and I am just beginning this journey with What if I't's True?: a storyteller's Journey with Jesus.

One jewel I have already discovered as Martin asks the question, "Who is this Jesus?" Jesus Himself said, I am the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:16)

If Jesus is the way, then He's taking us some where. 

But where? I believe the answer is to HIs Father. (p.15)

One reviewer for Christianity Today said that Martin won him over with his sincere love for Jesus.

As I continue to read this author's journey through God's Word, I sensed that Valentine's Day would be the right time to post this author's work focusing on his Savior. 

Valentine's Day--a day of celebrating Love.

"Greater love hath no man that He lay down his life for His friends." (John 15:13)

That fact stands. 

"Jesus loves me, this I know"--- even if I don't finish reading the book today!

INFINITE HOPE

Sitting in the examining room waiting on the pulmonary specialist, I was re-reading my most recent letter from dear, dear, friend Ashley Bryan.
He was welcoming our #9 grandchild, girl #2! "I know you are all having a GRAND TIME Loving her as she Loves you! (Ashley's words)

Between his plan to travel to visit family in Texas and return to "his" island and resuming his painting in his neighbors gardens, he was awaiting his WWII story, Infinite Hope! --mid October '19. He and I have both been so excited to see beyond the F & Gs.

Before the doc entered, Hubby sent me a text . "Today" show Favorite FALL BOOKS w/ Savannah & a team of readers announced their fave books by categories.

Ashley's newest book, Infinite Hope, was chosen as the best in Love & Romance category by one of the panelist.

The panelist explained that this book needed to win awards and he thought "love" was an appropriate category as Ashley, who is 96 years old, shares how his love for art sustained him as a 19 year old draftee during WWII.

One reviewer stated that Infinite Hope is "both a lesson in history and a testament to hope." (S & S)
Having talked with Ashley through the years, even about his time during the war and seeing some of his sketches I knew that it had been a difficult time for him. Needless to say, I'm anxious to  receive my copy!

He has chosen to share his love for the stories of his people and his desire to preserve Black American Spiritual as his life's work. "The spirituals touch me deeply and inspire my heart's soulwork." (Ashley Bryan, I'm Going to Sing -Black American Spirituals vol. 2)

His art, which has its own "voice" and his words, have spread hope to many.

Ashley is one of the kindest people I have ever known.

A man of faith. An encourager. My friend.
A man of "infinite hope" himself who pours out love & hope to others.

How a treasure this picture with him at his home on Isleford/Little Cranberry Isles off the coast of Maine. He was sharing his F & Gs (folded and gathered pages) of his book, Infinite Hope. 

A man who signed and gave me the book & a bit of his heart and hopes as we talked.

TEA-RRIFIC TRIO

The most difficult person in my life is "moi."

God wants me to love the ones I don't understand.
God wants me to get to know their names,.
God wants me to accept, not to label. (p. 43)

This and many other stories from the author's life can draw one's attention to truth from God's word in a variety of "real life" situations.

In previous weeks, I have shared stories from this book with family, a dear friend, Carolyn McKenzie who was at the Jewish Home rehab and in a Town Village Bible Study.
The chapter which struck the "aha" cord from everyone, along with tickling their funny bone, was "Bucket List." A good read for drawing one's attention to "What's in Your Bucket?"

Tas-TEA cuppa, TEA-larious book & TEA-rrific read, What a trio!

MORE SHEDDING

These days all anyone seems to want to shed is weight. But some things bear more weight on our lives than body pounds.

In Anne Morrow Lindberg's Gift from the Sea , a book I regularly read at the beginning of each new year, the author talks of "shedding." I'm sure I've read the term multiple times, but this year it jumped off the page and right into my psyche!

Gems for shedding from pages 30-35: (Lindberg words in quotes, Paraphrase, mine)
At the beach (or in "retreat' one learns the art of shedding; how much one can get along without.
"...how little one can get along with---not how much." Clothes first---not much needed. What a relief!! (Relief is one of my favorite experiential nouns. DAL)

After the physical shedding of "extra" clothes, shedding of vanity seems a natural occurrence. A shedding of pride ensues.

I will ask into my shell only those friends with whom I can be completely honest. I find I am shedding hypocrisy in human relationships. What a rest that will be! The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere. That is why so much of social life is exhausting; one is wearing a mask. I have shed my mask. (Lindberg, p. 32)

May these "sheddings" bring a sincere simplicity of life that offers serenity in 2018---for all of us. 

CHOOSE: TO CONFESS

Internet keeps dropping---now I choose to be thankful for "working" WiFi at Baptist Surgery Center this morning as I await hubby's surgery shoulder. (12/5/17)

Book Juggler. Guilty as charged.

Yes, this phrase describes me. Avid reader is a part of who I am.

Right now I have a Susan Vreeland audio book going in the car. Her "literary" fiction books are about paintings and the artist who create them. Sadly, she died suddenly at age 71 in August. 

One book is on the kitchen table.

Two new devotional books are by my prayer chair, along with All Things New, a new Bible Study book, 

Three "short" Christmas books, a gift from Jerrie, are on the end table---at "my end" of the couch.

Three children's books are on hold for me at the library because I want to read, Say Zoop (Tullet), Iggy Peck Architect, (Beaty) and Remembering Vera (Polacco) as I try to keep up with latest books of author's grands might enjoy.

Four books are stacked bedside, on the floor.  

Many books are spilling out of my bedside table.

Am I reading all of them at once? No, not all, but I usually have 3 going at once. 

Reading multiple books is my way. Some books, intense in nature, I choose not to read at night. So....while that's set aside in the PM, I might pick-up a Jan Karon type book. Plus, I almost always have a non-fiction book going---informative but not gripping.

I can only hope it keeps my mind active---sort of like exercising the "little" gray matter by juggling more than one book at a time.

CHOOSE: LESS FRET, MORE FAITH

Less Fret, More Faith is the 1st chapter in Max Lucado's new book, anxious for nothing FINDING CALM in a CHAOTIC WORLD based on Philippians 4:4-6.

Sometimes I feel like a could write these anti-anxiety books my self. I just don't always live it.

I certainly know about fretting and remind myself often, "Fret not, Dots!"

I've memorized the Philippians passage but..........I couldn't resist the implication of "are you anxious about being anxious" and other revealing phrases in the intro, which seemed to describe me. 

...a low grade fear. A edginess, a dread.....not so much a storm as the certainty that one is coming.....so you don't sleep well. (p. 3)

Hm-m-m-m! 

Other gems included: 

• Anxiety is a meteor shower of "what ifs." (I'm already working on changing the "what if" fears in my life to "even if" faith.)
• Anxiety and fear are cousins but NOT twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines it. (emphasis mine)
• The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional.

I pulled out these pithy grabbers to give an overview but these are not mere platitudes---there's much good info when you read them within the text. 

I choose to continue to read this book---maybe I will be able to "turn a page in this book that will help me turn over a new leaf in my life."

Will I be able to quench the anxiety with unquenchable faith? I'll let you know.

CHOOSE: TO DIG FOR GEMS

Avid readers sometimes forget to deeply enjoy a book a long the way and tend to scan over long descriptive narratives. Often, they seem to be just fillers but sometimes one needs to remember to search for the treasures. I found such a treasure as I finished reading To Be Where You Are this week. 

For one thing, I found the title reference mid-stream and then as I was finishing up, I found a gem. 

Author, Jan Karon, uses Father Tim, her protagonist (a retired Episcopal priest) to pass along wisdom to his adopted son, who has wisely decided to take a little time off work to be with family just as Father Tim has done with "his" Cynthia.

So glad I chose to read deeply and not skip over this gem.

Karon says it well---sometimes we need to let go of all the cares and concerns which tie us down to time consuming routines which bind us to work rather than others. A light heart, that comes from trusting God and giving thanks, allows one to "regroup"  and gather in for herself and in turn pour out to others.

CHOOSE: A COZY READ

Temps have dropped. Tomorrow's lesson done. Supper in crockpot.

FINALLY----time to read. Not just any book. I've read so many gut wrenching WWII books lately that I think a "gentle" read is in order. 

A cuppa, Jan Karon's latest book about Father Tim and the residents of Mitford coupled with a full-size quilt and a quiet house beckon me to read. It's sort of like going back home---sometimes you just need to do it to be replenished.

CHOOSE: TO EMPATHIZE

In his latest book, If I Understood You, Would I Have This look on My Face?, Alan Alda calls misunderstanding the grit in the gears of daily life that "jams" our relationships. (p.4)
That's why one needs to empty oneself of that self-promoting/arcane language that causes misconceptions and often hinders our relationships with others.

We can suffer the snags of misunderstanding---in important relationships b/c we are getting so bogged down in confusing language that usurps the important aspects of communication--relating well to other people.

What are the essentials of relating well to others? According to Alda, empathy is key---a fundamental ingredient in for real communication. An important component of communicating well with others.

The intro alone with his funny dental experience when he didn't understand the tethering of his maxillary labial frenum is a worthy read in and of itself! As an author, actor and screenwriter, Alda once again shows his unassuming intelligence along with his uncanny ability to make sense of the minutiae of an esoteric language whether that of a scientist, computer engineer, researcher or medical professional. His goal is to teach those in medicine, insurance or technology to talk to the rest of us by stressing empathy.

Empathy. In acting, it's called relating. (p.5) Listening to them. Hearing them. Observing them.

In Scripture it's putting ourselves in another's place. Not being self-promoting, but considering others more significant that yourself. (Philippians 2:3) A way of looking more to another's interest than our own. (1Corinthians 10:24)

Maybe in communicating/relating with others, we all need to do the same. Empathize.

As scripture puts it, an understanding that gives one the sensitive ability to "bear one another's burdens." (Galatians 6:2)

Simply put, choose empathy.