Book Recommendation: Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye

This is one from the archives that I wanted to endorse again. We follow a copy/dictation/from-memory writing plan.  On Fridays, we've been using a game from this book for Elizabeth's writing lesson, just to mix things up a bit. She is always so excited when it's a "Games for Writing" day!  Parents, I highly recommend this book, especially if you have a hesitant writer in your family and even if you don't.  I'd be happy to lend this book to you if you're local and want to check it out!

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October, 2010

I bought this book last year because it was recommended somewhere. I enjoyed using the activities a little here and there, but didn't get into it much.

Last week, I was thinking our writing routine was getting a little monotonous and returned to Games for Writing. We played two games this week and E wrote up a storm! One reason these games have been fun, is her current writing level: she knows how to form all of the letters (though not always in the correct orientation!) and has attempted a little writing and invented spelling on her own, outside "school time." As her teacher, I picked a couple of games I thought might really get her going.

For the record, this is a book full of fun activities you could do with a child in school; it's not a homeschoolers book or part of any curriculum. Many of the games grew out of a desire to inspire kids who hated writing and is geared toward children in Kindergarten through third grade.

I'm sure you're wondering, so here are the two games we played this week!

1. A Race of Words - Race the child to write as many words as they can naming things in the room in 10 minutes. You can give the child a head start and she suggests a scoring system.
2. Do it! - Take turns writing down something for the other to do, and then they have to do it! For example: jump up and down three times, crawl around the table like a crab, go up the stairs and slide down, etc. (Both of these games are writing, NOT spelling, activities.)

I think the games in this book for after the child already knows his letters and can do a little writing are more fun than the "getting started" ideas. That's not a fault of the book, just a personal observation; I'm mostly excited to see my girl writing!

And why not let it be fun?

I've Never Read a Parenting Book Like This One

Last night I finished reading Hints on Child Training by Henry Clay Trumbull.

Wow, what a book.

Trumbull penned this book in his sixties in the year 1890, having raised eight of his own children and in the midst of being a grandfather to many more.  (Cool fact: He's Elisabeth Elliot's great-grandfather.)  This book came highly recommended by the Clarkson family, founders of Whole Heart Ministries; Sally Clarkson has written many books on the call of motherhood that God has used to change my life and dynamics in our family.  So I picked it up at the MomHeart conference last spring.  But, I was skeptical.  Really?  Wouldn't a book from the late 19th century be just another treatise on spanking, speak-only-when-spoken-to, authoritative parenting?

The answer to my question, as I read through chapter after chapter was a resounding, "NO!" *

I would summarize Trumbull's book with one word: tenderness.  Paragraph after paragraph I was left desiring to love and value the little ones God has put in our care each and every day, from the moment they boisterously wake to the whispers we share at bedtime.

Chapters that made me pause and think ... and already make some changes:

• Honoring a Child's Individuality
• Training Children to Sabbath Observance
• The Value of Table Talk
• Never Punish a Child in Anger
• Dealing Tenderly with a Child's Fears
• Good-Night Words

The influence of Trumbull's words has little to do with specific methods.  Rather, he presents child training as a journey of respect and delight shared between parent and child.  He offers some suggestions for how to train children in specific areas, how to make the Sabbath or Christmas special, how to take advantage of the bedtime routine to bless your children, how to include children in dinner conversation, etc.  However, one does not finish reading thinking, Okay, I've now got to put Trumbull's plan into action to "get it right."  I was left thinking, Wow, our relationships in our family can be so much richer, our celebration of the Sabbath can be so much more special, our work to raise these kids is such a blessed calling and God will help us do it as we turn to Him and let ourselves really love our kids and take seriously their training.

My strong opinion: you can pitch all of your other parenting books, as long is this one is on your shelf (and it has been read!)  Pittsburgh peeps, my copy is now available for borrowing if you'd like to "try before you buy!"




* I should have known better than to think the Clarksons would recommend anything but the best.  My apologies, Clay and Sally!

The Hidden Art of Homemaking

I've been running in circles where Edith Schaeffer's The Hidden Art of Homemaking is recommended reading.  I finally purchased a copy at the Women's Retreat in the beginning of April and have been reading through it slowly, one chapter at a time, though not daily.

I think I would summarize the book this way:  God is beautiful and creative; the people He created can and should reflect these attributes.  We can do so in our lives and our homes by tapping into the "hidden arts" with us, to the benefit of all who enter our homes and our lives,  and to the glory of God.

The first chapter is just wonderful, opening the reader's eyes to the beauty of God in his creativity and originality.  It's titled The First Artist and Schaeffer discusses God's creativity in ways I've never considered AND gently suggests that His image bearers need to express those aspects of God which are within us.  If you read no other chapter of the book, certainly read this one.

expressing a little hidden art
on our dining table

After that first chapter, Schaeffer explains what Hidden Art is in the second.  Her quote: I would define 'hidden art' as the art found in the ordinary areas of everyday life.  Each person has, I believe, some talent which is unfulfilled in some hidden area of his being - a talent which could be expressed and developed. (p. 31) The following chapters focus on specific areas of life and creativity - music, painting/sketching/sculpting, interior decoration, gardens/gardening, flower arranging, food, writing, drama, creative recreation, clothing, and integration - offering anecdotes and suggestions for expressing your own hidden art within them.

The final chapter is called Environment.  The content was different than what my 21 Centruy, "go green" mind  expected.  Rather than talking about taking care of the environment, she shares about the importance of taking care of you.  She says, we are an environment which is affecting people around us.  People who come across us or who walk into our presence, become involved. ... Whether we choose to be an environment or not, we are.  (p. 208)  It was a perfect end to the book, I closed it feeling inspired to be a blessing to those around me and to make my home place where people feel welcome and fed (physically, emotionally, and spiritually), because God has only given me my environment, namely me.  And I want to be a better steward.

My only criticism of this book is the title.  Formerly it was titled The Hidden Art.  Adding of Homemaking  led me to believe that it is a book only for women, and perhaps only women who are home all the time.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  She talks about roommates, singles, men, and women in her stories and suggestions.  So, if you're reading this and you are a person and you live somewhere, this book is for you!

Allow me to close with the last sentence of the book.  It goes without saying, too, that 'The Environment', which is you should be an environment which speaks of the wonder of the Creator who made you. (p. 214)

Blessings to you on this Sabbath day!

Calling

I'm reading Os Guiness' The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life right now, a chapter per day as he intends the reader to take it.  It's fascinating on many levels, but I'm most struck by his thorough but gentle analysis of culture, how well-read he is, and how thoughtfully he approaches faith, while calling his readers to a personal, active, real relationship with Jesus.  In short, I would recommend this book.

Some quotes:

This gives me hope, because I am far too proud.

Do we feel the wonder of being called?  It is all a gift and all of grace.Pride is the first and worst sin, so grace is most amazing when it embraces the fruits of pride rather than the fruits of gluttony or lust, when it reaches the Pharisee soul rather than the profligate Mary Magdalene, when it wins the proud person made prouder still by calling rather than the sinner feeling unworthy to be addressed.Only Grace can dissolve the hard, solitary, vaunting "I" of the sin of pride in each of us.  But the good news is that it does.  p. 123

This I thought was interesting.

When we set out in youth and choose careers for external reasons - such as the lure of the salary, the prestige or the position, or pressure from parents and peers - we are setting ourselves up for frustration later in life if the work does not equally suit us for internal reasons, namely our giftedness and calling.  "Success" may the flatter us on the outside and "significance eludes us from the inside. ... Any contradiction between our callings and our careers condemns us to be square pegs in round holes.  p. 150-151

This is a wonderful sentence.

God has called us, and we are never more ourselves than when we are fully stretched and answering.  p 151

Blogging has been put on the back burner, with the retreat coming up next weekend and all kinds of random evening activities.  I've got some posts floating around in my head, but no time to flesh them and get them written and posted.  Perhaps things will get back to normal around here next week.  In the meantime, I may have to just post pictures of my kids and things we've been up to!  Those are "easy" posts.

If you would pray for the womens retreat at which I'll be speaking next Saturday and Sunday, I'd appreciate it, specifically around 10am and 7pm on Saturday and 10am on Sunday.  Pray for open hearts to hear the gospel and that I wouldn't talk too fast!

Ooooh, maybe when I get back I'll give you a summary of the talks!  Here are the titles:

• Jesus the Servant: Our Lord and Savior
• Jesus the Servant: Our Example
• Jesus the Servant: Empowering and Equipping Us

Peace to you today friends.  May God enable you to see how the gospel applies to whatever situation in which you find yourself.  I'm trying to learn how to do this myself.  :)

The Screwtape Letters

This is almost it, folks.  Tomorrow's post will round out a month of daily posts.  Wow, it went by fast.  Tomorrow we'll also reveal the winners of the Sally Clarkson book giveaway ... last chance to throw your name into the ring!

Since I read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis this month, I want to share a couple of passages that have stuck with me.  This is one marvelous book!  It's fiction, but bursting with rich Biblical themes.  Adjusting to the perspective can take a couple of chapters, e.g. "The Enemy" is God since it's an exchange between demons, but it doesn't take long to get into the story.  What an amazing reminder that there are powers at work that we don't see but are part of reality, whether we're giving them any attention or not!


It seems one cannot go wrong reading a work by Lewis.  What a gift God gave to the world in C.S. Lewis; I'm so glad He called him to be His own!

Okay, on with the show.  Two of my favorite passages concern the topics of suffering/trials and dying to self.

On Suffering/Trials: (p. 45-46)

To decide what the best use of it is, you must ask what use the Enemy wants to make of it, and then do the opposite.  Now it may surprise you to learn that in His efforts to get permanent possession of a soul, He relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else.  The reason is this.  to us a human is primarily food; our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own area of selfhood at its expense.  But the obedience which the Enemy demands of men is quite a different thing.  One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth.  He really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself - creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His.  We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons.  We want to suck in, He wants to give out.  We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over.  Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united with Himself but still distinct.

On Dying to Self: (p. 68)

Of course I know that the Enemy also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a different way.  Remember always, that He really likes the little vermin, and sets an absurd value on the distinctness of every one of them.  When He talks of their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever.

The latter quote I have found to be quite true in my own life; though I never could have expressed it so eloquently.  God has taken this people-pleasing woman and turned her away from manipulation and self-aggrandizement to service for the joy of serving and loving God and others.  Things I used to do because I felt I had to in order to get my way or look good, I now do because I want to.  Only God can do that - free us from what binds us and then hand it back to us, repackaged to bring us delight, because He created us in specific ways, with specific purposes in mind.

I could quote so many more paragraphs from The Screwtape Letters.  Instead, I"ll leave you to pull the book off the library or bookstore shelf!

Moved by a Children's Book

This morning I read Beethoven Lives Upstairs to Elizabeth. It's historical fiction about the time during which Beethoven wrote his 9th Symphony, told through letters between a young boy, named Christoph, and his uncle. Christoph's young widowed mother rents the second floor of their home to Beethoven himself.

Through his letters, the uncle encourages Christoph to be empathetic toward the very noisy and moody deaf man of a difficult history, who often wakes his family with his excessive pounding. The end is so touching I had to swallow back tears to not cry like a baby over the last two pages!

We listened to the finale (all I had available on cd) after finishing the story. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be in that hall in Vienna in 1824, to listen to such beautiful music, written by a man who did not even know that the audience was on their feet applauding his work, because he could not hear them.

Remarkable

And it sure choked me up today.

JOHN by R.C. Sproul

If you've been following this blog for a while, you may remember this post where I discussed a new method of personal Bible study:

1. read through a book of the Bible chapter by chapter
2. read through it again with a companion commentary
3. work through a Bible study on the book

I did this with the book of Joshua and at the beginning of 2010 started in John. (I don't study very fast, do I?! Quality not quantity is okay when it comes to the Word, don't you think?)

I had finished up reading John and needed a reliable commentary. My folks got me this one by R.C. Sproul (at my request - Amazon and CBD reviews are very helpful in researching good books) for my birthday in June. Friends, are you looking to be taught, rebuked, corrected, and trained in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16)? This book is for you! This collection of sermons adapted to print will inspire your faith, lead you to repentance, and feed your soul and mind as you study the person of Jesus in John's gospel.

Some quotable quotes to whet your appetite:

• Those of us who believe in Christ are His disciples. But like John [the Baptist], we need to see that we are not worthy in and of ourselves to untie His shoes, for we have sinned against God and despised His just rule. Despite that, Jesus gave Himself for us, to redeem us from our sin. May we never cease to give thanks for such a great salvation. p. 12

• If you have in your heart today any affection for Christ at all, it is because God the Holy Spirit in His sweetness, in His power, in His mercy, and in His grace has been to the cemetery of your soul and has raised you from the dead. So you are now alive to the things of Christ and you rejoice in the kingdom into which He has brought you. p. 40

• Christ came in the first place to reconcile us to the Father. ... We need to have the majesty of the Father, in all of His greatness, in our minds as we worship. p.64

• The healing of the nobleman's son is just one more glimpse of the person of Christ, the person who, by His command, by His very word, brings life out of death, safety out of danger, healing out of disease, salvation out of lostness. This is our Jesus, in whom we believe. This is why we are called Christians. p. 74

And I conclude with a zinger in his commentary on John 5: 1-15.

• We need to remind ourselves that if God never blessed us another moment for the rest of our lives, we would have no reason under heaven to do anything but glorify Him, adore Him, and be grateful to Him for the blessings we already have experienced. p. 81

A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller

This book is so good, so poignant, so challenging, so real. You need to get your hands on it! You will not be wasting your time if you read this book. I'm a handful of chapters from finishing, so my book will be available for borrowing really soon. Any takers?!

A couple of comments:

1. It's helped me to understand why I think the way I do, as a result of living post Enlightenment. And why prayer sometimes seems so strangely disconnected from the rest of life.

2. It's given me new energy for prayer and praying for specific things, because God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and He hears and answers the prayers of His people!

One warning:

You will change, too, if you involve yourself in communion with the God of the universe (who loves you too much to let you stay the same!)

A paragraph I read today, at the end of his first chapter about setting up some kind of system for keeping track of what you're praying for:

"Prayer is asking God to incarnate, to get dirty in your life. Yes, the eternal God scrubs floors. For sure we know he washes feet. So take Jesus at his word. Ask him. Tell him what you want. Get dirty. Write out your prayer requests; don't mindlessly drift through life on the American narcotic of busyness. If you try to seize the day, the day will eventually break you. Seize the corner of his garment and don't let go until he blesses you. He will reshape the day." p. 233

May we today begin to seize the corner of His garment, hold on tight, and enjoy the ride with our great, loving, mighty God!

Back to Joshua

A while ago, I posted some of my thoughts on my recent study of the book of Joshua. I left you hanging with the truth that God is holy. I have not contemplated it enough myself, but the Lord is gently working this reality into my thinking. For that, I am grateful. And I apologize for taking so long to follow up, this post has been long in the making.

Some comments on how I've been studying Joshua: I've now finished reading through Joshua section by section using the commentary I purchased by James Mongtomery Boice. It is excellent. (Made only slightly more excellent by the fact that I learned today that he grew up in McKeesport, outside Pittsburgh! But I digress....)

So this has been my method of study:

1. read through a book of the Bible chapter by chapter
2. read through it again with a companion commentary
3. work through a Bible study on the book

Currently I'm into #3, using a Life Changes study guide. It's got lots of questions, plenty of additional questions you can read/think about, definitions of Bible terms, and many helpful Bible study tips throughout. I've gotten through a few studies and appreciate it's thoroughness and desire to lead the reader to understand the text, learn about who God is, and apply the Word to life.

Now, where did we leave off last?

Ah yes, God is holy.

He is holy, holy, holy. And this is serious business. This holy God calls people to Himself, guides them, protects them, and keeps them. God made promises to Abraham that he kept and fulfilled in the days of Joshua. But in the process, He also called them to obedience. This holy God cannot be in the presence of sin, He is too holy.

This brings me to the second major thing that has been impressed upon my heart, soul, and mind through the book of Joshua: God's Word is of utmost importance to the believer. The "B-I-B-L-E" really does need to be "the book for me." All of life needs to be lived out of and in response to the Word of God. I don't understand how to do this, but I think that's because I make it too complicated. I want to live on some ethereal, super-spiritual plane that doesn't have much connection with reality. The bottom line is that to live by faith, the Christian must live in obedience to to Word of God. Through the hearing and doing of the Word, we are transformed.

My shortcomings with respect to the Scriptures are many. I don't think about them or treat them as living and active (Hebrews 4:12), therefore I rarely go to the Bible when life is good, to praise and thank God, or when life is tough, to seek His counsel and lean on Him. I don't meditate on it day and night (Psalm 1:1-2), therefore when I do find myself in need of wisdom, there's not much Scripture in my heart for the Spirit to use to instruct, comfort, guide or give me hope. I often let my mind wander during Scripture readings on Sunday mornings ... or give a silent cheer in my heart when the passage is short. (Seriously people, if there is a woman in need of God's grace, I'm she!)

Being in Joshua has encouraged me not to take The Good Book so lightly. In conjunction with teaching about 10 Commandments to Kindergarten and First Graders this summer, I'm so very thankful to have been forced to think about the place of God's Word in my life, and in the life of all believers. When Jesus sums up the commandments, He puts them in two categories, and I'll leave you with these verses on which to meditate until next time.

Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it; love your neighbor as yourself." - Matthew 22:37-39

Today, by God's grace, because of the blood of Jesus, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, may you too find some time to get into God's Word and consider its place in your life. And may you be surprised at the good that comes of it!

"The Dance of Anger"

I'd like to offer my thoughts on the book The Dance of Anger: a woman's guide to changing the patterns of intimate relationships by Harriet Lerner. I've been thinking a little lately, about how easily I get angry and really want to make some changes so I'm not passing the pattern on in our family. Someone suggested this book a long time ago, but I'd never gotten to it. When I came to mind I picked it up at the library. I believe it was a good recommendation and has given me some great things to think about and ideas to implement. This book, however, does not address the issue of anger as sin, since it's not written by a Christian author. And really, that is the root of my/our problem and only God can change us from angry people to people of peace and calm responses. Nevertheless, I do love some of the points Lerner has to make and will share them here.

As the title indicates, this book deals with anger in our relationships. Here are points I loved and will incorporate more into my thinking:

1. Use your anger to help you learn more about yourself and move toward change. Anger usually indicates something much deeper than what's making us furious on the surface. Take time, when angry (or after you've cooled down!), to ask yourself some questions and really get at the root of the problem.
2. You can't change other people, so focus on observing your relationships and thinking through changes YOU need to make to change the "dance" you're in with people, to move away from angry patterns.
3. There are no quick fixes, we have to make decisions about how we will interact differently and stick with it when we're faced with "counter moves" from others. Change in relationships takes times. There's hope, but there's also work to be put in!
4. Observe, observe, observe how you and others act and react in relationships. Do you distance or pursue? Are you overfunctioning or underfunctioning? Are you blaming instead of taking responsibility for your part in the relationship? After this, you can think about changes you need to make moving forward.
5. Get to know your family history. She encourages us to have relationships with family members independent of others. And she suggests putting together a family tree that includes births, marriages, deaths, illnesses, divorces, education levels, etc. to see patterns and/or understand tense times in our history. This can be accomplished by asking questions of many different family members and learning about their lives, instead of just hearing the advice they have on how (they think) we should be living ours.

Overall, Lerner calls women to take responsibility for themselves and define who they are for themselves and in their relationships. It does have a bit of a women's lib. bent to it, that rubbed me the wrong way. But I would recommend the book, especially if you're stuck in angry patterns in some important relationships in your life.

The baby's awake, so this review is over and not proofread. I hope you find it helpful!