The post graphic is a bit deceitful, as this February held virtually no snow and lots and lots of spring-like weather. It was definitely a month for the books…
I trace the rainbow through the rain and find the promise is not vain that morn shall tearless be.
from George Matheson’s “O Love that will not let me go”
Things worth remembering…
talks with friends that were good for the soul
lots of walks in unseasonably warm weather
color palette experiments
Chinese food with sisters
realizing how much I dislike elevators
watching geese fly north
learning again that “He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30)
lots of fun music practice sessions
hiking with friends (and not losing anyone over the edge)
The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
“Sometimes I don’t think it’s right to tell funny stories about ministers,” said Felicity. “It certainly isn’t respectful.”
“A good story is a good story – no matter who it’s about,” said the Story Girl with ungrammatical relish.
I had such good memories of reading The Story Girl, and it was so enjoyable to read the sequel! There are portions where witchcraft is handled lightly, however, so that’s something to keep in mind when handing it off to younger siblings/friends. L.M. Montgomery can get a little too poetic (ironic, I know!) for my liking, but the cousin/friend dynamics are absolutely hilarious and touching all at once.
‘If any others flee the room in panic or dismay,’ she said sternly, ‘please remember to close the door behind you. Your sobs may disturb the other test-takers.’
It’s been so much fun to read this book with my sisters! Each character is so vividly unique…my personal favorite is Number Two.😂
…the will of God is the place of blessed, painful, fruitful trouble…It is my conviction that one of the reasons we exhibit very little spiritual power is because we are unwilling to accept and experience the fellowship of the Savior’s sufferings, which means acceptance of His cross.
This Lent devotional has been really thought-provoking. I always appreciate Tozer’s perspective.
Do not be afraid of sudden terror… for the Lord will be your confidence.
from Proverbs 3:25-26
From the journal…
God, may they see Your fingerprints all over my motives and my actions!
Help me to choose You in everything…to love people well because they bear Your image.
I find it so interesting that David ends Psalm 119 – a psalm about the Word of God – with a confession that “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.” No matter how much we love the Word, our hearts are still prone to wander and we’re no less desperate for grace. The commandment doesn’t save; the gospel does.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)
when you understand that God is never late, you wait differently.
unknown
Things worth remembering…
kicking off the new year with a stomach bug…hurrah! It could only get better from there. XD
practicing bass runs with my brother
road-tripping with siblings and some of our favorite songs
coming up with a tentative title for Project Redemption👀
tea and chats with friends
hitting 50k words on Project Redemption
people watching at Culvers
frigid temps followed by a glorious (albeit slushy) heat wave
music practice that felt like the best worship jam session ever
toting a baby doll and stroller around the mall in disguise
No matter how far from ease, a wise woman’s heart is betrothed to gratitude.
from “The divine proverb of streusel” by Sara Brunsvold
What I’ve been reading…
The School Story – Andrew Clements
…in that instant Natalie saw what mattered. It wasn’t whether the book got published or not. It wasn’t whether Zoe was absolutely crazy – which she was. The important thing was Zoe herself, her friend.
This is such a fun MG read! While I’m not a fan of all of his books, I so enjoy how Andrew Clements’ style shines in this one. He really writes some powerful kid characters, and the mother-daughter relationship almost made me cry. I loved reading this to my sisters. (FYI, it does contain a good amount of name calling. I just skip over those words when reading it to sisters!)
Wonderstruck – Brian Selznick
Maybe, thought Ben, we are all cabinets of wonders.
I absolutely LOVED the experience of reading this book. It kept me turning pages so fast…especially because of the brilliance of using only drawings to tell one side of the story. The author used so many little details to draw the reader in and imply things in such a powerful way. I did feel a little let down by the ending, though…there were some minor questions I’d asked that didn’t feel answered, and I just generally wanted more. Also, with it being MG fiction I struggled with the addition of a few mature elements being mentioned/handled casually. Just throwing that out there as a heads up if you want to hand it off to younger ones. Overall, though, I’d probably reread it for fun, as it is such an enjoyable experience!
In My Father’s House – Corrie ten Boom
She began to make plans – we had no money, no experience – but we started.
I’m savoring every moment of this book. I especially love hearing about how two single women and their father opened their home and hearts to so many in the name of Jesus. (It’s also sprinkled with a healthy dose of Corrie’s humor. :))
The Divine Proverb of Streusel – Sara Brunsvold
Ask Nikki questions, she’d told him. Memorize her answers. Lover her accordingly.
This book feels like coming home. I absolutely love Sara Brunsvold’s poetic prose and the quotable qualities of her writing, but wrap it around a rural setting full of German food and history, characters who are solid and real, and a middle-aged bachelor who is painfully awkward around the woman who adores him? I’m sold.❤️❤️
(While handled so tactfully, dealing with the aftermath of a divorce following unfaithfulness is a premise of the story, so be aware of that if it’s something that’s too painful for you.)
I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.
charles spurgeon
From the journal…
Sinning isbasically telling God that His ways aren’t good enough for us…telling God that we know better than He does.
Idon’t have to slink into Your presence with the faint remains of stains on my skin. You have purified me completely, and You cause these bones You have broken to rejoice.
In the way I respond to trials and disruptions – help me to see Your image in the souls that trouble my own. May I deal graciously and uprightly with any who cross my path. You must increase, I must decrease. Be Lord over my life, not simply my words!
Waiting is just a gift of time in disguise – a time to pray wrapped in a ribbon of patience – because is the Lord ever late?
Today’s post is a repost from a couple of years ago that echoes what’s been on my mind lately. I hope you enjoy! ❤
What will I leave behind?
It’s a question that’s tugged at my attention for years. As I read the stories of eternal heroes with short lives and stared at the caskets of people I held dear, the question haunted my mind.
so small and
insignificant
one breath will
blow this life away, and
what
will be the proof that
it was here?
mangled lives
and broken hearts?
friendships
that were torn apart by
hands that now lie still and cold?
oh, no!
forbid it, Lord!
A month or so ago a friend and I were wandering through a beautiful cemetery that sprawls over several acres of hills. (You know you have loyal friends when they smilingly join you on strange expeditions.) There were so many old gravestones – some tipped and sinking deep into the soil. Several were ridiculously tall and ornate, but they were so old that wind and water and time had wiped the sentimental words right off of the marker. Their attempts to leave an echo of their greatness were in vain.
Of course I hope that I leave behind me a trail of words that can point others to Christ and to truth decades after I’m gone, but paper burns. Ink fades. Files become corrupted.
If words are all I leave, I’ve failed.
For even if my words could surpass the masterpieces of Dickens and Shakespeare,
If I sang with the voice of an angel,
If the world remembers my name until the world stops turning,
Goodness. In some ways I feel as though 2023 never existed, and in others I feel as though it lasted a lifetime. XD Maybe I’ll do a year wrap-up post in a week or so, but here’s December’s recap for now! Here’s a coffee for the ride.☕ 🙂
And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.
Psalm 39:7
Things worth remembering…
my dear aunt’s homegoing…only happy tears for her from now on. ❤
lots of cousin time
learning that thou shalt trust thy grandmother’s navigational advice and not thine own misgivings (I’m sorry I doubted you, Grandma.🙈)
minute-to-win-it games with friends (bonus points for not burning the house down)
crocheting a beanie that no one wants to wear
all of the Sunday School Christmas program practices
the Christmas program itself…everyone brought their best to the table and made it so special!
a very brown and green Christmas
surviving weeks of cold and flu bugs viciously crawling through the household
When we have an agenda for God, we can’t see the gifts from God.
How many of us acted and spoke out and fought for beliefs that we held because our environment told us to? As much as I wanted to blame my England, I knew the blame sat with me. I hadn’t trained myself to discern. To examine. To seek the source. That was about to change.
I wasn’t expecting the allegorical elements of this book, and I absolutely loved them. With its nods to history and the complex plot, I enjoyed it immensely! It’s a little on the bloody side, but such a good read if you don’t mind that.
“Just this morning the tastiest redfish in the lake swam up to me and said he was there to give himself up for the most honorable and noble Persian man of an approaching caravan. And here you are!”
Salamar laughed a loud laugh. “And for how much did this redfish say he would sell himself before being smoked and salted?”
The boy shrugged. “Oh, only a small token of, say, five measures of fine Persian tea.”
Listening to my dad read this in the evenings this month was definitely a highlight!
I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe, more loved and welcomed than I ever dared hope.
elyse m. Fitzpatrick
From the journal…
Fill me with more of You and a blessed self-forgetfulness.
Lord, thank You for the gift of laughter…for the ability to hold things loosely and lightly because You are the one who truly holds it all.
*Remembering the character of our God will lead to a complete trust of Him with the future.*
The sinner must come to Jesus, not to works, ordinances, or doctrines, but to a personal Redeemer, who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.
charles spurgeon
What are some of the memories/thoughts you’re carrying away from this past December?
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)
I wrote this two years ago and decided to reshare it because 1.) it was Christmas program weekend (!!!) and that absorbed my thoughts and enthusiasm more than blog posts did, and 2.) it says so much of what’s on my heart again this year. Why try to be original when something old will do? 🙂
Regardless of whether your joy is full or if it’s something you’re looking hard for this year, this post is for you. ❤
Every year we talk about how the Christmas season is so hard for many people.
It’s always acknowledged, but all the acknowledgements in the world won’t change the fact that many of us will be crying inside at times this Christmas, even as we’re surrounded by family and friends who love us more than we know.
But don’t you know that this ache, this emptiness, this longing loneliness is the very reason Christmas even exists?
This world is broken. People fail. Hearts shatter. People hurt. People die.
So God wrapped himself in trembling flesh to heal that brokenness for eternity.
God with us.
Not God peering down on us from the heights of His holiness. Not God ruling over us. Not God commanding us from a distant galaxy.
No.
God with us.
God wailing with hunger and cold.
God being carried from His home country to safety.
God playing in the very dirt His fingers once molded to form the first of his people.
God trying to escape the exhausting press of a crowd.
God sleeping in a boat in the middle of a churning sea.
God weeping.
God making a meal for his best friends.
God sweating our blood, pleading with His Father for an easier path.
God dying.
God hurling away our sin and drawing us near to Himself.
God with us.
In our pain, in our sorrow, in our heartbreak, in our loneliness, in our brokenness, in our despair…
God with us.
God promising that the brokenness of this world is not the end. The end of the brokenness will come and seep into eternity…
Laurel Luehmann 