BOOKS I FINISHED: JULY 2016

Hittite Warrior, written by Joanne Williamson
A fictional story based on ancient civilizations, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying this book way more than I anticipated. The Canaanites and Hebrews are at war, children are being sacrificed to the god Moloch, and Uriah has to make some hard decisions. This is an upcoming school book for Devon that I read on my own.

Homeschooling for Excellence: How to Take Charge of Your Child's Education - And Why You Absolutely Must, written by David and Micki Colfax
I pretty much avoid books about homeschooling, but a couple friends have recommended this one recently. I figured I'd throw it in the mix this month and it touched on a few things I'd already been pondering.

A Son's Vow: The Charmed Amish Life, Book One, written by Shelley Shepard Gray
This random pull from the new releases was an easy read about a community, both the individuals in it and the group as a whole, that has been rocked by the deaths of several men in a mill fire. I like stories with Amish settings and this one had a theme of anger and bitterness, which is something I've been working through personally lately.

p. 230, "My mamm always said that the Lord gave us babies so we wouldn't forget what it's like to cater to others without seeking anything in return."

p. 250, It was the hard things, the challenges, the situations that took one's pain and suffering and wrought something beautiful that were the moments worth savoring. Those were what changed lives. And because of that, perhaps they were the only moments that truly mattered.

Stink Alley, written by Jamie Gilson
I enjoyed this piece of historical fiction that depicts an English orphan living in Holland in the 1600s. A twelve year old girl without parents, those her family left England with in search of religious freedom, the Dutch whose lives she enjoys, mischievous kids, loyal friends. It's an upcoming school book for Silas that I read on my own.

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March, written by Lynda Blackmon Lowery, as told to Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley, and illustrated by P.J. Loughran
Written for kids, I read this chapter book in about half an hour, then had some little Ws read it. the title is pretty self-explanatory.

Unstuffed: Decluttering Your Home, Mind & Soul, written by Ruth Soukop
I heard about this book from Sarah, my friend at Strategy Sarah, on her personal FB page and finally made it to the top of the library's hold list. It's a great book! I love that it's less about minimalism or organization and more about deciding what your priorities are, setting appropriate goals, and then making deliberate choices to only invest space, time, and resources into what truly matters in your life. So many great things to ponder and put into practice, but written in a way that anyone at any season of life can put into practice the principles that are shared.

p. 29, I want my home to be a place where the people I love can gather. I want my home to be a place where my focus is not on whether my flat-screen TV is big enough or my decor stylish enough or my food gourmet enough, but instead on how welcome and wanted and right-at-home everyone feels when they walk through the door.

p. 30, It was a tough lesson, but I've learned that the very first step toward becoming unstuffed is being realistic about how we actually use our homes rather than how we think we should use them.

p. 83, None of us want to see our kids stumble or struggle or get hurt, but too often we become enablers for their self-destructive behavior by not allowing them to learn lessons the hard way - because they've refused to learn them the easy way.

p. 96, But here's the truth: A busy life is not the same as a meaningful one.

p.104-105, The problem with striving for balance in a DIY culture that is constantly reminding us to do more, have more, and be more is that we think achieving balance is something we can DO. Instead, I think balance happens in the margin. Balance doesn't happen from things we are doing; it is what happens when we stop doing. Learning to say no is the first step to a more balanced life. Remembering to rest is the second. And guess what? There is no third step.

Balance comes from rest.

p. 107, The key to resting - and I mean really resting - is actually allowing your mind and body to take a break even when there is more to do. Because there will always be more to do. Every day. For the rest of our lives. Look at it this way - if God could take a day off without the world falling apart, so can we.

p. 165, Nor should we become so consumed by the need to eliminate superficial relationships in our life that we forget to show compassion, kindness,and grace.

p. 193, Consider that the average American spends 9.3 hours sitting each day, which, if you are paying attention, is almost an hour and a half more than we spend sleeping.

p. 209, In fact, if there is one thing the Bible makes abundantly clear again and again, it is that God uses the most messed-up, flawed, not-good-enough people to do his will again and again, because messed-up, flawed, not-good-enough people are, quite frankly, all that he has to choose from.

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MOVIES I WATCHED: 5/6/16 - 6/28/16

12 Angry Men
I've always liked this movie and recently watched it with Tim and the boys. It's about a group of jurors who must make a unanimous decision in a murder case, with one juror who votes non-guilty because he doesn't think the evidence confirms guilt and eleven who, for a variety of reason, vote guilty..

The 33
We don't watch TV, but I remember watching live coverage on our computer of the Chilean miners coming out of captivity in 2010. Even though I knew everyone would get out safely, the part in the movie where they hauled the 33 men up through the ground, one by one, was still stressful to watch. It was a good movie, though. The whole ordeal is so impressive - the miners' ability to stay alive for as long as they did on their own, the technology that kept them nourished for so long, the countless hours of paid workers and volunteers who helped with the rescue, served the loved ones, kept everyone updated on the progress, and so on. Amazing.

As a sidenote, I'm not selling the little bit of jewelry I already own because of this movie or anything, but the part where someone says they'll get paid $200 a month for the mining job made me sick. The fact that people are putting their health and lives at serious risk to provide for their families at $10 a day in order for other people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a single piece of jewelry to wear for the sake of appearance, status, or tradition is wrong. I don't know what the solution is, but that's just so wrong.

The Brooke Ellison Story
This is the true story of a woman two younger than me who was paralyzed on her first day of middle school. With an immense amount of dedication from her entire family, she went on to graduate with honors from high school and eventually became the first quadriplegic to graduate from Harvard, which she did magna cum laude. Speaking of quadriplegics, this was the last movie that Christopher Reeve directed.

Gruffalo & Gruffalo's Child: Double Feature
I'd never heard of either of the books by these titles when Teebs picked the movies for us to watch together, but both movies were cute. The first is about a mouse who has to outwit some forest animals,including a gruffalo, who would love to eat him. The second is about the gruffalo's child going out to find the terrifying mouse.

A Small Act
This documentary is about a Kenyan man whose secondary education was sponsored by woman he'd never met. He grew up to be a Harvard graduate and a United Nations lawyer who specializes in human rights, discrimination, and genocide. He eventually founded a Kenyan organization, named after his own benefactor, that sponsors secondary education for gifted students. It was only after he was established in his career and the foundation was in operation that he met his benefactor and discovered she was a Holocaust survivor. The power of generosity, the importance of education, and the opportunity to pay kindness forward are all part of their friendship and story.

Woodlawn
A 1970's Birmingham high school filled with racial tension has a football team that experiences a spiritual revival, which makes a hugely positive impact on the players and coaches. That year their previously divided team ends up uniting and playing in the largest high school football game Birmingham has ever had. Also, that year Tony Nathan, who eventually played in the NFL, became their first black player to rise to stardom.

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BOOKS I FINISHED - JUNE 2016

Empty Places: A Novel, written by Kathy Cannon Wiechman
I enjoyed this story of a thirteen year old girl living in rural Kentucky during the 1930s. Her mom, who she can't recall anything about, has been gone for years, and her family is looked down upon by members of their mining community because of her mom's disappearance, dad's drinking, and their poverty. Trying to fill the empty places in her mind and heart, she seeks to find out more about her mom, help her dad, and keep her family together.

Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters, written by Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger with Jeffrey Zaslow
I read the first few chapters, skipped the middle, then read from the emergency landing of his airplane in the Hudson River through to the end of the book. He's received all sorts of accolades and admiration for landing that plane, which is totally understandable, but I love how he constantly praises other people through the whole book.

p.42, People have incredibly high expectations for airline travel, and they should. But they don't always put the risks in perspective. Consider that more than thirty-seven thousand people died in auto accidents in the last year. That was about seven hundred a week, yet we never heard about most of those fatalities because they happened one or two at a time. Now imagine if seven hundred people were dying every week in airline accidents; the equivalent of a commercial jet crashing almost every day. The airports would be shut down and every airliner would be grounded.

p.313, When Kelly was very young, she once asked me, "Whats the best job in the world?"

My answer to her was this: "It's the job you would do even if you didn't have to." It's so important for people to find jobs suited to their strengths and passions. People who love their jobs work more diligently at them. They become more adept at the intricacies of their duties. They serve the world well.

p.314, This has been a reminder to me: We need to try to do the right thing every time, to perform at our best, because we never know which moment in our lives we'll be judged on.

It is Well With My Soul: The Extraordinary Life of a 106-Year-Old Woman, written by Ella Mae Cheeks Johnson with Patricia Mulcahy
Born to former slaves and alive long enough to see a black man voted into the presidency, this book is written by a black woman who lived through all sorts of radical changes in our country. Less storyline and more sharing of thoughts and experiences, it was choppier to read than I anticipated, but it was still interesting.

Peace Child: An Unforgettable Story of Primitive Jungle Treachery in the 20th Century, written by Don Richardson
The Sawi people of New Guinea were a cannibalistic society, living a Stone Age lifestyle in the 1900s, when Richardson's family moved in as missionaries. Over time the Sawi came to see parallels between some of their own traditions of redemption and the salvation God offered through Jesus, which radically changed their whole culture from one rooted in violence and treachery to one of love and peace. This is a school book for Silas, but I read it on my own.