Top Ten of 2012

Don't you just hate it when you're challenged to pick your top ten?

And your top ten books you've read in the last year, to top it off.  It's almost like being asked to pick my favorite child.  (Well okay, not really, but still!)

The more I think about it, however, it's easy to pick my favorite book I read this year.  Hands down, this award goes to Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.  This book had it all--outstanding writing, intriguing plot, interesting characters, and enough to think about to keep one's brain busy for quite some time.  In the wake of our recent election and news items involving companies like Hostess and Hobby Lobby, this book is increasingly relevant.

It's also pretty easy to include two outstanding books I read this year about worldview:  Assumptions That Affect Our Lives and Life at the Bottom.  These are the kinds of books I would love to read with a good friend and chat the hours away over a Pepsi.

 These books were so well-done that I am tempted to say everyone should read them.  Life at the Bottom, a collection of essays, was the easier read, but they both will challenge and enlighten the reader about what they think, why they think it, and the consequences of their thoughts and attitudes.

 In the area of encouragement for me as a mother, Loving the Little Years easily wins a spot on my top ten.  This book was so encouraging, sprinkled with great tips, and entertaining all at the same time.  I have loaned my copy to several friends and recommended it to many others.  I literally sent an email to several friends who live a distance from me and told them they need to read this book.  Perhaps I should read it again. . .

As a homeschooling mother, I gained a great deal of encouragement and wisdom from Diana Waring's Reaping the Harvest.  This is another book which would benefit from a re-reading.

 I am a little surprised to see Managers of Their Homes on my top ten for 2012 even though it was my third time through.  I include it because it is one of the books that had an impact on my life this year.  In moving twice this year, I had let my daily schedule slip.  The motivation and inspiration I gained from this third reading got our school back on track to the point that, yes, believe it or not, our days almost run themselves.  This is a priceless feeling and every homeschool mother deserves to give it a try.

I was blessed to complete a challenge to read through the Bible in 180 days this year, but I'll not include the Bible on my top ten because, well, that's just a given, right?  But several other books blessed and challenged me in my spiritual walk this year as well.  What I Learned in Narnia by Douglas Wilson was a very rich discussion of some of my favorite books.

 I Will Carry You by Angie Smith was also a powerful testimony of a woman walking through one of the saddest trials I can imagine, but doing so with faith, trust, obedience, and ultimately bringing glory to God.  I am glad to have this real-life example of experiencing tragedy with hope.

I'm also rather reluctantly including 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess on my top ten.  Why reluctantly?  Because I read it pretty recently so I don't know if its impact will wear off over time.  I'm also rather afraid it's a "fad" book, but it has really challenged me in my spiritual walk so I'm including it.  I think it's hard to maintain a balanced life--a life lived in moderation--and she tempts me to extremism.  At the same time, I never want to fall into complacency or a comfortable, self-driven life, so it's good to examine myself again and again.

I think it's ironic that very few fiction books made my top 18 (hey, I had to start somewhere!) as I would tell you I prefer to read fiction.  I turn to fiction for an escape, and probably read more fiction than non-fiction.  But as I evaluate the year and the books I most enjoyed, or the books that made the most impact on my life, or made me think the most. . .well, it's heavy with non-fiction.

I'm surprising myself by picking the inimitable Tom Sawyer as the representative of fun fiction on my top ten list.  It was just such a fun read for me this time through, and Twain's writing was a delight.  To repeat Destry's assessment, "You can tell he was a kid once--and he loved it."

I know I said this was my top ten, but I'm going to include a bonus book that affected me this year.  Especially in light of recent events with Russia closing their borders to US adoptions--even as they have unimaginable numbers of orphans languishing and dying in their orphanages--I can't help but reflect on Alex Krutov's account of his experience in Russia's orphanage system in Infinitely More.

I do recommend this book as an eye-opener to what life is like for orphans.  You might also like to take a few minutes to read Linny's post in light of recent events.

If you want to see the list of the other 65 books I read in 2012, you can check it out here.  I would love to know your favorite book (or books) you read this year!

A Christmas Carol

I had never read it.  Oh, I have seen the movie many times, but I had never read Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol.


But I enjoyed it.  I enjoyed it very much. (Thank you, Carrie.)

Here's the thing:  people just don't write like this anymore.  I keep trying to read newer fiction and, while it satisfies me for a short time, I rarely pause to savor wording like this:

The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at Scrooge's keyhole to regale him with a Christmas carol (13).

or this:

For the people who were shoveling away on the housetops were jovial and full of glee, calling out to one another from the parapets, and now and then exchanging a facetious snowball--better-natured missile far than many a wordy jest--laughing heartily if it went right, and not less heartily if it went wrong (62).

or my favorite:

a red-faced gentleman with a pendulous excrescence on the end of his nose, that shook like the gills of a turkey-cock (95).

This kind of writing just tickles me.  I think we're in too big of a hurry to get through books these days.  We don't want to deal with Dickens-style sentences or descriptions extraneous to the storyline.  I thought this book would be a quick little read, and it was as I completed it in one afternoon, but I paused several times to read phrases again and then read them aloud to my teens as they were too good not to share.

As usual, the book is ever so much better than the movie.  In addition to the quality of prose, the book reveals a greater depth in the characters and is clearer in its theme of our responsibilities to one another as humans:

Mankind was my business.  The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business (25).

This is what I'm "taking to heart" from the book.  It's too easy to waste our lives away in frivolous entertainments, chasing materialism, and excessive busyness.  To waste our lives with self.  May my life not be a wasted opportunity of usefulness.

"Any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, 

whatever it may be, 

will find its mortal life too short 

for its vast means of usefulness. . .

no space or regret can make amends for 

one life's opportunities misused (25).

Wrap Up of Fall Reading

Well, it's time to wrap up Katrina's Fall Reading Challenge.  I find it ironic that my initial "planning post" started with the quote:

“You will be the same person each year

except for the people you meet and the books you read.”

With our recent move to a different state, all the new friends I've made, and the books I've read this year, I think it's safe to say I've changed (hopefully grown) in the past year.

Let's start with the books on my list that I did NOT get read:

• The Age of Revolution by Winston S. Churchill (I started it but then never picked it back up.  Eventually I will read it. . .)
• The Age of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp (My hubby and I decided to read it together so I stopped reading it.  As crazy as our lives have been lately, this is going to take a while, but the first third was excellent!)
• How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (I just never really felt like picking it up so I still haven't started it.)
• Still Missing by Chevy Stevens (My library doesn't have it and I didn't feel like buying it)

The books I read which were actually on my list (linked to the review if I wrote one):

• I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris--I read it with my teens and we thoroughly enjoyed it--great relationship building.
• Preparing to Be a Help Meet by Debi Pearl --I thought it had some good points although I would recommend it to only older teens/young adults with some reservations.
• The Kid Book by Vicki Barnes was an excellent book analyzing four primary personality types.  It confirmed for me that I am a confused mess (chuckle) because I am experienced at "putting on another personality type shirt over my core shirt so I can understand, relate, and speak the language of another personality type" (9).  If you read my previous post on personality types you will understand how much fun I had reading this book.  I didn't write a post reviewing it, but it was very helpful in understanding some of my children better.

• I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn in two days.  It was very well-written and sucked me right in to the storyline.  My final verdict is that the characters were completely psycho and the ending quite unsatisfying.  I can't whole-heartedly recommend it because the language is quite rich and there is simply too much information given, but I have to confess once I started it I didn't want to put it down as I wanted to see what happened.  Believe me, it was NOT what I expected!
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was much more enjoyable to me this time around than it was back in high school.  I read and discussed it with my teens and we had great fun.  I'm waiting to post my review because it's the book I'm choosing for February, my month in Carrie's 2013 Book Club.  Read along with us and come back for the discussion February 22.
• I completed the Faithful, Abundant, True Bible study guide by Kay Arthur, Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer.  There were a couple of great weeks, but the others were just so-so for me.  There are many other Bible studies I've done that I would recommend before this one.
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde was a bust for me.  I read it on the recommendation of a friend, but it just wasn't my thing.  I was quite disappointed as I wanted a great fiction novel to "take me away".
• I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Jewel of Persia by Roseanna White.  I'm not usually a fan of novels based on biblical stories, but this one was mostly historical fiction with Esther playing only a minor role. 
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the December selection for Carrie's Book Club, was a delightful book which I thoroughly enjoyed.  People just don't write like this anymore.  I'm looking forward to writing my review of it for next week.

Now for the long list of books I read that were not on my original list.  
(I get easily distracted by books, what can I say?!)

• Treasure in a Cornfield by Greg Hawley was a delightful adventure tale which I read as a result of our field trip to the Steamboat Arabia in Kansas City.
• Illusion by Frank Peretti was a nice escape and thought-provoking at the same time. 
• The Absolutist by John Boyne was not at all what I expected and I don't recommend it.  I was both disappointed and frustrated.
• The Red Book by Deborah Copaken Kogan was well-written, but full of adult content.
• Peace Child by Don Richardson was very intriguing.  I recommend it. 
• Love in the House by Chris and Wendy Jeub was an easy and inspiring read about a family with 13 children.
• Sleep No More by Iris Johansen was my usual Johansen escape just for fun!
• 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life by Crystal Paine was very educational for me even though I despair of ever actually being disciplined.
• Managers of Their Homes by Teri Maxwell was a re-read for me (third time through) but I got a great deal out of it yet again.  I needed a kick in the rear and Teri once again provided it.
• Scared:  A Novel on the Edge of the World by Tom Davis was eye-opening and convicting as I once again was forced out of my comfort zone to consider what life is like for those in war-torn, AIDS-ridden, third-world countries.
• The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom was. . .hmmmm. . .interesting.
• 7:  An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker is one of those life-changing books that need to be pondered and discussed with a good friend and then read again.  I'm still reflecting on it after writing two posts prompted by it.
• The Next Target by Nikki Arana--fiction with a message. 
• I'm Down:  A Memoir by Mishna Wolff  reminded me that I'm still not a fan of memoirs.
• The Law of Love:  Lessons from the Pages of Deuteronomy (Bible Study) by Beth Moore which I benefited from greatly.
• The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan was a fun "children's fiction" fantasy novel about a boy for whom Greek mythology comes to life that I preread for my son.

So, in summary, I had 13 books on my original plan.  I didn't read four of them, I did read nine of them (hey, the math works out--just checking!)  And I read 14 books in addition to my original plan.  I'm also still working on Raising Godly Tomatoes by Krueger and True Community.by Bridges.

No wonder I feel like I've read a lot of books this Fall!

Blessings of Friendship, Part Two

My dear sister-in-law has been suggesting "minute-to-win-it" party games for a couple years now and I just wasn't sure what she was talking about and was too lazy to look it up.  When she blogged about the wonderful time her family had with some friends playing these games, however, I was hooked.  She is one of those giving sorts of people who even offered to loan me a "party bag" packed with all the items necessary (and I mean every. single. thing!) to play several games.

Neisha, Mindy, Caren, Dian, and Wendy

So we spontaneously invited five families over for snacky foods, fellowship, and a "minute-to-win-it" party game night.  We had 26 people coming, plus the 7 people in our family.  The games were all set up at stations throughout the house (which was decently clean although I left the "tape roads" up for the town the kids have been playing for two weeks), all paper products and drinks were ready, puppy chow was made, and I just needed to bake the bacon-wrapped smokies.  I noticed an odd smell as the oven was preheating, but I was preoccupied.

Fifteen minutes before I expected guests to arrive, I opened the oven door to place the smokies inside and immediately wailed "Noooooooooooooo!"

Then I remembered the day before when Tyrell was playing "cooker" and placed a tote full of cars, tractors, Duplo blocks, Discovery Toy pieces, etc. into the oven.  I had thought he was so cute and precious copying mama in his imaginative play.  But we both forgot to take the tote out of the oven.  So the tote was melted onto two racks and all over the oven.  We quickly cleaned up the mess, saved as many toys as we could, and baked the smokies while welcoming our friends to our stinky house.

It was a night to remember in more ways than one.  Despite the smelly start, we had a wonderful time with these fun-loving friends.  There were kids ranging from 16 down to 2 and everybody got in on the fun.  The first game, Elephant March, got everyone involved right away in trying to knock over full water bottles using a baseball in pantyhose over your head--all within a minute, of course.  (Cadie and Amber pictured below.)

The second game, Bite Me, really loosened everyone up.  The kids were probably better at this game, but the teens and adults were the most entertaining.  In this game, you move along a series of paper bags cut to 10", 8", 6", 4" and 2" height and try to pick them up with your mouth.  The catch is that the only part of your body which can touch the floor is your feet (no hands!).  Destry was annoyingly proficient at this game as he can bend over and kiss the floor.  Yeah, you stand up right now and try that!  I didn't even try this game, but I laughed a lot!

Ernie and Alan were a couple of the first to face off in this game.  Alan is so stubborn he forced his body to accomplish it.  The next morning he complained of a pulled muscle in the back of his thigh but he was fine by evening.

The next two competitors were these flexible friends of mine, Mindy and Caren.  Turns out they are also competitive (I knew there was a reason I liked them!) and they were simply amazing at this game. 

Check out Mindy's winning strategy of holding her ankles for balance.  She said she got the idea from Destry.

Mindy's neck was sore after the game (see what happens when a bunch of 30 and 40 somethings play games like this?!) but she was fine the next morning.  Easton, of course, had no difficulty or repercussions after playing the game.

Another favorite game was Face the Cookie in which you place a cookie on your forehead and move it to your mouth.  You can't use any other body parts and the cookie must stay on your face (no flipping it into the air and catching it in your mouth).  Destry wasn't as good at this as his friend Jarret who won the prize (for yes, Caren brought great prizes which made it even MORE fun) with an amazing 10-second time.

We five women faced off in this game which was a real hoot.

Mindy, Me, Caren and half of Dian's face

I won.  Giggle.

Neisha, Jarret's mom, doesn't quite have the same skills in this area as her son.

I have to say my favorite game was the Nose Dive.  We laughed and laughed and acted about 25 years younger than our actual ages.  It started with the vaseline.

Neisha and Wendy had to get silly with putting vaseline on their noses (because we had pom poms tied to the end of ribbons that we had to flip onto our noses and make them stick).

Neisha and Caren

Once we five women stopped goofing around with the vaseline, it was down to business.  I honestly don't even remember who won this game.

We did better than the teens did when they played.  I think the amount of vaseline was one factor, and the length of the ribbons might have been another.

Once we women were done, we talked the hubbys into playing.  Neisha and Mindy helped grease their husbands' noses.

I decided Alan had enough on his own.

We played lots of other games, (like A Bit Dicey below, where you stack dice on a popsicle stick you hold in your mouth) but I've posted enough pictures for tonight.

Ernie and Alan while Mindy, Caren, and Amber check out the prize basket behind them.

The fun continued on until 11:30 pm!  The moms got into a competitive game of Dutch Blitz, the men visited, the teens goofed off and played ping pong, and the girls played more games.

The boys had fun playing with Legos, trains, and Rush Hour and finally ended up outside playing knights and soldiers and other great boy games in the dark.

We really had a great time, and look forward to years of fun and laughter with our new friends.

Blessings of Friendship, Part One

One of the things that was hard for me in moving about a year ago was the thought of our family having to find new friends.  I am a person who really wants friends (even as friendships present their own challenges!) and I like to have fun with groups of people.

From me clockwise:  Debbie, Sarah, Dian, Wendy, Amy, Neisha, and Mindy

As is His custom, the Lord has come through in this area bigger and better than I ever could have imagined or hoped!  I don't know when I'm ever going to learn to just be peaceful and trust Him.  My friend Caren invited me and several friends to a "Blessing Women" banquet at her church a couple weeks ago.  We enjoyed a delicious meal, music and speaker, but the true fun happened at Perkins afterward.  We talked and giggled and acted like a group of teenagers until midnight.  They say I was a bad influence persuading them not to let the night end at eight when the banquet was over, but I had one of the best nights since we moved and am glad to count them as my friends.

As I continue reading and learning more about orphans and widows in Uganda, I was inspired to order some of the Ugandan beads to sell locally and dragged a couple friends into the venture with me.  Ugandan widows and women make the beads from paper, varnish them, and make them into necklaces, bracelets, and earrings for a wage that provides for their families.  The ministry I ordered them from then sells the jewelry and uses the profits to build children's homes for the orphaned and abandoned children of the country.

I've had a lot of fun working with Caren and Neisha to put sets and displays together and share this fun way of helping orphans and widows with people we know. 

It's been a blessing for us to help in this small way and the people who are purchasing the beads are being blessed at the same time, as they help support the cause.  That's my friend Joy above modeling the earrings and necklace she purchased.

From left to right:  Hannah, Destry, Briana, Jarret

My children are being richly blessed by friendships with some great kids as well.  We had tickets for the Broadway musical version of War Horse and they each got to bring a friend.  They had a great time and I think all four of them will treasure this memory, especially of the amazing puppetry implemented to bring the horses to life.

My friend Cheryl (mother of Hannah pictured above as well as six other kiddos who my kids thoroughly enjoy) also invited us over for a day of cookie-making.  She has a recipe for cookie dough that she colors and the kids can play with it like play-dough--only then they get to bake it and eat it!

The kids had all kinds of fun making Christmas-themed cookies, food-themed cookies (I was impressed by the hot dogs even though I didn't get pictures of them), and even the ubiquitous tractors.

How very blessed we are!  Stay tuned for "blessings of friendship" post number two which will share highlights from the "Minute-to-Win-It" party we hosted for five other families last weekend.