Winter Light, Winter Bright

Country Girl says she wishes that every winter were like this one.  No, we don't live where the temperatures have been sub-zero or in the polar vortex.  I don't think we would say the same if we lived there.  But we have had a delightful mix of weather and a little of everything this winter, and I think I'm inclined to agree with my Country Girl.

Just enough snow to make children happy (which is actually quite a lot for around here!)

It's true...our Christmas lights are still up.  And we're even known to still turn them on.  They are white, and we just so like how a touch of light brightens the dark, long days of winter and carries us through until the light of springtime breaks through.

The hummingbirds are having a bit of a tough time maneuvering the winds, but when they do, they are rewarded.  Adventure Girl keeps them supplied, and even thaws their feeder periodically during the day.

I am quite contented to stay warm and to enjoy the cozy fire.  Today I am trying out a new sourdough bread recipe, and it is rising, slowly but surely, atop the pellet stove.  I like the slowing that snow brings.  Lately my head has been swarming with details....so many things to think through this year....graduation, travel plans, hopes and dreams.  And oh yes, the everyday planning of meals, celebrations, what each person needs,etc.  I will still need to tend those, but appreciate how just the presence of this white and drifting snow makes me feel slower and calmer.

Another bright spot of winter for me....knitting.  I just finished this sweater vest for Littlest Warrior.  Can you see the owls?  They are his favorite!  I think I will always remember this season and his love for these creatures, and hope that it drives me to pray he will ever grow in wisdom.  Now I 'm pondering my next knitting project(s).  They are a bit ambitious, but I remain hopeful.

Still another bright spot of winter is that we have made it a tradition to go to the ocean at least once.  Always in search of the sun when the fog sets in at home just a little too long!  Oh how glorious this day was!  Find the sun we did and we spent the day walking, talking, playing, and even squishing sand in our toes (yes, it was warm enough to do that!)  I didn't plan for little ones getting wet, but they could not resist splashing their legs and feet in the tumbling waves on shore.

We found this long piece of sea kelp and found that it makes a perfect jump rope.  And I can still jump rope!

Being at the shore always creates this little flutter in our hearts, because we met there!  If ever there was something to bring light to our hearts in the midst of winter, there it is!

Wishing you bright moments and the light of Him who brings them in your winter days!

My Favorite Reads of 2013

As I recap my reading list for the year, I am grateful to have reached my "40 books" benchmark once again.  This seems to be my pattern for this season of life, and I did have to squeeze in finishing a couple of them in order to reach that benchmark.  But it is a worthy goal to work toward!

The past couple of years I have given a "top 11 or 12" list according to the year.  But I'm not doing that this year.  For one, I just find it hard to select that many "top" books this year.  Don't get me wrong.  I do have some definite favorites.  But perhaps not thirteen of them this year.  Or even ten.  So I will briefly review the ones that stood out to me this year.  Maybe you'll find some to add to your own reading list, whether your personal reading, or reading aloud to your dear children or grandchildren.  This year's favorites are admittedly mostly composed of books I read aloud to my children!  What fun memories they have made.

These are not necessarily listed in any order.  I'm just going to list them as they appear chronologically on my own list.  I'm not going to write much about them, so you will have to investigate them for yourselves.

1.  "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge.  A delightful read all around.  It reads a bit like a fairy tale, but more believable.  I took away some gem quotes from this story, and we just really enjoyed it together.

2.  "Blue Willow" by Doris Gates.  I have a friend who loves this story and even bought her granddaughters their own blue willow plates to go with the book.  I thought that a beautiful little idea that I might just have to tuck away for someday.  This story was a gem, full of the elements that make a story wholesome and good.

3.  "Treasures of the Snow" by Patricia St. John.  So far, I have read only two of Patricia St. John's titles.  I enjoyed this one more than the last only because I didn't like the evil "villain" in the other story.  But she writes excellent stories of redemption.  Stories that have the power to make you cry (which I did) for both injustices, and for the transformation of character.  If you are familiar with Lamplighter Publishing or Lamplighter Theater, her stories fit right in to that "genre."

4.  "Little Britches" by Ralph Moody.  Having a bunch of "country dreamers" in my house, this book was well-loved.  I did edit out the language episodes that appear periodically as part of the "rough and tough Western culture" (and appreciated the many, many reviews of this series over the years that warn you about that element, so I could be forewarned).  I think I cried in this book too.  The children are all eager to read the next book in the series.

5.  "Candy Bomber:  The Story of the Berlin Airlift's 'Chocolate Pilot'" by Michael O. Tunnell.  What can I say about this book?  It is an incredibly heartwarming account of a man, Lt. Gail Halvorson, also known as "Uncle Wiggly Wings," who touched thousands of lives by dropping candy from an airplane.  His legacy still stands for how he used his military career to care for the war-torn, divided, hurting people of Berlin.  Tender Warrior read this one to us all and everyone kept asking him to keep reading.  We all loved it!

6.  "Alone, Yet Not Alone" by Tracy Leininger Craven is the story of her ancestors, sisters who were captured by Indians during the French and Indian War.  We wanted to read this one before National Bible Bee since they would be showing the movie there as an optional activity (which we ended up not seeing anyway for lack of time).  It is a bit on the "scary" side, so I would caution reading this to children younger than ten without some editing.  It is simply written, as the author wrote this story as a young girl, but is a touching story of how God used some tragic events in the lives of these women and carried them through.**As a side note, the book linked here is not the same edition as the one I own.  I do not know if the book has been at all changed to "fit" the movie.  I read one review that suggested this.

7.  "On the Shoulders of Hobbits" by Louis Markos is a bit of an intellectual study of virtue on Tolkien and Lewis. It is largely about the power of story to convey truths about virtues (and vices), which is not a particularly novel concept, but the author does do a good job of pulling these out of the stories.  If you like Tolkien and Lewis, you will probably glean something valuable from this book.

8.  "Hannah Coulter" by Wendell Berry was an interesting fictional story of a woman's life and love and family life in rural America post World War II (primarily).  I found many truths interspersed in this story and many beautiful descriptions of real life.  As with many fictional stories, there are portions I did not care for.  But I found it a very telling study in family life which can communicate powerfully to us today.  This is the only book of Wendell Berry's that I have read so far.  I know he has a whole series of tales on the Coulter family.  I picked this one up after seeing a trusted recommendation, and I enjoyed it.  As I don't spend much time in adult fiction, it might be awhile before I pick up another.  But I would like to read another of Berry's works on this family.

9.  "The Greatest Gift" by Ann Voskamp.  I was at first hesitant to pick this one up, thinking it would end up being just a hard copy of her original  Jesse Tree devotional booklet that I already have.  I was not disappointed!  These are all new devotionals for the Christmas season and I found them insightful, stirring and thought-provoking and just the right thing for my personal Advent devotionals this year. I will be returning to this one again!

It's been a grand year of reading, once again, and I am so thankful to be able to even enjoy the ability to engage with the world of words in story, prose, and teaching.  It still holds true that when I sit down and start reading aloud, everyone drops what they are doing and comes to the living room!  I am grateful for the power of words well-written, well-chosen, and well-told.

A Happy New Year of reading adventures to you all!

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

― C.S. Lewis

linking up today at:

Counting Blessings (to Bible Bee and Back) Part 2

 

More battlefield monuments at Chickamauga.  And the view from on top?  A lovely evening sky and a tree line full of fall foliage colors.

 

Eating at restaurants we don't get to eat at in our part of the country. 

It's true that overall, we don't love to eat out.  The food and atmosphere is so much better at home.  But we do enjoy the occasional eating-out treat.  Since we had to do this more often on our vacation, we made it a point to go to our favorite places that we never get to go to, and that we wouldn't go to any that we could go to "at home."  So, though some may think this humorous, here is our list:

Chick-Fil-A (yumm....peppermint chocolate chip shakes), Cracker Barrel (our older ones love the rustic country décor, the southern-style food, sweet tea, AND that there are NO television sets in this restaurant), and Carabbas (a favorite date place for Tender Warrior and I when we lived in NC).  We also did get in our pulled pork barbeque meal at a Bible Bee event. We also ate at Outback, and we do have those here, but not locally, and we never go there.

A little walk through the bamboo forest at an arboretum. 

 Bamboo is such an interesting plant.

Seeing Scripture displayed in public places. 

We wished we had time to walk through this arboretum--it was beautiful and such a gorgeous, though chilly, morning.  But they had a little driving tour through the riding, and we opted for that since we were on our way to Bible Bee that day.

 

Speaking of Bible Bee....we made it!  The children had a contest day of both successes and disappointments.  It's one tough test, folks.  As it ought to be, on a national level.  It was a rewarding experience for the three of them to make it this far and to share the journey with many friends.  Regardless of final results, the winning was really in the preparation and knowing God's Word more deeply and thoroughly than before.  It's a season of very intensive study.  No one loses at this contest, not a one!

 

 



Watching our children, and our friends' children, be rewarded for all of their diligent efforts.



 

After testing is done?  A great time of play at the water park!  My girls talked me into the "Storm Chaser" right off the top.  It was really quite fun, though that drop like a roller coaster certainly made me scream!  All of the rest were easy-peasy after this one.  And just a whole lot of fun.

Our last stop, when the National Bible Bee was done and good-byes were said, was a whirlwind day trip through Asheville.  Oh, the memories!  We lived here a few years and truly loved it.  Since we had limited time, we decided we needed to return to the Biltmore Estate.  We spent lots of time here when we lived in Asheville.  They are some of my fondest memories of exploring outdoors and enjoying gardens with my then-little-girls.

 



 

Yes, being a tourist-oriented place, it was all decked out for Christmas.  The estate has changed a bit since we left there, but is still entirely charming.  The only "down" side is that an arctic front had just moved through and it was a high of 25 degrees on this day!  We were VERY cold.

 

We did the Candlelight Christmas Evenings tour this year and it was spectacular!  We never did this one when we lived there, and since we came upon a special deal when we were planning our trip in the fall we thought it the perfect opportunity.  The roaring fireplaces, stunning banquet hall tree, trees and lights throughout, gingerbread replica of the house, and the beautiful choir, harp, and hammered dulcimer music performances just made an exquisite experience.  It was a cold evening, but the ambience here was so very warm.  Have you ever seen the library?  It was all we could do to not jump over the cord railing (to keep you on the tour and out of the room), pull up a seat by the roaring fireplace, and start reading!

 

There was a wedding this evening (and you can barely see the bride and groom to the left of the Christmas tree).  We thought they must surely be freezing!

 

 

4 states in one day! 

Now it's time to go home.  It was a long travel day, actually setting foot in four states during the journey (and in case you're wondering, we were heading to the airport for our flight.  This was not a driving trip, but we did drive from the airport to our destinations).  A little sadness felt by all that our adventures were over for now.  There were so many blessings to recount, and a few challenges.  God was very good to us in them all.  Memories together are so worth the making!

 

Counting Blessings (to Bible Bee and Back) Part 1

Littlest Warrior's first airplane trip

 

Finding a van to rent that would fit us all (and our luggage)!

Plantation homes in the south.  Made me feel a little bit like I was in Tara.

 



 

My dearest husband (and how he indulges my photographic whims with such grace) :)

 

Playing miniature golf with my children on this fun "Great Locomotive Chase" themed golf course.  If you haven't seen the Disney movie, it's a good depiction of a famous Civil War story.

 

 

A glorious early morning hike with my older girls around the base of Stone Mountain.  Gorgeous fall colors were still left here.

 

 

The first morning of our trip we woke up to this and thought we were back home!  The tram operator said, "It's like this about 4 or 5 days a year here."  Hmmm....how did we land on one of those?  This was our only day to enjoy Stone Mountain, so it was quite disappointing weather-wise, but we made the best of it.  We could not see the infamous carving, except for standing right up underneath it and making out the bare outlines of it.  At the end of the day, they closed the park early due to the wet weather, and the possibility of thunderstorms (this was the eve of the big tornadoes in the Midwest).  The thunderstorms never came, thankfully.  When we inquired at the desk, they offered to give us a full refund!  This was a huge blessing-in-disguise.  The next day we had to leave, but we made sure to get outdoors as much as possible, and we were able to afford a second trip up to the top of Stone Mountain so that we could actually see!  And God gave us a glorious 60-mile visibility day (and 70-degree temp)!  The best it gets up there.

 

Now we could see that carving in all of its splendor!  And the children rejoiced!

 

 

Stunning views from on top of the mountain.  I realize this picture looks like we are in a very precarious situation, but rest assured...the camera makes it look this way, but there are platforms of rock below and a chain link fence to prevent anyone from falling down the mountain!

 

 

More museums.  This one was highly anticipated for all of the historical relics it holds and because...

 

...it is the home of  "The General" -- The infamous (real) train that the Union stole from the Confederates for one day.  It's the train of "The Great Locomotive Chase."  We could look across the street from the museum and see the place where the Lacey Hotel was and the diner where William Fuller and his crew were eating breakfast when the train was stolen.

 

Overlooking Atlanta from Kennesaw Mountain.

 

 

The imaginations of a young boy.

 

Amazing artwork!  This is an original painting by Civil War artist James Walker in 1874.  It is amazingly large and detailed.  This scene depicts the Battle for Chattanooga at Lookout Mountain. 

 

More mountain-top views.  Yes, we spent a lot of time walking and hiking, but we did not climb these mountains all by ourselves.  Thankfully, there are roads and tram cars for such things.  Still, we tried to imagine how hard it would have been for a soldier.  Truly it is not comprehensible.

 

This part of Tennessee was quite lovely (and still maintained some fall foliage color).  I found myself standing up here looking out over the valley and the mountains, feeling quite small, but amazed that I could even have such an opportunity.  And that God's people are spread all over this great land.

 

I am so thankful for such an adventure, for the preservation of so much history, for breathtaking landscapes, and for blessings both seen and unseen.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.

~ Edward Sandford Martin

 

In Honor of Veteran's Day

We are blessed to live in a community that honors the military veterans of our country.  Each Veteran's Day (when the weather is tolerable), the children anticipate the celebration highlighted by an outstanding parade.  We might feel a little closer to this subject than many, but we have always felt it is our duty to pass on to our children the heritage of our country.  We live in a generation in which it seems a connection to history and the sacrifices of our forefathers are fast being discarded in favor of present "everythings"-- modern conveniences, lightning-speed communications, entertainment, and the sense that what is today is all that matters, and that those who have gone before us are outdated, old-fashioned, and out-of-touch.  Sad, to say the least.

So we make it our ambition to take our children to events that honor our nation's military, especially on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day.  Some of our best memories associated with these events are when we have opportunities to speak with veterans of their experiences.

So, just a few highlights to share:

 

I thought this one was especially well-done.  It made me want to go and shake each one's hand and say, "Thank you."  But as they are all on a platform, a wave of thanks had to do.

We have a friend who is a World War II re-enactor and historian.  This was his first parade march.  His first book is available now!

 

 

 

The most photographed segment of the parade is probably the Civil War re-enactors, as we have some who are particularly fascinated by studies of the Civil War.

 

 

And they still love horses, too!  They are the most anticipated parade exhibition!

 

 

Coming from a heritage of fire-fighters, I always like the fire engines, new and old!

 

We are grateful.  These occasions remind us that we don't enjoy anything in our country because we deserve it or have been handed it on a silver platter.  God has been merciful, and we really have no idea sometimes just how good we have it, even with all of the discouraging political decisions and the loss of freedoms that have taken place.  Real people and real families have suffered enormous sacrifices and even great loss for the blessings of liberty that we enjoy.  Remember to thank a veteran or service member at any time, not just on Veteran's Day.