Dappled Things

For those of you who have asked about my progress in reading the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy, I must confess that I haven’t gotten past the first chapter. I promised our preacher I wouldn’t start reading the books without him and it seems as though we just can’t find a convenient time to start reading simultaneously. He is either in the middle of a book or I am. Well, usually I am in the middle of several books, but there are only so many I can juggle at a time. I am beginning to think that I am just going to jump in to the first book of the trilogy, The Bridal Wreath, without my friend.

One of the reasons I am bringing this up is because I have just updated my “literature” links. There are a couple of other books that I’ve been reading that may interest some of you.

I have been reading Home-Making and it has really been both pleasurable and painful at the same time. I suppose one might call it convicting. I find that the author is telling me exactly what I know to be true about creating a home and, although I have longed for this affirmation of what I believe to be true, it stings a little to see in print many of the ways in which I have fallen short. I don’t say this to discourage you from reading this book, though. It was written by a nineteenth century man by the name of J.R. Miller whose eloquence and obvious love takes most of the sting from what he has to say. But not all. And that is as it should be. This book would be worth very little if it just affirmed what we already knew to be true without pricking our hearts into further action. This book is also not just meant for wives and mothers. It is meant to be read by the entire family. Miller is very careful to let the burdens of keeping a Christian home fall where they should. He has words for both husband and wife as well as for the children. We plan on reading this book as a family as soon as I am done with it. I think it will be a very humbling experience for me, but a necessary one.

Raising Maidens of Virtue has been a good read so far. I am pre-reading it before I read it with my girls. I bought it to read with them since they have been coming to me with concerns about modesty, male friendships and what it really means to be a Christian young woman. My girls are still young, but not too young to be talking about such things. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but I have found it to be rather good at covering all of the areas that I feel my girls are desiring instruction in. We are one of only a few homeschooling families in our congregation and we were the first ones to start homeschooling. Thus, my oldest is the oldest homeschooled child in our congregation. We are having to make decisions on an almost daily basis that both put our faith to the test and set precedent for those who follow in our footsteps. I find it comforting that my daughters are coming to me with concerns that most girls wouldn’t even think twice about in our culture. Part of me, though, was concerned that the answers that they were craving wouldn’t fall easily from my lips to their ears. I think that this book will be of great service to us in this area.

Which leads me to a whole series of thoughts that I want to share, but they must wait until some other time. I have a dress that must be ironed before tomorrow morning and it is getting late in the day.