Favorite Quote of 2015

Morning Will Come Again

"I sometimes think that we stand at sunset," Eugenus said after a pause. "It may be that the night will close over us in the end, but I believe that morning will come again. Morning always grows again out of the darkness, though maybe not for the people who saw the sun go down. We are the Lantern Bearers, my friend, for us to keep something burning, to carry what light we can forward into the darkness and the wind." Aquila was silent a moment, and then he said an odd thing: "I wonder if they will remember us at all, those people on the other side of the darkness."

-The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutclif

2015 Top Five Favorite Books

This years top five go almost exclusively to the Wilson family. In fact, if I had not combined the number one spot with the two books from the 100 cupboards trilogy it would be a sweep by the Wilsons.

1. Dandelion Fire and Chestnut King by ND Wilson

The 100 Cupboards trilogy is a new favorite at our house and one that we intend to read again and again. Everything is right about these books.

2. Death By Living by ND Wilson

3. Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl by ND Wilson

4. True Companion by Nancy Wilson

5. Watership Down by Richard Adams

Honorable Mention:

Consider This by Karen Glass

The Brendan Voyage by Tim Severin

How the Heather Looks by Joan Bodger

The Dream Keeper by Langston Hughes

The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutclif

Other books read this year:

The Inferno by Dante 

The Grand Weaver by Ravi Zacharias

Created In His Image by Anthony Hoekema

Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates

Haverim by Paul Clayton Gibbs

True Beauty by Carolyn Mahaney

Tales of Troy by Andrew Lang

Housewife Theologian by Aimee Byrd

In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen

Crispin, Cross of Lead by AVI

A Taste of Chaucer by Anne Malcolmson

The Once and Future King by TH White

Doc Susie by Virginia Cornell

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster

The Biggest Story by Kevin De Young

Boys of Blur by ND Wilson

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry

A Growing Love for Trees

Trees are a natural magnet for the boys, because of course they like to climb them! So it makes it easy to point out the different types we have in our area. As they gain a familiarity with a few favorites they begin to take notice of ones that are different.

Here they are admiring the long branches of a live oak.

The boys have always loved a tree with a hole in it. This one had a mushroom growing inside the hole.

This is a pecan tree that is over 200 years old and is still alive despite the fact that you can climb inside its hollow trunk!

Our five year old has been going on nature walks most of his life, but recently he has really taken an interest in trees. I came across a lovely little book about trees in the used bookstore and brought it home little thinking he would latch onto it. Yet he has been requesting it at bedtime and it has caused great interest in the trees around us.

Nothing can replace our actual time spent outdoors, but the right book can certainly enhance it.

Heirs of the Covenant

Leaving A Legacy Of Faith For The Next Generation

I am reading Heirs of the Covenant, by Susan Hunt and chapter 3 is about the book of the covenant. She begins the chapter with the following:

"The first three questions of The Westminster Shorter Catechism put the issue before us succinctly and clearly:

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.

Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

God's Word tells us what we are to believe and how we are to live. It is our rule because it is God's truth-message to us."



A few weeks ago, as I was flipping through my Bible searching for something, a passage in Judges caught my attention. As I read the narrative I was horrified by the story. It was just awful, but it ended with these words;

"In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

It is frightening that this is the very thing many Americans believe they should do. They believe they should do what is right in their own eyes. God have mercy on us. May we turn instead to our King, Jesus Christ, and do what He says is right. And by God's grace may we educate our children in the Scripture that they may not be left to themselves and our culture to find what is right and true.

Ministry to our children is a vital ministry. We must utilize the Scripture to teach them God's covenant of grace, it's privileges and responsibilities.