I had the titles that sat on my grandmother’s bookshelf beside the fireplace nearly memorized. I studied the spines as I sat in the big cozy chair. The Rim of the Prairie. A White Bird Flying. A Lantern in Her Hand. Spring Came On Forever. My grandmother loved Bess Streeter Aldrich. Somewhere in my teens,…
When a PaperbackSwap package arrived the other day, I realized I had to write another post for YLCF’s “Snapshots of Favorite Books”. I grew up with a pink blanket and “Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear…” and “The Goops.” My brother and I (not to mention our mom and dad!) could quote many of the poems…
I knew they were somewhere. After all, I had a special place for them on my bookshelf before we packed up everything during the remodel. And I wanted to take some pictures of them for the upcoming post on YLCF. But could I find them anywhere? No, my books about books were missing. Positively not…
Teary eyes blur the story on the screen. Because it reminded me of the girl I used to be. Young and in love. Happy and care free. Trusting implicitly in my Savior. Seeing every gift as one from His hand. Knowing He would withhold no good thing. What happened to that girl? When did life…
I grew up a log loader operator’s daughter. He grew up a builder’s son. I grew up reading Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel at my grandma’s. He grew up reading The Little House: Her Story every time he visited his next-door neighbors. When we were book shopping as newlyweds, he spotted The Little House. …
“How does a cow go to sleep — tell me how? How does a cow go to sleep?”
By the time it’s pages are half through, Mary’s eyes are drooping. It seems that the effect of saying “go to sleep” over enough times induces actual sleep on the part of a tired toddler—not to mention the yawns that Daddy is doing his best to suppress as he reads!
Going to Sleep on the Farm is one of our 18-month-old daughter Mary Kate’s favorite books…
When the heroines of two of my very favorite books were crying their eyes out over Susan Warner’s The Wide, Wide World, I knew it must really be a real book—and that I had to find a copy. Our local librarian, a dear Mennonite lady, lent me her own copy since it was not to…
When I look in my mirror, I see a momma tired, eyes on the verge of overflowing with tears of exhaustion. When I look in my mirror, I see hair that’s not as curly as it used to be. when I look in my mirror, I see a face and figure swelled many times its…
At age 3 she isn’t quite a “beginning reader,” but my daughter loves The Beginning Reader’s Bible anyway. Marijke ten Cate’s illustrations are bright, realistic, and detailed enough to keep any toddler looking at them for longer than the page takes to read. I like The Beginning Reader’s Bible, too—because unlike most children’s Bibles which…
Five years ago I couldn’t stop staring at the antique engagement ring on my finger and marveling at how God had provided it. Five years ago I couldn’t stop smiling, even as the emotions of engagement and wedding planning overwhelmed me. Five years ago I was trying on wedding dresses and discovered that the shop…
I need something to grab on to, something to steady me.
A goal to focus on, a plan to live by.
I want just the right parenting philosophy that will help me have perfect children.
I need the right schedule to help me organize my day and make me productive.
I long for perfect fellowship with like-minded families living nearby.
I look around so desperately for something to cling to.
But I already know the truth.
Sometimes I feel like I’m missing the Reason for life. Every single day. In my parenting, it’s my inability to find “answers”. In my marriage, it’s seeing my sinful self. The day to day stress of life gets my eyes off the cross—when it should make me run to it! The only time I am…
The End.
The End.