The End of March

March often seems like a very, very long month. It may have to do with it being winter, then spring, then winter, then spring, then winter again. In a few hours, it will be over.

It was a bit of a frustrating month as I had trouble booking my spring meetings and then had several cancelations because if illness, family emergencies, and weather. Although nothing can beat the year I had seven families in a row cancel! I am behind on where I should be by now, but not so much that I can't catch up and be done (roughly) on time.

It was a hard month because of some decisions a friend made. I was dealing with confusion and grief and anger and trying to understand things that don't make sense to me at all. And trying to help others deal with it.

It was a fun month as I read many picture books to the small ones, played many trivia games with the bigger ones, spent the night with my Edmonton family, took a couple boys on a public transit adventure and had them over for lunch and Lego, cuddled a wee baby, met with families I hadn't seen since fall, and acquired more art and crafts from the children.

It was a growing month as I prayed fervently and deeply for my friends, dealt with my own heart issues, turned to God again and again with my hurt, prayed fervently for others who were hurt, reevaluated my own choices (of how to spend time mostly), prayed more, and reached out to others, both to love them and to ask for help.

It was a good month. 

What I'm Thankful For: Spring Snow Storm Edition

Indoor heating

Getting home safely

Not having to go outside tomorrow

Indoor plumbing

My bed

Grocery delivery

Public libraries

A collection of blankets

Hot chocolate

Fuzzy socks

Flannel jammies

Home

From the Kids

Wednesday morning I was reading to my little guys. They had been impressed by how many books I owned (based on how many I've read to them) until I told them that most of them came from the library. They they reminded me that I have to give them back!

Once I got on with the reading, this conversation occurred:

Small 5-year-old girl: How do you know what the story is?

Me (slightly perplexed): I can read. 
Me (pointing to the words): The story is right here.

Her: Those letters tell the story?

Me: Yes. The letters make words and they tell the story.

She can't read quite yet and was quite surprised to learn that letters can make words that can then make stories! She (and some of the others) were quite impressed that I can read all of the words!

I love 5-year-olds; they're so easily impressed.

Happy First Day of Spring!

 "The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."   ~Henry Van Dyke

Two weeks ago it felt like spring. Last week winter returned with a vengeance (cold and snow). This week it's been starting to warm up again. By my calculations, we are moving from second winter to spring of deception (as some have called it) and have at least one more return of winter before mud season and proper spring.

Evidence Not Seen: A book review

A friend recommended Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose, and I'm very glad that she did. The book was heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time.

The book is subtitled A Woman's Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II. Darlene tells her story as a young, newly married missionary to New Guinea. She left her home for language school in January 1938 and landed in Indonesia that August. The plan was five years and then a furlough; the reality was almost 8 years, four of them in a Japanese POW camp on one of the islands. 

Darlene's story is heartbreaking. Anyone who has studied WWII history knows that the Japanese POW camps were not a good place to be: they included hard labour, little food, unsanitary conditions, sickness, beatings, and fear. The camp was for women and children; Darlene and her husband were separated and she was never to see him again as he died in a different camp. At one point she was taken to a notorious prison and interrogated/tortured as a suspected spy. It was a dark time.

Darlene's story is also beautiful. Her faith shines through in the midst of everything. She learns again and again to trust God and that He will never leave her. She witnesses to the much feared Japanese leader of the camp; her faith and words touch him and he becomes more gentle, eventually visiting her in the prison and saving her life. Many years later, she will learn that he eventually became a believer. Her faith in the middle of horrendous circumstances was beautiful and encouraging.

I absolutely recommend Evidence Not Seen.

When You Are Speaking With Others

"If she sins, speak of God's forgiveness. If she fails, speak of God's mercy. If she doubts, speak of God's faithfulness. If she suffers, speak of God's lovingkindness. And if she hurts or offends you, remember that as God has been gracious to you in your salvation, you must also be gracious to her -- especially when you speak."

When Words Matter Most

Cheryl Marshall and Caroline Newheiser

The Pilgrim's Progress

I've been reading The Pilgrim's Progress to my Sunday School class this year. Someone gave me a curriculum that I can use with them, complete with vocabulary and worksheets. We've been enjoying it, but they have found the 17th Century English a bit much (although they like some of the new words).

Yesterday I finally broke down and started reading to them from a slightly updated version. It's the only one that I approve of so far as it only updates a bit of the language and sentence structure. Much of the very good vocabulary stays, but there's a remarkable lack of "whither" and "goest" and "wherefore" in it. The children were happy and focused better than they had been; while it wasn't that different, it was enough that they thought it was much, much easier to understand.

I only had one complaint. We were up to Faithful's trial in Vanity Fair. In the original, one of the witnesses was called Pickthank, which means someone who flatters. In the new version, his name was updated to Flatterer. While it means the same, Pickthank is a much better name. One of the kids even said that he preferred it to Flatterer. I fixed it as I read, in part because the worksheets used Pickthank.

Overall, it was successful and I've decided to keep with the easier version. They've heard enough of the original to at least be introduced to the language.

My approved text is this one: https://www.crossway.org/books/the-pilgrims-progress-cob/ It seems to be very faithful to the original, it doesn't dumb things down, and it has great illustrations.