The Ramblings of an Aunt

Small Nephew is my sister's oldest child. He is 19 years old and towers over me, so I suppose I should have accepted by now that he's not my small nephew. Still...

He was such a nice small nephew. I lived with them for a couple months when he was 2 (and his brother was only a baby). I slept on the pull-out couch in the living room, and he used to come and join me in the early mornings to watch some television on the big comfy couch. After I moved out, he came to church with me; I picked him up in the morning and we took the bus to church. Generally we would get a ride home with the pastor's family (I was living with them at the time). Once his mom asked how he got home and he said, "God gave me a ride in his van."

After I moved to Edmonton, he waited eagerly for my visits home. He tried to come up with plans so that I could stay ("If your boss in Edmonton says you don't have to come to work anymore and your boss here says you can come back to work, then you could live with me."). One evening when I was over he was snuggling with me and sighed deeply. I asked if he was sleepy, and he said, "No. I've just been waiting so long for this moment."

We had fun together, with or without his siblings. He was so much fun and interesting and always my small nephew, even as he got taller and taller.

Today, Small Nephew is grown up. He has planned to join the Air Force for years, and today he was sworn in as a member of the Canadian Forces. He looks so happy and proud and young in the pictures, and somehow at the same time so grown up. 

I'm very, very proud of Small Nephew. I'm also a bit teary-eyed at the thought of him being old enough to defend his country. I prayed for him a bit longer this morning.

First Lines

Here are the first lines of the books that I've been reading lately (side note: I've looked at some of the older "first lines" posts and while I can remember most of the books, I can't remember all of them):

"You can ask my family and co-workers and all of them will tell you that I hate surprises."

"The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home."

"I flipped through the CT scan images, the diagnosis obvious: the lungs were mated with innumerable tumors, the spine deformed, a full lobe of the liver obliterated."

"There were no other survivors."

"Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event the humiliation of its God."

"The problem of defining what produces laughter involves a degree of wrestling with language."

"After arriving at the port city of Alexandrian Troas on the western coast of the province of Asia, the apostle Paul saw a night vision."

"The saga of Paul's Thessalonian experience and the continuing spread of the gospel from Asia to Europe begins in Acts 17, after Paul has traveled from Philippi on his second missionary journey."

"At first I was impressed."

I Thought I'd Share This....

I was listening to a playlist on YouTube. It was one of those "based on this song that you like" lists that started with "Highland Hymn: Glory to the Holy One Concert" at St.Andrew's (R.C. Sproul's church). Suddenly I was listening to this:




According to Wikipedia, Tacurong is a "4th class city in the province of Sultan Kudarat, Philippines" and it has a population of 98, 316 people (or at least it did in 2015). It has 9 private schools, 48 public schools, and 1 university. Further research indicates that it has good food and inexpensive accommodations (in case the hymn inspires you to visit).

The First Week of the New Year

It was a good week. Nothing exciting happened, which I figure is a good sign (I'd like a nice, peaceful year). Work was pretty normal given that it's still Christmas break. A lot of kids were off, a few forgot to come, and the rest were fairly well focused.

This morning, Pastor Mike was preaching in Ephesians 5.  I learned all about how to be a Spirit-filled husband. It was actually quite good, since "love as Christ loved the church" is required of all believers (it's just that not all of us have to love a wife). Also, I love when he talks about how Christ loves the church; he did the same a couple weeks ago when he talked about the "wives submit to husbands" verses. It's both joy and motivation.

Life starts up properly tomorrow. The kids go back to school and they come back to the centre; women's study at the church starts on Wednesday, which means I'll be back running the home school room; Sunday School starts again next Sunday. It's all good stuff, and I think we all feel better for this bit of a rest.

We sang this hymn this morning at church. It was new to me (and a lot of other people), and I really like it. Here is "The Secret Place" by R.C. Sproul:

The Year in Books, Part 3: Nonfiction

And here it is: my favourite nonfiction books from last year's reading. They come in no particular order (and with limited commentary):

1. Humble Roots by Hannah Anderson
2. The End for Which God Created the World by Jonathan Edwards: This one took more work to get through, but was worth it.
3. The Vanishing Conscience; At the Throne of Grace: A Book of Prayers; and The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur
4. God Took Me by the Hand; True Community; Growing Your Faith; 31 Days Towards Trusting God; and Trusting God by Jerry Bridges: I will never not love a Jerry Bridges book.
5. Philippians by James Montgomery Boice: It's a very long commentary given that Philippians is a very short book.
6. A Camaraderie of Confidence and Contending for Our All by John Piper: I really love The Swans Are Not Silent series.
7. Counseling the Hard Cases by Stuart Scott and Heath Lambert
8. The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson: At some point, I need to read it again. I think there's so much in there, and one reading won't pull it all out.
9. 8 Women of Faith by Michael A.G. Haykin: I'd like to read more about a lot of these women. It included Sarah Edwards (wife of Jonathan Edwards) because I'm pretty sure there's a law that she has to be in any book about women of faith.
10. None Like Him by Jen Wilkin
11. Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper: Mostly different from the women of book #9, but of course it includes Sarah Edwards.
12. Gospel Treason by Brad Bigney
13. Brand Luther by Andrew Pettegree: The good and bad of Martin Luther.
14. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan
15. The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh by Kathryn Aalto: Part biography, part geography
16. Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung: I'd read pretty much anything by Kevin DeYoung.
17. Jim Elliot: One Great Purpose; John Flynn: Into the Never Never; and Elizabeth Fry: Angel of Newgate by Janet and Geoff Benge: I enjoy the Christian Heroes Then and Now series.
18. Amillennialism and the Age to Come by Matt Waymeyer
19. On Writing Well by William Zinsser
20. Word-Filled Women's Ministry by Gloria Gurman and Kathleen B. Nielson
21. Goodbye Christopher Robin by Ann Thwaite
22. Fighting Satan by Joel Beeke

I know that the list leans to towards theology and Christian books. There are 2 reasons for that: First, a lot of my reading leans in that direction. Second, while I read have read several secular nonfiction books, many of them weren't as good. They tended to take a very self-centered view of life and left me feeling like they came so close to the truth, but didn't quite make it.

There are also a dozen biographies in that list. I love biographies.

I don't think I'm going to try Tim Challies' 2018 reading challenge. I've looked over it, and it looks good, but not really what I want. I have a friend putting together a 52-book reading challenge that I might try (I haven't seen it yet), but mostly I want to just read. I'd like to read more history this year (either straight history, historical fiction, or biographies), as well as focusing on reading the books that have been sitting on my shelves just waiting to be read.

The Year in Books, Part 2: Fiction

Here is my list of favourite fiction books from 2017. These are books that I read in the past year, not books that were published last year (some of them were much older). They show up, for the most part, in the order they appear on my reading challenge list.

1. Ben Hur by Lew Wallace: This is a classic, and it starts slowly (chapter 1: A man on a camel walks into the desert). It was actually relaxing at first, so I didn't mind it; eventually, more action started. My friend's son read it as well; I can still make him laugh with the words "a man on a camel walks into the desert". Spoiler alert: Eventually there is a man on a horse instead of a camel.
2. I'm going to put all the Lamplighter books together. Some of the children (and their moms) at church introduced me to these books and kept handing me more to read. They have been pretty good so far. They are:
1. Ishmael and Self-Raised (they go together) by E.D.E.N. Southwood. These were the more intense books, and probably better for older teen and adults.
2. Prisoners of the Sea by Florence M. Kingsley. I liked this one a lot.
3. The Hidden Hand by E.D.E.N. Southwood. This was also very good.
3. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald: This is a classic, and while I'm sure I've read it before, it was long enough ago to enjoy it again.
4. A Witness for the Persecution, The Seven Dials Mystery, The Dumb Witness, and Third Girl by Agatha Christie: What can I say: I enjoy a nice mystery once in a while.
5. A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett: It was a nice story, a sequel to The Wee Free Men. I liked it for some lighter reading.
6. Weight of a Flame by Simonetta Carr: I never really know how to classify this one; it's one of the Chosen Daughters series. I usually call them "biographical fiction". They're a little more than historical fiction, and a little less than standard biographies. Anyway, this one was good.
7. Wonder by R.J. Palacio: The kids at work recommended this one. It was pretty good.
8. The Thunder by Douglas Bond: This is about John Knox, and I learned a lot about his life while enjoying a pretty good story.
9. The Little Silver House by Jennie D. Lindquist: I read this to see if it lived up to my memories from childhood. It did. It's a sequel to The Golden Name Day (which is also still a good story).
10. A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich: This is an older book about a pioneer family (focusing on the mother) and her life watching Nebraska grow into a state. The story takes place over her lifetime from the 1840s through the 1920s. A lot happened in those years. 
11. The Secret World of Og by Pierre Burton: A friend recommended it. It's a nice story about children and an underground world. It's just fun to read.

There were others that I read, but these are the best. Of the rest, most of them were good, and some were mediocre at best. Basically, I'll try just about any book, especially if the kids ask me to (I'm a sucker in that regard, and they know it). There were also a few that I read the first few pages (or first 2 pages in the case of one book) and then toss it aside. 

Some time in the next week, I'll post my top nonfiction. That list will likely be longer.