An Indiana State of Mind: February 2013

My brother Ben called me out on his blog yesterday for slacking on my own blog, so I thought I'd better jump back on this blogging bandwagon. Thanks, Ben, for a kick in the pants, even if it actually felt like a burn...

The post I've had rolling around in my head for awhile is about books. Sorry Ben, this probably won't be very interesting to you considering you've never read a book in your life....

I read all year long, but there's something about winter that makes reading feel so cozy. It doesn't compare to summer reading, which in my opinion is about the best reading there is. What is it about summer that makes reading particularly enjoyable? Is it because we sometimes get to read on the beach? (Or wish we were reading on the beach?) Is it because I've read some great books in the summer? Is it just because it's summer and summer is the best all around? I don't know. But winter reading all curled up in a warm bed is a close second. All that being said, I've read several books and blogs lately that I thought would be worth recommending here.

My book club here in Bloomington is a highlight of the month. I've read books there that I never would have picked up. I've been sharpened in my reading. I've found that there are many, many classics and authors I somehow missed in my life. I've found that the more time I spend with them the less and less I enjoy modern authors. This is a good thing in my opinion because most of what's out there today is junk. Here are few worth noting:

{All the book titles are live links to Amazon. Not because Amazon gives me anything for this, it's simply because I don't have enough time to figure out how to get an image of each book displayed properly here.}

Laddie by Gene Stratton Porter. It is astounding to me that I have lived this long without reading this book. I knew of some of her other books, Girl of the Limberlost (which I read recently and enjoyed again) and Freckles, but I had not heard of Laddie. It's a somewhat autobiographical story of Porter's childhood on a farm in northern Indiana. Told through the eyes of a young girl, Little Sister, it's the story of a family, their faith, trials and joys. It does romanticize what life on a late 1800s farm would have been like, but it is sweet, well-written and simply a joy to read.

The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Food, Farming and Love by Kristen Kimball. We followed up Laddie with this non-fiction story of a man and a woman who decide to start an organic co-op farm in upstate New York in 2003. It chronicles their first year on the farm as they try to make it a complete farm offering meat, eggs, produce, maple syrup, cheese and fruit to their members. It is their turbulent love story too, complete with their wedding on the farm. It's a fascinating read and overall we enjoyed the book as a group. Compared to Laddie it was a modern book about farming and showed much more of the nitty-gritty of farm life. I think we were all very glad to be able to crawl into warm beds without peeling off layers of clothing stained with who knows what from the farm.

Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn. This was not a book we read for book club. This was the book my mom gave Rob and I last Christmas with the goal to read it sometime in the year. We procrastinated big time on this book and finally finished it on our drive to their house for Christmas. What a helpful book! Alcorn does a great job of biblically describing how we should use our money to bless others, glorify God and make an eternal difference with our money. We were challenged in how we use our money and what we are teaching Liam about money.

City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell. This was another book club selection that we all enjoyed. It's the fictional account of Mennonite missionaries in China in the early 1900s. We discovered that the novel is loosely based on the author's grandparents, although the author herself has completely gone away from the faith. During that time in China, a lot of political, social and religious upheaval was occurring so their story is a compelling one. It's very sad at times, but hopeful and redemptive.

Finally, this is the book we're reading in Bible study at church: The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace. This is a book I wish I had read when I was first married, but at the same time it is so helpful to be reading it chapter by chapter with a larger group of women. We are all learning so much about biblical submission and it's encouraging to share with one another as we go along. I highly recommend it to any married (or almost married woman) of any age. There is much to be learned from the Bible and Mrs. Peace on this topic.

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I've been reading some blogs lately too, and that is very true. I have a whole list of blogs I read in my Google Reader, but one in particular I highly recommend to you. I think I've talked about these women before, but Nancy, Rebekah and Lizzie who blog over at Femina are simply the best. At the beginning of the year they started a daily devotional on their blog that I'm assuming they will turn into a book. Every day they post a Scripture and then some thoughts on it. Every time I read their posts I find myself saying "amen", then being convicted of my own sin. They also have posts about motherhood, friendship, being a wife, etc., etc. Very, very helpful stuff from some godly women over there.

There you have it! Some things that have been keeping my mind occupied on these dreary, dreary days. I will hope to do a post soon on some of Liam's favorite books. How about you? What have you been reading lately? I'm always on the look out for new (or old) books.

Recently...January flew by. I'm not sure where it went or what happened to this blog in the meantime. But here I am with a few quick thoughts and pictures of what we've been up to recently.

We...

Had a {crowded} Superbowl party at our house with our small group. At the power outage we switched over to Downton Abbey and came back when the game was closer. Good decision.