Just a sprinkle of pixie dust…
“There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
-Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
I love having this boy in the kitchen with me
Thaddeus, the can opener, and the cabinet latch. I have no idea how or why. (January 29, 2013)
2013 Book List, Part 1
Parenting
Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches - Rachel Jankovic
Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus - Elyse M. Fitzpatrick
Grace-Based Parenting - Tim Kimmel
Jesus and the Church
Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches - Russell D. Moore
The Ragamuffin Gospel - Brennan Manning I never finished this in 2012, but I LOVED it. I have to start over to soak it all in again.
Who Is My Neighbor? – Wayne Gordon
Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World – Bob Goff (I’ve already started this, and I LOVE it.)
Fiction
Whatever Becky recommends I read next after Wendell Berry’s Hannah Coulter.
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie – Ayana Mathis
Memoir, Faith, and Life
Gift from the Sea – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
All Is Grace – Brennan Manning
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead – Brene Brown
Tide-Me-Over Tuesday
Thanksgiving 2012, Alexandria
I love this man.
Scott, a willing participant and human bucket during Thaddeus’ crazy piling project
My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.
-Jim Valvano
*****
Basking in the sunset, Hawaii 2012
What a happy and holy fashion it is that those who love one another should rest on the same pillow.
-Nathaniel Hawthorne
*****
My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard.
Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.”
“We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply.
“We’re raising boys [and girls].”
-Harmon Killebrew
Books: What I read, what I didn’t, and what I loved
What I Read (and didn’t read) in 2012
Below is the list of books I wanted to read in 2012. I didn’t get through as many as I had hoped since I couldn’t get them through the library. But now that I received a few for Christmas (yes!), I’ll be able to read many of them in early 2013.
Parenting
Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches - Rachel Jankovic
Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus - Elyse M. Fitzpatrick
Grace-Based Parenting - Tim Kimmel
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk - Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish
Playful Parenting- Lawrence J. Cohen
ScreamFree Parenting - Hal Edward Runkel
How to Really Parent Your Child: Anticipating What a Child Needs Instead of Reacting to What a Child Does - Ross Campbell
Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches - Russell D. Moore
Fields of the Fatherless: Discover the Joy of Compassionate Living - Tom Davis
When Helping Hurts - Steve Corbett, Brian Fikkert
Follow Me to Freedom: Leading and Following As an Ordinary Radical - Shane Claiborne, John Perkins
The Ragamuffin Gospel - Brennan Manning I never finished this, but I LOVED it. I have to start over to soak it all in again.
Christianity Beyond Belief: Following Jesus for the Sake of Others - Todd D. Hunter
A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars - Jonathan Merritt
Nutrition
Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right - Joel Fuhrman
Inspiration
Firstlight: The Early Inspirational Writings of Sue Monk Kidd - Sue Monk Kidd
One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp
The Wounded Healer - Henri J. M. Nouwen
Creation Care
Tending to Eden: Environmental Stewardship for God’s People - Scott C. Sabin
Fiction
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Favorites of 2012
I hate picking favorites, so it was tough to narrow it down to this list. Certainly I’ve missed something; so, as always, you’re invited to checkout my Shelfari page for more books and summaries of the ones listed below.
First Snow: October 25, 2012
“Did you hear the snow against the window-panes, Kitty? How nice and soft it sounds!
Just as if someone was kissing the window all over outside.
I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently?
And then it coves them up snug, you know, with a white quilt;
and perhaps it says, ‘Go to sleep my darlings, till the summer comes again.’”
-Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
