Lynn

Thoughts On Reading During Difficult Times

March 27, 2020 by Lynn Leave a Comment

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I had grand plans to tackle my to read pile, or at least make a dent in it, while stuck at home. That hasn’t happened. I have finished two books over the last two weeks, which is much lower than normal.

The days are running together. I now have three college kids at home doing online classes for the rest of the semester. My husband had to close his business and is home for the next two weeks. My schedule, along with everyone else’s, has been thrown off. I am sure you are feeling the same way.

My reading life has not been a priority, but in an effort to get back some normalcy, I am going to start planning some time in my day to read.

Reading is my escape. It is relaxing and fun. It takes me to a different time and place. It helps me escape into a different world.

Reading is that way for many people. It is our hobby. Our way to relax and unwind. But how do you do that during difficult times? How do you escape into a different world when all the news around us is hard?

I wish there was an easy answer for that. I am not sure there is one except to find what you enjoy reading the most. Part of the joy of reading is that we can make it fit us. What I find relaxing, you might not.

So right now, I am reading a mix of fun slightly cheesy books and more serious nonfiction books.

The last week I kept starting and stopping books. I would read a chapter or two and just couldn’t keep going. None of the books were bad. They just weren’t the right books for me at this moment.

But then I picked up Erik Larson’s new book, The Splendid and The Vile, this week. I choose it for my book of the month book but hadn’t started reading it until now.

So far I am really enjoying it and that surprised me. Not because I didn’t think I would like the book, I loved the last book by Erik Larson that I read, so I knew I would like this one too.

What surprised me was that I was enjoying a serious book right now. Why am I enjoying it? I think it is because it puts our current events into perspective. There is something about reading of other people’s trials that helps you see yours differently.

One of the things that has stood out to me about The Splendid and The Vile is the leadership. I can’t imagine bearing the load that the leaders and heads of countries did during WWII. The decisions they made on a daily basis effected so many lives.

Today’s events are very different, but I can’t imagine the load the leaders around the world have carryied in the past and now during our current problems.

And on a total opposite extreme I am also currently reading The Mitford Murders. It is a mystery based on a real life family in the 1920’s. I am only a few chapters in but so far it is good.

Grace is currently reading Pale Riders, a book about the Spanish flu and the history of the flu. She admits it might not have been the best choice of books for right now, but she is determined to finish it. It is a good book yet it might not be the best time to read a book about the flu and pandemics.

I think my next book might be one from the Mitford series, which is a totally different series than the one I mentioned above.

I love the Mitford series by Jan Karon. It is like Anne of Green Gables for adults. I have a couple of books left in the series to read, and I think now might be the perfect time to pick them up.

What are you currently reading? Has your reading life suffered this week?

Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss (Sunday Reading)

March 15, 2020 by Lynn Leave a Comment

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This week’s Sunday Reading is about joy and gratitude. I read Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

I had a totally different book planned for this week’s Sunday Reading, but since the book was on hospitality, it just didn’t seem right for the current times. So I am waiting to talk about hospitality for a while and instead discussing gratitude and joy.

We can’t choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we react to them.

Right now we are all dealing with plans that have been changed. School that have been canceled. Trips that have been postponed. Birthday celebrations that have been put on hold. And other important events that also have to be canceled or delayed.

In some way or another, all of use have been affected by the current situation, and there is not a lot we can do about it.

What we can do though is to choose gratitude. Even in the midst of trials and changed plans, we can choose to be happy.

Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss is a great reminder that we can choose joy in the midst of even the worst circumstances. It is easy to get caught up in all the negativity. But instead we should try to step back and focus on all that we do have to be thankful for.

There is always a time to grieve and to mourn what we have been through or what we have lost, but in the end, we need to focus on the positive not the negative.

The Christian life should be joyful.

Choosing to be joyful in difficult times is not easy. It is hard. We have to make a conscience choice to be cheerful. Nancy Leigh DeMoss helps remind us to be appreciative and bright even during the challenging times.

When we thank God and others, bitterness and entitlement are replaced with joy and the humility.

To not be joyful and to choose to not be grateful is costly. It drains the joy out of life and tends to make us bitter and proud. But when we do choose joy and gratitude, we are more mindful of the things around us and the gifts we have received from God.

In the midst of the current situation, let’s try to find the good. Be thankful for what we do have. Give thanks for those that are working hard to serve us and others.

Right now life is challenging for a lot of people.

Small businesses are suffering. Grocery store workers are working long hours serving customers that are not always the happiest. Those in the medical field are working hard to care for the sick and to prepare for the what may come in the weeks ahead. And there are so many other examples.

Instead of focusing on the bad and fear, let’s focus on the good.

Be thankful for those grocery store workers stocking the shelves.

Give thanks for those in the medical field working extra long hours serving others.

Support small business if you can.

Enjoy a slower pace schedule.

Spend time with your kids.

Read those books sitting in your TBR pile.

Tackle that cleaning project that you have been meaning to do.

Find ways to serve, give, and catch up if you can.

If you need help finding joy in the midst of the current life situations, Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss might be just the book you need right now!

Kiss the Wave by Dave Furman ( Sunday Reading )

March 8, 2020 by Lynn Leave a Comment

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I debated on whether or not to share this book for Sunday Reading, but when I was deciding what book to feature this week I kept coming back to the book Kiss the Wave by Dave Furman.

This book has been a huge encouragement to me, and I kept thinking that there is someone else out there who needs the encouragement that this book offers.

The sovereignty of God can be a controversial topic, both in and outside, the Christian and church world. The reality that God is in control is a concept that many people don’t like. For me, it is a great comfort to know that God is writing my story, not me.

Life is full of trials. There is no getting away from the trials of life. We live in a sin filled world.

Tragedies happen. People fail us. Life is full of sickness and disease. Friends and family die. No matter how hard you try, you cannot escape the difficulties of life. It is the reality of the world that we live in.

It is often easy to look at our own life and think that we have it so bad. We often feel that our life is worse than those around us.

The reality though is that everyone has trials and difficulties. None of us are immune from it. The timing and circumstances may vary, but we all suffer at one time or another.

Often it is not the circumstance that wears us down, it is how we handle it. My husband has a sign hanging in his office that says “It is not the load that weighs you down it is how you carry it.” There is so much truth in that saying.

Are you carrying a heavy load right now? How are you carrying it? If you are anything like me, the trials of life can be difficult to carry. They weigh us down.

How can we handle the difficulties of life better?

You start by learning to embrace them. You realize that God is in control. That he has a plan and purpose for whatever difficulty you are going through.

Over the last few years, our family has dealt with quite a few medical issues. At times it has been overwhelming and discouraging.

It was during one of the overwhelming times that I saw a review for the book Kiss the Wave by Dave Furman.

The title caught my attention right away: Kiss the Wave: Embracing God In Your Trials. I knew that it was a book that I needed to read because I was struggling to embrace our family’s health issues that have at times seemed overwhelming.

The phrase “kiss the wave” is said to be a quote from Charles Spurgeon. If you are not familiar with Charles Spurgeon, he was a nineteenth century British preacher.

That saying is all about embracing our trials. Instead of fighting the wave, you embrace it. And in the process of embracing it, you realize that God works all things for our good and His glory.

Is that easy? No. Not at all. In the midst of trials it is incredibly difficult to remember that God has a plan and a purpose that we cannot see. It is hard to face our trials with a good attitude.

That is why I loved the book Kiss the Wave by Dave Furman. It helps show you how to embrace these trials with grace, while giving God the glory for them. It is a reminder that God is in control and that He sees the bigger picture. He has a plan and a purpose that we can’t see.

One of the things that I loved about this book was that throughout the book the author shares his story of suffering with a debilitating nerve condition in both of his arms.

He shares his experiences and how God has given him the strength to face each day with debilitating pain.

This book is written by someone who understands chronic pain and illness. The author knows what it is like to have the life you planned out totally changed by God.

He shares he struggles with discouragement and pain, but he also shows how God has used it in his life for his good. The author reminds us to kiss the wave and to give God the glory while embracing the trials of life.

I enjoyed this book so much that I have now given it to quite a few people that have gone through difficult times with the hope that it encourages them.

If you are currently going through a rough time, or known someone that is, I hope that this book, Kiss the Wave, will be an encouragement to you.

Devil At My Heels ( Backlist Book Pick )

March 6, 2020 by Lynn Leave a Comment

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Devil At My Heels

This week’s backlist book pick is the book Devil At My Heels.

The story of Louis Zamperini was unfamiliar to many of people until Laura Hillenbrand’s book Unbroken was published in 2010. Louis Zamperini’s life is an inspiring story of faith, forgiveness, war, love, and strength.

Unbroken is a powerful book. It is one of my favorite books of all times. It is a narrative nonfiction type of book and the writing draws you in.

Even those that don’t read a lot of fiction or history type books enjoy Unbroken. It is a book that is hard to put down once you start reading it.

If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it, but it actually isn’t the book that I want to talk about today for our backlist book pick.

Unbroken

The book Unbroken is far from the first book written about Louis Zamperini. Quite a few books have shared his story over the years. One of them was his autobiography Devil At My Heels.

A well written biography like Unbroken is great. But a biography is just that, a biography.

It is someone sharing some else’s story. It is second and third hand information. It is not the story from the original person or source.

An autobiography has the advantage of being from the person who lived it. The disadvantage to autobiographies is that not everyone is a writer. Many autobiographies are tough to read. They are dry, boring, and lack good editing.

They also can be skewed. They only show the author’s life from his perspective, and he only shares what he deems important. This can be disappointing as it may not show the whole story.

But a well done autobiography like Devil At My Heels is an amazing resource.

In 1956, Louis Zamperini shared is story in his autobiography Devil At My Heels. This is the first hand account. It is is story in his own words. It shares what it was like to actually live it. Not from a source, but from the man who survived it.

Devil At My Heels

Devil At My Heels is not really narrative nonfiction. It is an ordinary man sharing his extraordinary story in a well written way.

If you loved Unbroken and want to know the story from the man who actually lived it, Devil At My Heels is a great read. If you haven’t read Unbroken, but love a well written autobiography I think you will enjoy this one.

It is not just a war story either. He is sharing his story of how he came to faith and his running career. It is from his view, which allows the reader to see what he feels is important in his life. It also pulls the reader through the personal stories that captivate the reader.

Have you read Devil At My Heels or Unbroken? I would love to hear yours thoughts on them if you have!

Fact vs Fiction The Spymistress

March 4, 2020 by Lynn Leave a Comment

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It is no secret that we love nonfiction. We find the real story fascinating. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t enjoy a good fiction read as well.

A good historical fiction book leaves you wanting to know more. It gives you a longing to know the whole story or the real version.

Over the last few months I have read a couple of fiction books that have left me wanting for more, so I researched the nonfiction version of the same story.

Reading the nonfiction version gave me a better insight to the whole story. Instead of learning about fictitious people, I got to learn about the real people behind the story.

I now have a goal of reading more fiction and nonfiction book pairings. I want to learn the facts and read the fiction.

I thought it would be fun to occasionally share some of these book pairings with you.

Today I am starting with The Spy Mistress vs Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy.

Both of these books are ones that I read a few years ago. I guess my desire to read both the fact and the fiction has been strong for awhile.

The Spy Mistress by Jennifer Chiaverini was published in 2013. It is a historical novel set during the Civil War. It is based on the life of Elizabeth Van Lew. During the Civil War she gained military intelligence, helped with the underground railroad, and more.

The author researched a famous historical figure and weaved a fictitious story into the well known facts.

Now for the nonfiction version of the story.

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy covers the lives of four women who made a difference during the Civil War.

Belle Boyd became a spy for the Confederate army. Emma Edmonds disguised herself as a man to join the Union Army. Rose O’Neal used her influence to send information to Southern generals. And Elizabeth Van Lew orchestrated a spy ring and placed a former slave in the Confederate White House.

Elizabeth Ven Lew’s story is only part of the book Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, but it gives you a good look into her real life and story.

The three other women featured in Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, also have fascinating stories. If you loved the fact behind the fiction Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is a great read!

Do you have a favorite fact vs fiction book pairing?

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Lynn