'Annunciation' by Ron Teachworth

It seems to me by reading other reviews of Ron Teachworth's book called Annunciation that they were so taken with his information on frescoes and Renaissance art that they overlooked one main issue:  Mr. Teachworth has no command of dialogue at all.  His characters have very wooden conversations, and while he does make an effort, the end result is very plain and unemotional.

To give him credit, he's done his research on Fra Angelico's work in Italy and also da Vinci.  There were a few inconsistencies, but none that affected the book like his dialogue.  

The story opens with American Catholic students going to Italy to repair frescoes that needed cleaning and with others help, restoration.  So far, so good.  There's some drama, a mystery involving some work of Leonardo da Vinci's that had been hidden for centuries, a romance and a plot to kill then-Pope John Paul II.  Sounds appealing and shows promise.  I enjoy Catholic fiction and truly love art history, so I figured this book would fill many interests.  Well, the story does hold together, even with some hiccups.  My recommendation is to stick with the storyline, but make the characters more human and realistic.  Give their words emotion, and make them actually believable.

(i received this e-book free to review from booklookbloggers)

Self-care

The de-cluttering book Your Spacious Self is so wonderful, I've begun reading it again.  The house has begun looking a bit unloved this past week, and it needs care once again.  Seems I have difficulty staying with a program unless someone's encouraging (prodding gently) me.  So, I got out the journal I wrote in while I was reading it, re-reading what I'd penciled in, and rejuvenating myself.

I tend to take things in too huge of a bite.  Figure if I can't finish whatever I set my mind to IN ONE DAY, that I've failed.  Failure is a key word in my make-up, not sure why.  Set myself up to fail, for some reason.  Think ill of myself, bad self-image, all of the above.  And a hard one to cure.

Most every week I thank Gary for being such an encouragement to our kids, especially the girls.  I think it's crucial for men to appreciate and compliment the females living under their roofs.  I never got that, and I'm not blasting my own dad, but it wasn't his way.  Never did I receive positive reinforcement from him, and most likely, it never entered his mind.  He was always working.  In his generation, that was the way.  Go to work, come home, shower, eat dinner, and then sit in front of the t.v. until bedtime.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Stuff spills over.  And in a physical reality I've learned that it's easy to pad your life with extra pounds to keep folks away.  Provide a barrier so you won't be approached and hurt anymore.  Thankfully my husband doesn't listen to that lie in regards to me, but I do struggle with loving myself enough to lose weight.

Seems this is the summer to slough off things, be it pounds or clutter.  All interconnected, I do believe.

Untitled, because I don't feel clever...

Well, a mental crash of sorts seems to be a regular thing for me this year.  My word of the year was REST, and it was sort of prophetic.  Didn't realize how necessary to my sanity, though.  I know more about certain things now than I did then, so maybe I am a prophet.

Woke up very dizzy this morning and figure the impact (pardon the pun) of yesterday's mishap finally got to me.  You can live in an adrenaline rush for a bit, then reality hits and down you go.  Least I do.  Oh, and shortly after I woke up, Gary talked to the girl's insurance company and she was beginning to say that there was a witness that said she was innocent and Gary ran the light.  Good grief.  The police report says differently.  After a few more anxious moments, her insurance company back-pedaled and reneged on that statement.  Anxious moments indeed.  

I was supposed to take my mom to the doctor, but Gary went instead with our youngest son to help.  My husband goes and goes and goes.  His famous quote is 'Now what?' which is pretty apt for him.  He can always do one more thing, and if you know he's sick or hurt and ask him how he is, he always says fine.  Always.  I'm not complaining about him because lots of women have whining husbands who will jump at the chance to be sick.  Mine, however, doesn't happen to be one of them, but my foolish notion is that I'm made the same way.  Oldest daughter says to me today, "You're always telling us girls to take care of ourselves, but you don't do it yourself.  Why is that?"  Don't have an answer for her.

The rest of the day should be non-stressful, and hopefully the remainder of the week.  Please.  We now have a rental car...some cute Chevy SUV, but I'm not sure what it is.  Still not sure of the truck settlement.  They may offer a selection of used cars/trucks, but likely we'll lean toward cash to do with as we please, purchase-wise.  

More information than any of you need to read, but I needed to write it.  Also on my mind is fourth son who's today taking off work to move his stuff from his brother's apartment to the place he'll share with his boyfriend.  Yeah, that's enough to make most moms dizzy.  Makes my heart beat fast just to type it.

You all take care.  I've had enough myself.

May it Rest In Pieces

Gary had only been gone for about 15 minutes going to work when he called me up.  The photo says it all.  Driving through an intersection, a young girl tried to turn ahead of him.  Poor Suburban, and her Hyundai as well.  Being a 1989, our Suburban's days were numbered, but gosh, what a great truck.  Hot-sounding engine as well.  A wonderful rumble, but no more.  Thankfully nobody was hurt.  A bit sore, but nothing else.

The girl was so sweet, and was crying when I got there.  And we were the ones to take her to a friend's house.  How often does that happen?  She told Gary she was glad he didn't yell at her.  Could've just as easy been one of our kids.  Yell?  Uh, no.

Praying now for a replacement, of course.  A rental for a bit.  God's hand on her situation too.  Funny thing, she and I have a mutual friend on Facebook.  Yeah, I looked.

We're a one-vehicle couple anyhow, so while we'll not likely look for another Suburban (terrible gas mileage), we need room for us and the three youngest ones.  Prayers appreciated. :)

'Seeing in the Dark' by Nancy Ortberg

There books that come into our lives at just. the. right. time.  Nancy Ortberg's book called Seeing in the Dark is one of those special books.  She talks about the times of our lives when God can be silent or elusive.  When the pain we live though is so difficult, we can't seem to rise above it.

But rather than give the reader pat answers or be condemning of those days (weeks, months, years), she offers hope.  One quote that rang out to me was:  'The dark is what allows you to see."  She'd talked about how the stars are so hard to see when you live in the city.  You might see a few, but not anywhere near the number when you sit in the countryside without the city lights blinding your view. The dark allows you to see.  And the darkness we experience often gives us a glimpse of God we'd not be aware of when life is fun and games.  Not feeling much fun and games lately, so her gentle teaching of being aware of God's presence was very dear to me.

She tells of a time when the Lord came to her and she saw herself sitting across from him.  Her concern at that time was about one of her children.  She pulled her child from behind her back, placing her between her and the Lord.  Repeatedly He must've moved the child back behind her, because she over and over brought her daughter forward.  Finally, she got it.  It, whatever it was, was between her and God, not her, her daughter and God.  Just the two of them.

I think we often try to manipulate God, begging Him to see things from our perspective, shoving our needs in His face.  He knows.  He wants us to stop and let things go.

She writes:  "This is about you and me.  And the only light you need right now is the light you see.  The light that shows you the steps toward me.  If you let that be enough, your heart will be at ease.  Your grip on control will slacken, and you will live in that bit of light, which is the right place for you to live right now.  That small piece of light will enable you to be with your child in a nonanxious way and let me do my work.  If you move out of that small piece of light, the darkness will be great.  You must find a way to live here and to find your way back here when you move away."

A blessing for sure.

(i received this book free to review from Tyndale publishers)

A slow day

Hearing the Lord tell me last night to really focus on One Day at a Time.  And today's good.  The kids and I got out for a few minutes to take back some library books and get some groceries.  Have to wait for a check to clear, then tomorrow we'll shop for the weekend's feast.  I'm thinking hamburgers on the grill (which I'll do since Gary is one who murders meat cooked on the grill---not his gift), pasta salad and Key Lime pie, which is really lemon pie since we substitute lemon juice for the Key Lime, which to me is way too tart.  But lemon pie sounds boring, while the lime has more of a dashing sound.  So really I'm lying about what we're having.

Moving on.

Bills are mostly caught up, or can be attended to next week.  Not inviting anyone over for dinner on Saturday.  The girls have mentioned a couple of times that it takes us such a long time to recover when we play nice when the boys stop by.  As a mom, I'm always grateful to see my children, but the back-wash isn't always agreeable.

So.

No pressing worries.  Books to read, including Go Down, Moses by Faulkner, which I save until bedtime, even getting all twitchy and excited after my bath, because I get to read more.  We'll be in bed reading, Gary with his current bee book (still waiting to find a swarm for his homemade hive), and me with my ever-present (now) Faulkner.  I'll be reading along and will go, "Hey, you've got to be kidding!?"  His writing continues to surprise me, or maybe I'm not too awfully bright.  It's a toss up.  Used to, I'd be quick on the uptake, but my brain has taken such a beating these last couple of years, it's easy to surprise me anymore.

Considering asking you to recommend restful books you enjoy to read when you need easy and quiet books.  I'm partial to Miss Read, Rosamunde Pilcher and Elizabeth Goudge so far.  Need to think on it.  I'd love to compile a list so we can refer to it on the sidebar.  A reference guide for tired minds.  

Will go now.  Take care.

Healing

My girls are finally having to deal with the nonsense their brothers have put them through these past few months.  They'd not reached that place yet.  Our youngest, who's newly thirteen, is one who will always say she's fine, even when she's not.  She stuffs things down.  Our middle girl, who's sixteen, doesn't hide it so well.  For example, when oldest son came by on Father's Day, she'd just woken up from a nap, walked right past him where he was in the living room, and didn't even acknowledge his presence.  I call that audacious, and I didn't say a word.  I won't stand in the way of how these girls relate to their brothers.  I won't scold or say a word.  They have to get to a place where they can deal, and seems today was that day.  Know this, though.  None of the girls are aware of what his girlfriend does for a living.  They don't need that in their heads, and the youngest ones wouldn't understand anyway.  The girls are just hacked that he's living in sin.  Yeah, that's enough for their sweet minds to get around.

Middle daughter said she felt let down by those she felt she could count on and trust (meaning the boys).  Abandoned.  She and I just cried, her openly, me trying to hide it from her.  I cry all the time, which they're used to, but don't want to appear fragile when I need to be the strong one.  She'd written a very sweet letter to the least one telling her they were best friends and how she wanted to 'be there' for her.  It was awesome in its tenderness.

Felt good to hear them being open.  I told her it's been healing for me to get mad on paper, and middle daughter said she'd done that, but hadn't felt a release from it.  Dang those boys.  They've said what they're doing isn't hurting anyone.  They don't have a clue.

Was reading Matthew 13:24-30, the Parable of the Weeds, and it's our family.  Not a pleasant ending, but it's so apropos.

* * *

Jesus told them another parable:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.  But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.  When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.  The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field?  Where then did the weeds come from?'

'An enemy did this,' he replied.  

The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'

'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest.  At that time I will tell the harvesters:  First collect the weeds and tie them into bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"

* * *

As my husband says repeatedly, we have to keep our tent clean.  And even tonight after dinner he said he so much enjoys our home now.  No animosity or struggles.  The Spirit is clearly present and we try to stay on top of it.  Can't let our guard down, but try to stay on top of what's in our children's heads.  You have to.

And I'm reading a review book by Nancy Ortberg called Seeing in the Dark, and it's exactly what I need today and everyday lately.  In dark days God is so present, even more so than in the joys---that's the message.  It's a book of hope.  And in contrast, I reviewed a book by her husband awhile back.  Not keen on him, but she is a comfort. You just never know. :)