At Home in Wyoming

Reading Away the Afternoon...

I have been spending the afternoon reading a biography of Ruth Bell Graham (Billy Graham's wife) titled, "Ruth Bell Graham:  Celebrating an Extraordinary Life".  She was a remarkable woman of God, and if you get a chance, pick up this book.  Once started...it is hard to put down!  DLB

 

The Irma Book Club

Our 'Book Club' booth this morning at the Irma

I have a friend who moved out of state recently.  BUT incredibly, she is back weekdays for the next few weeks due to her husband's job.  We are taking full advantage of this gift of time by meeting for coffee several mornings a week at the Irma to discuss books.  We are reading two books..."For the Family's Sake" by Susan Schaeffer Macauley, and "What is a Family" by Edith Schaeffer.  We read two chapters and meet over endless cups of coffee (we took their advertised 'bottomless cup of coffee' literally!

Something that struck me yesterday in "For the Family's Sake" was a referral to Luke 8:4-15.  This is the parable of the seed, and please read the whole passage, but what kind of made me think was verse 14:

     "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and RICHES AND PLEASURES of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection."  (I added the capital letters as I wanted to highlight them).

Susan Schaeffer Macauley stated, "Just as a seed can be "choked with weeds" so that it cannot mature, our home life can be "choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures".

I know that a satisfying home life can be choked by worries, troubles and anxiety.  What I had never really thought about before was how our life at home can be choked by riches and pleasures.  Sometimes riches and pleasures can be weeds.  How so?

Susan explains..."We might not be acutely aware of this, as we live in a society of "too-much".  We struggle to keep our body weight within healthy limits as we greedily gorge on too much too-rich food.  We stimulate our senses with too much entertainment, excitement, information, travel--the list is endless.  Likewise, there is a pressure to have too much of everything in our home--the biggest and newest only will do, say the advertisements.  We can lose ourselves in serving this luxurious home base, seeking to display our success through unnecessary show.  I believe both extremes are like the weeds in the parable--struggling with too little that is safe and decent and good in the home on the one hand, or suffocating under the weight of too much of everything on the other.  By the way--trying to provide too much can cause considerable stress--a trap in itself."

A perfect example of 'too much' is Christmas celebrations.  I have begun to plan and budget for Christmas, so this is on my mind.  There is so much, church activities, decorating the home and tree, holiday gatherings, shopping, baking...the list goes on and on.  All good things in and of themselves...but by Christmas Eve I am just exhausted and want the whole thing to be over.  God becomes second place because just trying to survive the festivities becomes the priority.  When I worked full time it was worse, but it is even overwhelming now that I am home full time.  I kept thinking that if I were better organized, I could manage better...but now that I think about it...all the activities at Christmas can be too much of a good thing.  They can choke out God just as much as the cares of this world.  What is needed is a balance...with God back to being the priority.

Christmas is just a tiny little example.  But I encourage you to look at your life, as I examine mine.  What in your life is too much of a good thing?  And what do we intend to do about it so that the Good Seed in our life is not choked out? 

A book club.  Thought provoking books.  A good friend.  Not a bad way to prod your mind toward things that are actually worth thinking about!  DLB

 

A Delightful Sinus Infection

The best place I can be with a sinus infection...out on my front porch swing with a good book!

Once the cotton flies from the cottonwood trees in Cody, my allergies kick in...usually resulting in a sinus infection.  And, as usual, I try every home remedy and am miserable for a week before I finally break down and go to the Urgent Care Clinic and get an antibiotic...which is where I sat yesterday waiting to see the doctor instead of being at church.  But, as miserable as a sinus infection is, I was secretly delighted at having an excuse to do nothing more than immerse myself in a good book and spend the weekend reading on my front porch swing.  Rocking and reading and ice tea...what a treat!

One of my summer goals this year was to go back and reread books that brought me joy at one time or other in my life.  Some classics, some Christian, and some just plain old fun.  Under the fun category I have been reading "Under the Tuscan Sun" by Frances Mayes this weekend, and when I finished that I read the followup "Bella Tuscany:  The Sweet Life in Italy".  I had read both of those books a few years ago, but I was at a really busy time in my life and must have just skimmed through them, because I enjoyed them more this time.  I love books about life in other countries, restoration of old houses, cooking and gardening...but I also like Christian biographies, classics, books on decorating...  Actually, I like any kind of book that I can get my hands on, which brings me to the point of this post.

When I had a full time job, one of my favorite treats was to hit the bookstore the weekend of payday and buy enough books to last the month. But now finances are much tighter...and this is an extravagence that I can no longer afford.   BUT my local librarian came to the rescue and introduced me to something called the 'Interlibrary Loan', which is not exclusive to Cody but available at all libraries in the U.S.

I have a running list of all the books that sound interesting or that I might want to look into.  Instead of hitting the bookstore I can go to my computer and look the book up in the card catalogue that is posted on line.  If they don't have the book (as our library is quite small that is usually the case) I can order it from anywhere using interlibrary loan.  I simply locate the book, order it, and have it mailed to my local library.  The librarian will call me when it is in.  There is a charge of $2.00 a book if they have to go out of Park County, and I pay that when I pick up the book.  So much cheaper when you consider the cost of books these days.  Then, if it is a book that I really like and want to add it to my library, I can go and purchase it.  This way my personal library is filled with only books that I treasure and will reread, instead of books that I will never touch again. 

My husband has begun to use interlibrary loan too...I think he had read every western in our local library, so now he can order new westerns to his heart's content, all from our home computer.  Once we became familiar with the library, we found that there is also a selection of DVD's that we can check out for free.  For those winter evenings when there was nothing on television but the same old junk, we hit the jackpot with both new and old movies, and also a lot of educational documentries on western history, Thomas Jefferson, the Lewis and Clark expedition and all the Ken Burns documentries, to name a few.  As my husband put it, "We can get entertained and educated, all for free".

If you are interested, check out your local library.  Ours is small, but entertaining...especially in the summer.  Last week all the teenage tourists from France were in there waiting to use the computers to check their email from back home, standing beside old men in cowboy hats and harried mothers with small children trying to herd them downstairs for Story Hour. Get to know your librarian, who can show you how to order books from your home computer, or the computer at the library.  (I have gotten to know my librarian so well that I added her to my Christmas Card list!).

Most importantly, set aside time in your life to read.  Reading takes you to places that you have never been, makes you laugh or cry...entertains and educates you.

And you don't even need a sinus infection to do it!   DLB