love to paint

Last week I read a book that who's author's writing was described by someone on the back cover as "comparable to Jane Austen's..."  The comment made me curious about the author and her new book, The Maid of Fairbourne Hall .   Julie Klassen wrote this book with an interesting premise--that is very reminiscent of Austen and the themes of her books.  A young English woman lives with her mother and stepfather in London.  Her stepfather is conspiring for his nephew to marry the daughter and take possession of her coming inheritance.  When she realizes these intentions, she runs away with her maid and faces the harsh reality of servants' lives.  She becomes a maid at Fairbourne Hall, the home of a man who she once rejected as a suitor.  Hmmm... Can you tell yet where the story is heading? If you've been enjoying Downton Abbey on PBS, then I think you'll enjoy the author's descriptions of the life of the servants in this novel.  I did.   A...

It's already been a week since I deleted my facebook account.  That's a funny statement to make, isn't it?  It makes me think of a brooding teenager who's been grounded or someone who wants a cigarette and doesn't have any.   The positives of not being on facebook? 1) I've prayed more and talked to God instead of running to other people to share what I'm thinking. 2) I've found that I have much less to do online and don't spend as much time online--because there just isn't anything to do.  I've never been much for surfing the web. 3) I have one less distraction in my life. Overall, I'm relieved and glad not to be on it.  It's amazing to see how often I am realizing that facebook has complicated my relationships with my friends, rather than simplifying them.   The negatives? I have felt a bit disconnected, but not entirely.  I'd put it this way.  If you don't know that a party's going on that you weren't ...

Last night, I wrote a post about Klout and social media influence.  Just after I posted a link to the post on Facebook, I added a postscript.  The comment I posted on Facebook said something like this: "This week I also read several articles in The Economist magazine about Facebook and the future.  The articles referred to how much Facebook tracks our online practices and how much they know about us." This morning I checked my facebook account and the comment was deleted.  I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all, but this deletion makes me genuinely uncomfortable.  What else will they delete?  Is there a computer application on Facebook that automatically deletes any comments referring to Facebook? I'm not sure what to think of this, but it does make me feel even more wary of Facebook.

Hello, Could you please let me know how to withdraw from your blogging program?  I have deep concerns about Klout and the idea of social influence when it comes to blogging.  (The program decided that what books would be available to me would be determined by my "Klout".)  Mars Hill Audio had a great discussion of this in this issue:   http://www.marshillaudio.org/Resources/Issue.aspx?id=108  (the last two essays on Part 2).  As a Christian and as a blogger, my goal is not to be branded or to seek greater social influence.  It is to do what God has set before me--to spread the word about good books I find, not for selfish gain (or influence) but that other believers might be encouraged as well. In Christ, Anne This is the letter I emailed to a blogging program tonight in response to an email I received from the publisher informing me that they would be using Klout to determine individual blogger's social influence and using that determination to the...

Two weeks ago at small group, one of the fellows (who happens to be a psychiatrist) in the group shared this definition of anger:  "Anger is being upset that you didn't get your way."  I thought that was very insightful and definitely worth pondering. I also think that definition could be expanded.  Being irritable or frustrated is also being upset that you didn't get your way.  As a society, we make distinctions between the three--anger, frustration, and irritability--as if to diminish or rationalize our right to feel that way (depending on the situation and who we're talking to).  This definition really made me think about how justified--or rather that I'm actually unjustified in feeling these three emotions at times.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from a friend in which she responded with her thoughts about a particular book.  She described the book as "exhausting" to read.  I thought that was a very good way to describe some books and also why I have a hard time reading them.  What I have found in myself when I read is that it isn't wise to read books that overly romanticize life (because they feed discontentment in my heart), or that dwell deeply in the depravity of man (they overwhelm me).  Sometimes books are simply too exhausting for me to read.  The book I read 2 weeks ago fits that description well. The book was Not in the Heart by Chris Fabry.  Fabry's book, June Bug, is one of my favorite books.  I read the book that came after that book, but struggled with all of his depiction of angels.  But, still, he is a very good writer.  So, I wanted to try this book.  This book is the story of Truman Wiley, a writer who has run away from his fami...

This past weekend I picked up a book with what I thought might be an interesting storyline.  One thing I've noticed in my reading is that there are all sorts of books.  There are books one would call Christian fiction and then there are books that are written by Christians which I would simply call fiction informed by a Christian worldview.  Then there are books written by Christians that are simply fiction--there is no discernable Christian worldview or "inspirational truth" underlying the story.  Christian publishers today publish books that fall into all three of these categories.  The book I read this past weekend would probably fall under the last category.  I expected it to fall in the middle category and because of that expectation, it was quite a disappointing read. The book I read is titled Beyond Molasses Creek . It is written by Nicole Seitz.    The main character of the story is a 60 year old, overweight white woman who has come hom...