love to paint

The Lord has given me an interest in many things that you've probably seen me write about on this blog--anywhere from evangelical feminism to mental health concerns and learning and processing disorders.  My interest in mental illness began during my sociology studies in college.  Since then, God has brought many people into my life who have shared their stories and lives with me.   A few years ago, I read the book The Mind has Mountains: Reflections on Society and Psychiatry by Dr. Paul R. McHugh.  It was a wonderful book that gave me much food for thought about mental health and our society.  If you haven't read it, I'd highly recommend it.  Dr. McHugh goes against the grain of popular thinking in this book and examines the truth of what he saw in his patients.  He was the head of the school of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University for a time.   Since then, I've read a few other books about mental health, including PTSD: Wounded Warrio...

I find prequels disconcerting.  For example, I can't bring myself to watch the new movie, The Hobbit .  I loved the Lord of the Rings Trilogy , but Gollum and Bilbo Baggins make me cringe.  In the case of The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkein wrote it prior to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, but since I didn't read it first, it would be like watching a prequel since I've already seen the trilogy movies.   It's an interesting thing to me when authors write prequels to books after they've written books that come later in the story's timeline.  Sometimes they can be hard to follow and figure out.  Usually, a prequel starts and stops before the previously written story begins.  In the case of a book I read recently, the author began the story as a prequel and then wove the story line into the stories of the previous two books in the trilogy.   The book is Slow Moon Rising , by Eva Marie Everson.  Ms. Everson and I had an interesting dialogue via Chasing ...

I enjoy reading parenting books and over the past ten years I've found a few that I love ( Shepherding a Child's Heart , Journey of a Strong Willed Child , Growing Grateful Kids ).  But, in all that time, my husband hasn't read any.  Typically, they aren't written in a style that he enjoys.   I should note that he has also only found two books on marriage that he has enjoyed reading (Mike Mason's book on Marriage and John Piper's book, This Momentary Marriage ).  Christian Parenting and Marriage books are often written very similarly.  They often have a lot of formulas in them... "If you do this, then..."  And they can feel very fluffy and feel good, while not getting at the heart of the manner.  They can also come off as a huge dose of "self improvement, feel good" teaching.  I've read many that fit these statements. But this weekend, I actually found a Christian "parenting" book of sorts that my husband is interested in read...

I enjoy memoirs and books about marriage.  So, I was very curious to read the new book Joni and Ken, An Untold Love Story , a collaboration between Larry Libby, Joni Earekson Tada, and Ken Tada.   The story begins with Joni's diagnosis of breast cancer in 2010.  Then, it jumps back and forth in time to share bits and pieces from Ken and Joni's life together.  At first, I found myself very puzzled as I read.  The stories would stop and start quickly and abruptly.  "Where are we going?"  I found myself wondering. Then I came up with analogy that helped me.  Reading the book is like looking at someone's baby book.  Usually, there are one or two pictures for each milestone.  Each picture is a snippet, not the whole story.  Pictures usually reflect significant memories.  When looking at a photo album, you'll often flip back and forth through the pages and in time as the album does.  This book does the same thing, moving ...

In some ways, we have to understand our pasts and come to terms with them.  Sometimes the people who have shaped us will apologize and take ownership for their mistakes and sometimes they won't  What do you do when they don't?  Or won't? A friend shared with me recently that it's hard to forgive when the person you need to forgive won't apologize or repent.  Sometimes that is the case.  Yet, we're still called to forgive--as Christ has forgiven us.  I think that can be really hard. Two weeks ago, I read a fictional novel that explored this idea.  It was Irene Hannon's new novel That Certain Summer .  The story centers on two sisters, Karen and Val.  Karen has stayed close to home and cares for her mother and her teenage daughter, while coping with working full-time and being newly divorced.  Val has left the nest and run far away, intentionally.  She became a high school drama teacher.  Karen needs Val to come home for t...