A couple of movies

Our recent days-off have been cold and wet so we have enjoyed the chance to catch up on a few movies. We have seen two very different films.

First up was The Way, a great, gentle film starring Martin Sheen, directed by and starring his son Emilio Estevez.

It is the story of Tom, whose normal life in California is turned upside down when hearing the news of his son’s accidental death while holidaying in France. He travels to France to collect his son’s body and discovers that his son was walking the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James). Deciding to complete the trek for his son, he sets out to walk the Camino across Spain, like thousands of pilgrims before him. He meets up with 3 others along the way and so begins an unlikely friendship between them all.

It is a quiet film. To be honest not a great deal happens in it. But the story itself as it meanders along is a good one and the scenery filmed along the actual Camino is spectacular.

For those that enjoyed Martin Sheen as Jed Bartlett in the West Wing, this is another good role for him. And for those that like to see actual family acting together in movies, it’s amazing to see just how like Sheen Estevez now looks.

This week’s blockbuster was Men in Black 3, the next instalment of the series which started 15 years ago. We hired #1 and 2 and watched them again before seeing 3, so we’ve had a fun week or so in Men in Black land. It still stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith and both are still trying to defend an unknowing earth from alien invasion. It’s a fun movie with good special effects and without an overly complicated plot. It gives some good laughs along the way and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Good choice for a wet wintry day!

Real Marriage

Real Marriage, Mark & Grace Driscoll

Those who are in touch with these type of things will know that this book has gained considerable attention in the last few months. The reviews I read were not complementary and so I had decided not to read it.

Ah well – times change. As we continue to do a large amount of marriage preparation with engaged couples and an increasing amount of marriage enrichment/input, I felt the need to form my own opinion, as a number of people we know are ‘fans’ of the authors and therefore have purchased it or given it to others.

When you hear continued bad press about a book, it is very hard to come to it with an open mind. I have certainly tried to read it with grace and a willingness to learn. At the same time, I have come to agree with the hesitations I heard expressed.

I could go into great detail in this review but have decided not to knowing that others have, for example here and here .

Here are my general thoughts:

• All is all, it is OK. It is not the worst book on marriage written for Christians, but by no means is it the best. (On a minor note, it had no cohesive logic from chapter to chapter and would have benefited from a very strong edit.)

• It contains some good material. It is complementarian and espouses a view of marriage many of us would embrace. It has a good and helpful chapter on friendship in marriage; it encourages men to step up, lead and love their wives; and for women to respect and honour their husbands.

• It is trying to be gritty and edgy. They have perceived a need for a book like this, one that answers the so-called tough questions and doesn’t shy away from some of the mess of marriage and sex.   It is very honest about the Driscoll marriage, the baggage both brought to it and the repercussions on their life together.  I want to ask whether we need gritty and edgy books on marriage at all?

• As such, it lowers rather than raises our view of marriage. It primarily deals with issues such as previous abuse, previous sexual sin, pornography use and poor relating /communication. For those who are dealing with these matters, it could be helpful. (Although, I think there are better resource options for any issue this book deals with.)

• If none of these previous issues (especially sexual abuse, sexual sin, pornography) have been a part of your marriage – rejoice. Stay pure on such issues and do not read this book. Why invite images or concerns into your marriage that are not there?

• The chapter which raises them most questions is Chapter 11: “Can we ___?”. Using an appalling exegesis of 1 Cor 6:12, they create a grid of questions from which to ask “what can Christian couples do?” This becomes a very unhelpful discussion of various sexual behaviours, unwisely connected with statistics claiming how many people engage in such behaviour.  I am not squeamish about such matters, nor I am unwilling to discuss them (and often do with couples).  However, this whole section left me feeling incredibly uncomfortable.  I felt it could be so badly misused and misunderstood, even with all the caveats they tried to place over it. (Tim Challies did a very helpful 3 post series working through the issues with this chapter in considerable depth, you can find the first post here)

My conclusion? 

There are much better Christian books on marriage. Read those instead.

• For those wanting to think about God’s purpose for marriage and how their marriage can meet it – try Tim Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage
• For those who would like some input on intimacy in marriage, both advice for the wedding night and the years thereafter, try Kevin Leman’s Sheet Music.
• For those who want to work through some practical issues in marriage, try H. Norman Wright’s Now That You’re Engaged.
• There are also many resources available for those dealing with specific issues in marriage – perhaps ask your pastor for suggestions.

Book Spine Poetry

I was tagged by Jean to do a book spine poem.

I have decided to do one of the stages of a woman's life (or at least mine to this point!) 

for women only
Girl stuff
Everywoman
The single issue
Loves me, loves me not
Of marriageable age
The first years of forever
Couplehood
Sheet music
10,000 baby names
And then I had kids
Naked motherhood
The memory keeper's daughter
Getting real


This was fun.

I want to do another one, but most of the Christian books that I want to use are in my husband's office.  Must make a visit in...

Lots of fellow bloggers have already had a go, but if you want to - go ahead and let me know.  Or, if you are not a blogger, send me a photo of yours if you like!

Yes Prime Minister

Yes Prime Minister

I have delved recently back into some books from the 1980s, into the wonderful dry wit that is the series of of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister.

In Yes Minister, we are introduced to the Right Hon. James Hacker, member of Parliament for Britain. He is Minister for the Department of Administrative Affairs and as such is responsible for the Civil Service and the man he must work with closely is the Permanent Secretary of the Civil Service, Sir Humphrey Appleby.  Appleby is a civil servant through and through, believing that parliamentarians only get in the way of the Civil Service actually running the country and therefore his job is to obfuscate and confuse Hacker so that he can continue to manage Britain the way it always has been done. Hacker’s own secretary is Bernard Woolley, a man of great wit and dry humour, never to let the opportunity for a pun to go by.

In Yes Prime Minister, by a remarkable turn of events, Hacker has managed to secure the plum job of Prime Minister. As Sir Humphrey is now the Cabinet Secretary and Bernard remains Hacker’s secretary at 10 Downing Street, the cast remains the same.

You will quite possibly have seen old re-runs of this on TV over the years. It is a very clever British TV show which manages to poke fun at British government, other nations, the bureaucracy of the civil service and most things it talks about. The books match the TV episodes.

It is great fun. I do enjoy intelligent fiction, some humour, wit, the ability to laugh at the ridiculous around us and Yes Prime Minister does it all in spades. What is surprising is that they haven’t really aged over the years. Government deals with the same perennial issues – education, budgets, international relations and defence, and so these episodes/books are almost as applicable today as they were then.

We have both re-read the books in the last few months, because last night we headed out to Her Majesty’s Theatre to see the new play. It was very good. Written by the same authors/playwrights and dated for 2011, it was very well done. The characters were the same as ever, yet the issues were more 21st century. It was an insightful look at relativism and morality in modern times.

A note: I suspect this series will be understood and appreciated most by those who have English as their first language. Following the logic, wit and roundabout sentences is tricky enough as it is and it would also help to have a general understanding of the British-type system of government.

Miss Potter

This lovely movie is a delightful, gentle, whimsical telling of the life of Beatrix Potter, beloved children’s author.

Starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, it is set in London in 1906, when Beatrix is 32 and still unmarried, to the despair of her parents. She seeks to publish her books, which begins a wonderful friendship with the man assigned to be her publisher.

For anyone who enjoyed the stories of Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle Duck, etc) it will give an added dimension to her loved childhood stories, as you discover more about her own life. And, as it is rated G, I suspect older girls and teenagers who also loved the books would enjoy it.

Not sure many men would love it, but for a girls’ night it’s lovely.

The Prodigal God

The Prodigal God, Timothy Keller

Some books become popular quickly and all of a sudden it seems that everyone has read them.  This was one of them a few years ago.

Using the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, Keller challenges us to see the parable afresh.  In it we meet 2 brothers – one (usually referred to as the prodigal) is the one we are most familiar with, the spendthrift, licentious younger brother.  However, Keller wants us to see also the older brother, the rule-keeper, yet joyless one who keeps his fathers commands but with no desire to serve.  Keller shows that both of these types of ‘brothers’ exist in the world today, and both need God as badly as the other.  One needs to repent of his sinful lifestyle and see the forgiveness that God offers, and the other needs to repent of his moral conformity as a way to control God and see the costliness of God’s grace towards him.

Jesus, though, shows us that a man who has violated virtually nothing on the list of moral misbehaviours can be every bit as spiritually lost as the most profligate, immoral person. Why? Because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life. (p43)

There are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord. One is by breaking all the moral laws and setting your own course, and one is by keeping all the moral laws and being very, very good. (p44)

Keller then shows the free and yet costly grace the Father gives us in forgiving us, and that the true elder brother we really have is Jesus.

This is an easy to read, short and very helpful book, which will help you to see which way you tend, perhaps towards the younger brother with his journey of self-discovery or the other way, towards the older brother with his moral conformity.  It would also be a great book for unbelievers, especially those with a church background, who know of the parable of the prodigal son, yet have moved away from churches, put off by the more ‘older brother’ nature of its members.

A wonderful gift

I have just been the recipient of the most wonderful gift.  Time. 

Time to rest, read, meditate & be refreshed.

Time to listen to sermons, embroider, watch DVDs, take photos & sleep.

Time without noise, errands or tasks.

I have just been away for 3 days.  A gift generously given by my family, although given at most cost by my husband.  A gift generously supported by the congregation members who supplied a wonderful holiday home and a car in which to get there.

We planned this months ago, when life was busier and I was more stressed.  However, in God’s good timing, it turned into a continued recuperation from the operation and a quieter time than originally planned.

I caught up on sermon listening, read the bible and some Christian books and have generally been surprised by how much I wanted to spend time in God’s word and thinking about it.

A break from home routines has not been a break from God as well.  Instead it’s been a chance to stop, refresh, revitalise and be thankful again for His many abundant blessings.

God is indeed good, friends.  His mercies are new every morning.

The Girl in Times Square

The Girl in Times Square, Paullina Simons

I have read this book 3 times over the last 7 years - I keep coming back to it. I love it.

24 year old Lily is living in New York City, trying to figure out what life holds for her. That life turns upside down when her best friend and roommate Amy goes missing. Detective Spencer O’Malley is put on the case and as their lives become intertwined, it seems nothing is as Lily thought. Her family, her friends, her health and her money are all thrown apart.

It’s not really a detective story, for while Amy’s disappearance is the thread that brings it all together, it is not the main focus of the novel. It’s about Lily – and it’s a great tale. Full of great highs and deep lows, and how you live when you find life is nowhere near as simple as you though it might be. And at 600 pages you can be lost in this story for a while!



(Interestingly I just read another of her novels A Song in The Daylight and I thought it was dreadful.  The story was of a married woman with 3 children who embarks on an affair with a 20-year old man, and betrays them in the most awful calculated way.  Perhaps well-written, but such an dreadful story with an irredeemable heroine - not recommended!)

Life interrupted

Life often just goes along doesn’t it? Day to day, week to week, term to term. For ages my prayer point in various groups has been that we just keep keeping on in the regular things of life, for not much was happening.

Then you get a little spun off course. Not too much mind you in the scheme of things, but enough to throw it all off kilter.

On Sunday I had my appendix out. A few days of unexplained abdominal pain and a few tests suggested investigations were necessary, so some investigative surgery and an appendectomy followed. Not fun generally.


Again I am reminded of how fragile we are.

How much recovery from even relatively minor surgery can hurt.

How much you generally fit into a week.

How much you do at home.

How much of what you do you never explain to anyone.

How competent and caring my husband is.

How wonderfully servant-hearted the Christian community is.


How much I take my normally excellent health for granted.

How much I am going to miss running.

How alarming the words ‘we took a biopsy’ sound (seems OK at this stage).

How thankful I am to live in a time and place with excellent, fast, intelligent health care.

How much I am willing to pay for such healthcare.

How many people do not have such a privilege and how uncomfortable I am about that.


Further thoughts may follow in time, but that is all I am up for at the moment.

The Year 1000

The Year 1000, Robert Lacey and Danny Danzinger

I have spent a bit of time in history books of late – Christian women, history of the home.  Here is another offering – The Year 1000.   Subtitled helpfully with a full explanation of it's purpose: What Life was like at the Turn of the First Millennium: An Englishman’s World, it obviously gives an introduction to life in England in the Year 1000.

Based on the Julian Work Calendar, a 12 month illustrated calendar which has survived from those times, the authors take you on a tour of England. You are given an insight into kings, Vikings and Normans, the agrarian life, how the average person lived, what they ate and what they believed.

It’s a lovely little book and at 200 pages, very readable for those who want a taste of history without lots of detail.

Life was simple. People wore the simple, sack-like tunics with leggings that we laugh at in the Monty-Python movies, though in colours that were rather less muddy…

Life was short. Boys of twelve was considered old enough to declare allegiance to the king, while girls got married in their early teens, often to men who were significantly older than they were. (p10)

The whole book has a great tone to it – full of respect for the times and the people who lived in them:

These were not people we should patronise. They were practical, self-contained folk, not given to excessive agonising or self-analysis, to judge from the few who committed their thoughts to paper – the ideal type to choose as companions on a desert island, since they were skilful with their hands, and they could turn their hands to anything. (p26)

We have more wealth, both personal and national, better technology, and infinitely more skilful ways of preserving and extending our lives. But whether we today display more wisdom or common humanity is an open question, and as we look back to discover how people coped with the daily difficulties of existence a thousand years ago, we might also consider whether, in all our sophistication, we could meet the challenges of their world with the same fortitude, good humour, and philosophy. (p201)

An enjoyable and informative little book.

Reading - what and when?

A reader has asked me a question:

How do you decide what books to read? And how do you find the time to read them?

I thought I might take a little time to answer because other people have asked the same question over the last few years.

What to read?

It’s probably as basic as I choose to read what interests me. I have always been a reader, from childhood my nose was buried in a book. Usually fiction in the teenage years, but when I became a Christian it was a natural progression to read books that had a little more depth.

This blog started after an email book club disintegrated. When we left theological college almost 10 years ago, a group of the wives decided to have an email book club. We were scattering to 4 corners of the world, so email was the only way to do it. We decided on one book per month, often based on the list of all the books you know you want to read while at college but never have the time! We read quite a lot over a few years, all Christian books and ones we wanted to read.  Early on we decided we did not want to read rubbish, but good stuff.   If we were going to spend time reading, we wanted the time to be well spent.   At the end of the month, we would email around answering the following questions:

- What did you like?

- What did you learn/what challenged you?

- What did you disagree with/dislike, etc?

- Who would you recommend this to?

As time progressed, fewer and fewer of us had time to contribute. So, I decided to read the books on my personal list and review them on a blog.

When I read a review or hear about a book that interests me, I write it down straightaway. When a Christian bookstore has a sale, I go and buy up (or order online these days!)

For a while I was reading lots of blogs which highlighted books to read.  However, towards the end of last year, I found it overwhelming and I couldn’t keep up, so I cut right back on all the blogs I read.  My main blog sources for book ideas over the years have been:  Jean, Nicole and Meredith and Tim Challies.  There are many more out there, so if you are a fellow blogger, don’t be offended!  But these four have been my main source of reading ideas online.

Also, I follow through ideas relevant to our life:

I read marriage & relationship books – both because we think it’s important to continue to work on our own marriage, and because we do a lot of marriage preparation and enrichment with couples.

I read parenting books – because as a parent you are always looking for new ideas, and now friends ask for book recommendations.  I seem to have a revolving lending library of parenting books!

I read books about ministry and mission work – biographies and ‘how to’, both for interest but also because that is a key part of our lives and many people whom we love and support.

I read books about God, theology and the Christian life. I would love to read more in this category. Most of my sources here come from my husband, also a keen reader. He seems to always have some good theology books on the go.

I read non-Christian books – both fiction and non-fiction. Whatever takes my interest, what friends and family suggest, and authors that I like.

And I always am open to suggestions.  Now that people seem to know that I read, more and more people are suggesting books for me to read.  I love it, it's how I find our about many more books.  I don't guarantee that I'll review it, but I will probably try to read it.

When to read?

I read for about an hour every day.  We have had scheduled ‘rest time’ in our family since the children started dropping their day sleep.  After lunch ABC2 or a DVD goes on for about an hour.  It happens less now, as 2 kids are at school and our youngest is at pre-school.  But the understanding is that if you are home, rest time happens and it is also for Mummy who gets some quiet time then.  If we have plans that night, I also try to include my bible reading and prayer in that time, but more usually, I leave that for early evening, and put my feet up with a pot of tea, some dark chocolate and I read. These days I read about 30 mins of fiction and 30 mins of a Christian book. It’s not specified, I just find I relax with the tea, chocolate and fiction, and then am ready to turn my mind to weightier things after!

What about you?  How do you choose what to read?  When do you read?

Going Public

Going Public, David & Kelli Pritchard

This book is by David and Kelli Pritchard, a couple in the US who have 8 children, all of whom have been or are being educated through the public school system. As you read it, you get the feeling you know what they are talking about. They have lived it.

While it is billed as a resource to help and encourage you to use the public school system for your children’s education, it is much more than that.

It is a book about parenting your children through the school years. Most of it is relevant no matter what education system you decide on - public, private, Christian and (to a lesser extent) homeschool.

I am so glad I read it now.  At the end of the year all our children will be at school.  We are starting to think about high schools for our son.  It helped me to recalibrate our framework again and think about the goals we have for our children’s education, which are so much more than just good marks and a potential entry to tertiary study.   Not only that, as I am thinking through what my weeks will look like with all 3 at school, I found it helpful to again be reminded that I want to be involved in my children’s education, that I want to be an supportive, caring and involved parent for the staff and students, and that our kids’ school is the largest mission field I have.

Their overarching message is that God is in control. As Christian parents, we know in our heads that this is true, but sometimes we don’t act that way do we? We worry about our schools ranking on the MySchool website, we are concerned about our children’s performance in the NAPLAN tests and we worry about the influence of non-Christian teachers and friends. Sometime we forget that God is sovereign even over our children’s education.

Their second main point is that as parents we are in control. Wherever our children are educated, we are still their main educators. We are the ones who spend the most time with them and who have the most influence over their lives.  No matter what schooling option we choose, we should never assume that ‘school will teach them that’. No, we stay involved and interested and aware of what they are learning, how they are progressing and how to help in any areas needed. The Pritchards claim that our job as parents includes: to teach them to love God with all their hearts, to teach them obedience and to teach self-control. These three traits will assist any child in growing up with an active faith, and also with a respect for authority and an ability to make wise decisions.

A couple of other points that were helpful were:

• The charge to us as parents to always be polite, encouraging and helpful with all school staff, most of whom spend their lives dealing with complaining parents. In this we can really stand out. I have already found this at school, being deliberate about getting to know the classroom teacher makes a huge difference for the whole year. Being on first name basis with the office staff means all interactions are based around a relationship, rather than only about an issue.

• Making sure we listen when our kids tell us about what happened at school, and find the teachable moments when they are there. Don’t overreact to information about teachers and other students, but listen and help your kids figure out how to think about the things that happen at school from a Christian perspective.

• The Pritchards put a strong emphasis on dads being involved in education: going on excursions, making sure they get to parent teacher night, getting to know friends. This is a task that usually falls to mothers, but they encourage dads to get more involved.

• They encourage families to consider having one parent as a stay-at-home parent. There is a lot to do to support children at school well and they believe, where possible, a parent at home makes this easiest and best. Each family makes their own decisions on this point, but I have to say from personal experience, I loved knowing that every day my mum would be home when we got home from school.

One of the things that I found most helpful were things to ask in a parent-teacher interview. Yes, find out how they are going academically, which especially with younger ones you probably already know anyway. But then change the direction of the interview and ask if your child is respectful to their teacher and if he listens to them. Is it the same with authority figures in the school, including other teachers and substitute teachers? Then ask about their relationship with other students - is he kind? helpful? does he speak sarcastically to other kids? do you ever see a streak of meanness?, etc. Think about the qualities and characteristics you are raising your child to have and ask whether they are demonstrating those at school.

Finally, they talk about evangelism in the school context. Some people view their children as evangelists on the school mission field. What the Pritchards say is “The main job for a Christian child or teenager in public school is simply to be a good student, a good citizen and a servant-leader – to model what Christianity actually is.” (p192) As parents we also have an opportunity to live a clear Christian witness as parents, to be hospitable and have an open home, to treat all with respect and to continue to teach our children how to do these things, and of course, be prepared to give an answer when anyone asks us for the reason for the hope that we have with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15-16)

I found this book incredibly helpful. It made me think afresh about parenting during the school years and how to think about my time and my involvement in my children’s education. I’ll leave the Pritchards with the last words:

What matters… is the fact that you serve an incredibly mighty God, and He will prevail. Trust Him on this journey. Walk from school year to school year in confidence that He is on your side. (p209)

Invictus

This week’s DVD was Invictus.

It’s 1995 and Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) is the newly elected President of South Africa after 27 years of imprisonment. His desire is to unite his nation after years of separation - he decides that rugby may well be the way. As their country hosts the Rugby World Cup, he issues a challenge to the captain of the Springboks (Matt Damon) and his team of underdogs and poor performers to win the Cup for their nation.

On paper possibly not that appealing, especially for non-rugby fans (which is most of my SA readers!). However, you don’t have to understand anything about rugby to appreciate it (like Moneyball and baseball which we saw recently – also recommended viewing).

Directed by Clint Eastwood, this is a great movie that gives an insight into post-apartheid South Africa and how sport can unite a nation. And for light-hearted fun you can hear how badly American actors do South African accents, at times sounded like a room full of Australian, Kiwis, English and South Africans.

My husband remembers this World Cup and he knew from the beginning what was going to happen. Even with that, he enjoyed it and the re-telling of the story. I could not remember the details (but ask me about the 2003 World Cup Final – that one I remember!), so I was engrossed in the final game.

Give the man in your life a break from chick-flicks and try this sometime – you’ll probably find you like it too!

The Slap

The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas

Sometimes when everyone is talking about a book or TV series, you feel you should try to figure out what all the fuss is about.

So, I tried The Slap. I started the book months ago, left it for a while and finally finished it, purely because I felt I should.

My husband read a review of the TV series when it aired last year (not realising it was based on a book) and suggested we watch it. We didn’t even get to the actual slap in the first episode, before he turned it off disgusted.

For those who haven’t heard of it The Slap is a recent Australian novel, set in current-day Melbourne. A group of family and friends are at a BBQ, when a man slaps a misbehaving child that is not his. The novel charts the stories of 8 people at the BBQ in the coming months and how their relationships change as a result.

I know this book got rave reviews, as did the TV series. But truly I thought it was awful.

The story and the people were dreadful, I didn’t want to know these people, I couldn’t care about them, they were so appalling. It is full of swearing, drug use, adultery, bad marriages, alcoholism and misery.  It didn’t seem to me that any one of them had any redeeming features.  None learnt anything. None tried to be a better person.

Two things struck me upon reading it:

• I know no one like this. If this is an accurate portrayal of the average Australian life, I do not know many average Australians. And boy, does our society need the penetrating truth of the gospel.
• Modern, edgy writing has absolutely no appeal to me. Give me some old-fashioned manners and respect any day.

It’s one of the few books I have reviewed here that I do not recommend!

The sufferings of Christ

Was he flogged?
     It was done so that "by his wounds we are healed" (Isa 63:5).

Was he condemnded, though innocent?
     It was done so that we might be aquitted, though guilty.

Did he wear a crown of thorns?
     It was done so that we might wear the crown of glory.

Was he stripped of his clothes?
     It was done so that we might be clothed in everlasting righteousness.

Was he mocked and reviled?
     It was done so that we might be honoued and blessed.

Was he reckoned a criminal, and counted amoung those who have done wrong?
     It was done so that we might be reckoned innocent, and declared free from all sin.

Was he declared unabbe to save himself?
     It was so that night be able to save others to the uttermost.

Did he die at last, and that the most painful and disgraceful death?
     It was done so that we might live forevermore, and be exalted to the highest glory. 

Let us ponder these things well: they are worth remembering. 

From J.C.Ryle, quoted in Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross, edited by Nancy Guthrie (p58-9)

Feminine Threads

Feminine Threads, Diana Lynn Severance

Have you noticed, that sometimes as modern 21st century westerners we can be a little arrogant about the past? We think they weren’t as educated or informed as we are, they didn’t really understand how the world worked, they lived such simple lives, and so on.

It’s even more dangerous when we start to think that way as Christians. When we think that Christians of the early centuries or the middle ages or Victorian England – perhaps we think they weren’t educated, or intelligent, or wise, or learned. They didn’t really know their bibles that well. They didn’t really know how to think theologically.

And then you read a history book like Feminine Threads which puts you in your place. It shows you that Christians have lived godly, intelligent, wise, learned lives since Christ walked the earth. What you are pushed to actually realise is that godly women over the ages have studied the scriptures, learnt them, meditated upon them and memorised them. In essence, some were more learned, more studious and more devout than many of us will ever be.

Over two centuries, Christian women have influenced their homes, their husbands, their workplaces, their bishops, their popes, their kings, their governments, their countries and their jailers. They have housed churches in their homes, pushed for reform, changed nations and died as martyrs. Feminine Threads will open your eyes to the place of women in Christian history, introducing you to many women you would otherwise never hear of.

I first got this book when it was recommended so highly by Meredith.  A few weeks later I read Tamie’s review which was much less complementary.  I had both their words ringing in my ears when I read it.   Interestingly I found myself agreeing with both of them.  Yes, it is an amazingly encouraging read about godly women throughout time. And yes, Severance clearly has an anti-feminist, anti-women’s ordination agenda which comes out strongly throughout and she attaches that to a number of her interpretations.

She includes women across the band of denominations and parts of the church quite broadly – Catholicism, mysticism, Congregationalist, Salvation Army, Puritan, Quaker, reformed, etc. It is centred in the West, especially England and America, and I would have loved to have had godly women in Africa, Asia and South America included.

When you read it, you could end up feeling a little useless (eg. I am not raising 8 children, I cannot translate Latin and Greek, I have not established a school or a missionary board). But that would be to miss the point.   These are the exemplary women of 2000 years of history, on whom information exists.   There are millions of other faithful women who minister to their families, teach the bible to those in their care, long to grow in godliness and strive to serve Jesus, yet whose lives are unrecorded.  I'll leave Severance with the last word:

Millions of women in following Christ have followed the New Testament pattern of Christian women – lifting up the needs of others in prayer, mentoring other Christians, supporting church leaders, showing hospitality, fellow-labouring as missionaries, supporting their husbands in Christian work, instructing other women, evangelizing and sharing the Word with others, teaching children, and helping those in need and distress. These Christian women were from the poor and rich, from every class of society, and from every continent on the globs. They were not perfect, but that have obtained a good testimony through faith in the One who have His life a ransom to redeem them for God. They are the feminine threads in the rich tapestry of Christian history. (p312)

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

I had the chance to see this at the movies the other night. It was a lovely, gentle film.

Seven senior residents of the UK, all having realised that their money will not stretch into retirement in the way they would like, respond to an ad to live in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (for the Aged and Beautiful) in India.  One is bereaved, one is chasing an old lost love, some are escaping financial loss and some are seeking companionship.   As their lives intertwine and they learn to live in a very foreign world, some find they cannot cope and others find a wonderful new lease on life.

With a stellar cast including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Tom Wilkinson, this is a treat of a movie. It is definitely geared towards an older generation, those heading towards or in retirement, and it is also being plugged as a ‘chick flick’.

I really enjoyed it – it was funny, insightful, vulnerable and never crude. Perhaps you could take your mum to see it?!

Jasper Jones

Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey

The briefest, yet most informative description of this book is that it's an Australian To Kill a Mockingbird.  I studied To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) at high-school, as I suspect did many others.  I loved it at the time and when I returned to read it as a adult, I found that it still captured my imagination in the same way it did as a teenager.  The portrayal of racism in the southern USA in the 1930s, the idea of justice and how people treat one another is illustrative and confronting.  If imitation is the highest form of flattery, it is clear that Silvey is a big fan of both Harper Lee and Mark Twain, referring to both throughout.   

Jasper Jones is the story of 13 year old Charlie Bucktin in a small country town of WA in 1965.  Over one summer Charlie makes an awful discovery with the local problem boy of mixed-race, Jasper Jones, which forges a friendship between them.  At the same time, Charlie is falling in love for the first time, and is a steadfast friend to Jeffrey, a Vietnamese migrant, who is either ignored or harassed by all in the town.  Silvey has done an excellent job of portraying the mind & conversations of youth, and as such I suspect some older teenage boys would enjoy it.  

This is a great book, which addresses teenage angst, family issues and racial tensions in a very white Australia.  

Easter readings

At Easter our family does 2 weeks of readings leading up to Easter, which concentrate on Jesus' last week from Matthew's gospel.  It's very similar to the Advent readings we do at Christmas time.  We open an egg each day and stick a picture or item on the wall to remind us of the story as it unfolds.  I have blogged about it over recent years.  If you would like copy of the material we use, please go to the resources tab.  If you want to use it for your family, it starts next Monday (March 26th).

Run ... Run

Run Fat B!tch Run, Ruth Field

It is with some trepidation that I review this book for you. Most of you are such nice polite readers out there that you won’t like the title of the book. But, stick in there - it might just be worth it...

Long term readers will know that I have taken up running in the past 2 years. It has slowly developed from the need to do regular exercise to ensure my back and neck function in a relatively normal way, with less pain and less referred pain in other parts of my body. What started out as a regular walk of about 3-4kms, very slowly developed into a run (because I was bored with walking), and then the distance slowly increased over time. Now I am trying to run a regular 10km per week and a few shorter runs of about 6km.

Now I give you these stats not because I am trying to brag (although I am rather proud of myself over the last few years). But rather to say – if I can do it, you can do it. I previously could not run 200m. Now I can and quite a bit more.

Lots of people think they could not possibly run, there is no way.

This book I found recently will help you change your mind. Ruth Field used to run regularly, then found herself pregnant with twins, not allowed to run and so she vented her frustration into writing a book helping people to get running. Basically she helps you do to exactly what I did – start walking, slowly progress to running and then keep running.

Her method is to find your inner grit – the voice in your head – and channel her energy into getting you out the door and doing something about it. You might not use her method specifically (take off your clothes, stand in front of the mirror and tell yourself you are a fat b…).   But it still might work to get you motivated!

Obviously, if you have self-esteem issues or eating disorder tendencies – do not go near this book. However, if you want to have a bit of a laugh at yourself and get some motivation along the way – this is a good one to start with. Have a look at her blog if you want a taste.

She gives some eating tips along the way, but still maintains that the only thing you need to do to get healthy is run.  I liked the amusement factor of this book, it was fun to read & it simplified everything. I especially liked her 2 golden rules of eating: 

If you are looking for some other inspiration and you aren’t sure this book will work for you – buy the newest magazine out: Women’s Running Australia – first issue out this month. I liked it – simple, not too technical, but enough to interest beginners through to more consistent runners.