Status Report: July

Sitting…on the couch in the living room.

Drinking…nothing. I had my coffee earlier. I am eating a bowl of raisen bran for breakfast, though.

Missing…youngest son, who is gone for a week. He’s visiting his sister and shopping for a suit for the wedding in a few weeks.

Returning…to my trim painting job in the living room.

Reading…Always Ready by Greg Bahnsen. You’re tired of seeing it listed in my status reports, aren’t you?

Also reading…40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible by Robert L. Plummer.

Loving…that the backyard fence is fixed. Also loving that daughter is taking the dogs for a run so I don’t have to walk them today.

Pretending…I have nothing on my to-do list today. Unfortunately, pretending doesn’t make it so.

Wondering…if hot summer temperatures will ever come this year. Will I ever need to use my fan?

Watching…the robins in the garden. The recent rain has brought the tasty and nutritious earthworms to the surface.

Anticipating…the wedding. What else?

Stressing…a little over what to wear to the wedding. I want to get a new dress, which I want to be dressy, but not so dressy that I can’t wear it frequently after the wedding. I love wearing brown in the summer when I am tanned, but I’m wondering if brown is right for a morning wedding in the summer.

Praying…for a few people I know who are being treated for cancer.

Remembering…that there were other years when the potato plants weren’t all up by July 1 and I still had a big harvest.

Realizing…that it’s hard for one person to keep up with the upkeep of a big old home like mine. I love this place, but it’s wearing me out.

Thankful Thursday

On this Canada Day, I’m thankful for my acquired country, which, more than thirty years ago welcomed us with a teaching job for my husband. I’m thankful for the city I live in, for it’s bounty of green space and walking trails and wildlife (although I could have done without this week’s grizzly in the city warning).

I’m thankful for the recent rain which was much needed by the grass in the yard and the plants in the garden.

I’m thankful that youngest son got the fencing problem in the backyard fixed, even if it’s only in a temporary sort of way, so that I can stop having to retrieve the pup from other neighbourhood yards.

I’m thank for good books and the ability to read.

I’m thankful for a busy day ahead.

On Thursdays throughout this year, I plan to post a few thoughts of thanksgiving along with Kim at the Upward Call and others. Why don’t you participate by posting your thanksgiving each week, too? It’ll be an encouragement to you and to others, I promise.

Round the Sphere Again: Summer Reading

With the Whippersnappers
From Juan Sanchez, a list of books to use with your children, books that  do not “merely promotes moralism,” but “explain the storyline of Scripture (biblical theology) and present a BIG God!” (The Gospel Coalition Blog)

And John Starke recommends The Church History ABCs by Stephen Nichols and Ned Bustard, a book that “runs through each letter of the alphabet, and couples [it] with a figure from church history.” (TGC Reviews) [Update, July 2: View pages from this book.}

For the Grown-Ups
What better way to spend the summer than reading Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables? And now there’s a new translation by Julie Rose that is, we’re told, “lively, dramatic, and wonderfully readable.” (Justin Taylor)

Much shorter than Les Misérables (a whole summer project, I’d say) is Mark Dever’s What Does God Want of Us Anyway? A Quick Overview of the Whole Bible. This one is only 122 small pages long (just a weekend read) but, says John Beeson, “teaches the reader basic biblical redemptive categories all the while whetting his appetite for the Word itself.” He concludes his review like this:

Read this book. If you’ve been a Christian for years and the Bible is like an old gym shirt—worn in and comfortable—you need this book to reinvigorate you and bring you back to the core themes of Scripture.  If you’re a brand new Christian use this book as a very simple guide to help provide you a roadmap of the most important book you’ll never grow too old or too mature for.  If you have friends who are interested in Christianity, read this book with them. It will pique their interest and hopefully cause them to assume less and be challenged to pick up for themselves Book that God has given to his people.

Read the whole review at TGC Reviews.

Update, July 1: (So it’s not exactly reading, but it does have to do with books.) I like to listen to audiobooks while tackling boring summer projects like weeding and painting. This months free audiobook at Christian Audio is Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. Here are the details.