A Melodious Sonnet

“I Get To!” (Life Update)

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One thing that’s become clearer and clearer to me over this past week is the fact that I need to work on developing better daily and weekly rhythms. No longer am I working three-hour days; when I work, I’m doing nine-hour days! That makes a significant difference in the amount of time I have in a given week—not to mention the fact that after I get home from an 8-5 day, I don’t have a whole lot of extra energy left to do much else (yes, mothers, you are allowed to laugh).

My weeks are definitely going by a little faster than I was used to, but I’m loving it, too. 🙂 And I definitely don’t have any grounds to complain!

In the three days per week left to me to do things, I’ve been working at a myriad of jobs. Last night, I finally sat down and took five minutes to write out all the things that I really need or want to get done in the next month:

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  1. Finish my aunt and uncle’s wedding video (I got the files for this 2 1/2 years ago…it’s about time I finish it, methinks!)
  2. Sand, stain, and varnish my new (old) wardrobe (this has been in progress since soon after we moved here—my sister and I need it for our room, and preferably the sooner the better!)
  3. Catch up on book reviews (I’ve finished quite a few books lately…and am set to do more soon)
  4. Get the category sorting function on my new website figured out (this has been waiting for several months now)

Most of these jobs are ones that will take several days apiece to do—and that’s not counting the ones I need to complete on a weekly basis (like bread making) or roughly once a month (like uploading new book reviews to the website).

But wow. I look at that list and think, “how many people out there have time to even think about jobs like this?”

Two or three weeks ago, I came across an interesting point about the Indians that lived in the Pacific Northwest: “Because food and wood [were] easy to gather, the Northwest Indians [had] much leisure time. Their lives [were] full of playacting, dancing, and singing.” (From A History of Us, Book 1 by Joy Hakim.)

I have to wonder, statistically speaking, how many people these days do not have time for things like this—or “relaxation” as we know it at all!—simply because it’s a daily fight for survival. It’s a struggle to even find a little food to feed their family.

None of those jobs listed above would be on my to-do list if I lived in a country where food was scarce. If anything, they would be a someday/maybe dream. That fact makes me feel very thankful. My food almost always appears, ready to eat (thank you, Mom!).

I live in plenty. So even if I struggle with a very first-world problem of figuring out prioritization and how to get the most out of my days, I know that I am blessed. Of course, there are the negative aspects of having too much plenty, but that’s a completely separate topic!

For now, I’m choosing to focus on the fact that I get to do these things, when for many people it’s an impossible dream. That it’s a privilege. Remembering that cuts down on the overwhelm factor quite a bit.

But, seriously—getting overwhelmed over something as trivial as what I should do with my days?

Okay. I’ll stop. But thanks for sparking the thought, Mr. History Book.

Let’s discuss: What are you working on right now? What are you thankful for today?

River Walk

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When we moved over here a month ago, I asked Mom, “Do you think I’ll always think of the East Coast as the most beautiful side, and miss it? Or will I eventually think the West Coast is the most beautiful, and if we move back to Canterbury, I’ll end up missing the West Coast?”

She answered, “I don’t know.”

I think I’ve now found my answer now:

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A month into being here, I think I can pretty comfortably say that I’ve fallen in love with West Coast scenery. Before we moved here, I already really enjoyed it—there’s a certain charm to the rugged beauty of this place, but I knew I didn’t like the rain. However, I’m finding I haven’t minded the rain at all (so far, anyway—better wait until I’ve gone through a couple winters to make that an absolute statement!). And we still do get a good amount of sunshine, which is lovely!

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But the colors here…I think at this point I’d really miss them if we would go anywhere else. Yesterday afternoon, we as a family had time for a quick walk, and we’ve been wanting to find out exactly where a creek is that we’ve seen signs for.

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So we took off to explore for that, and turns out it’s just a 10-15–minute walk away, around the corner, down a hill, and around another corner.

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It ended up being a lovely little creek that gushes under a rickety old wooden bridge (rickety, as in when I walked across it, several of the boards were bouncing under my feet!). It also has that special enchanting gurgle as it tumbles over several series of rapids on its way down to join the river.

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After exploring the creek, we retraced our steps, crossed the railway line, and headed down another road. We found what we assume is a fishing access road that follows the creek for a ways as it winds out to the riverbed. It wasn’t a very long walk from there to the river.

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The scenery along the way, though. Gorgeous. Even though we were less than a mile from town, we were immersed in the country. There were animals, green, green grass, trees galore, the river off in the distance, and the mountains behind that…. Ahh, it did my soul good.

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Skirting the gravel piles, we walked down a short four-wheel-drive trail and then headed west along the rocky riverbed. It wasn’t far until we hit the creek again, where it spread out and hurried over rocks and around hillocks of grass and small shrubs to merge with the river that flowed at its toes off to our left.

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Then a patch of sand, another bit of rushing water (perhaps a side-channel of the Grey river?), more sand, more rocks, and we hit what appeared to be one of the main channels of the Grey river. That water was moving much faster, and appeared to be just as big if not bigger than the river that flows past our town to the south. It had gouged out a cleft for itself in the rocky riverbed, and formed a swift-moving current through which it ran down to where the two rivers intersected. On either side, for quite a distance, smaller trickles of water fanned out, all heading downstream.

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The boys had heaps of fun wading in the rushing water, but the current was strong, so they mostly all stayed together to keep from being washed off their feet!

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Then they headed upstream to find driftwood to send down the chute.

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It truly was a lovely evening! And although pictures aren’t perfect, and don’t come anywhere near to doing it justice, the memories made will live in our hearts forever.

Thank you, Lord, for my family. For the time we can spend together. For laughter, and a beautiful creation, and most of all, for Your gift of love that we can share with each other.

A Rich Week

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Life has been very full the last little while. And I’m loving it.

Last week was mostly spent tidying up after moving, finding new homes for all our things, etc.

This week, I worked two full days at my new job (helping out a family; SO much fun!), and starting a project I’ve taken a break on for the last two to three years: School work. And, while stretching, and while I am behind (I’m working on it, I promise!), I’ve been enjoying it so much.

I never officially finished highschool. I guess you could say I’m a dropout, but when I stopped doing it, I was just starting to get my website up and running, and was learning a TON about webdesign.

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For the last two or three years, that has been my life. And it still is. I’ve still got a lot to do there. I have no idea how I’m going to balance it all, but I figure if I want something bad enough (like having the chance to learn more and still get my website work done), I’ll find a way to do it.

So this week, in between thinking about all the different things I need to do or keep in mind when working at my new job (like remembering to get noisy jobs done before nap-time!), I’ve been studying the ancient Americas. Did you know that advanced civilizations popped up in Central America before the Mayans—or at least ran concurrently with them? Or that in the Pacific Northwest, there were tribes of Native Americans who owned slaves and had a very defined caste system, as Captain Cook discovered when he visited? Or that some Native American cultures spent years planning some of their feasts?

I didn’t know those things. And between several different books that I’m currently reading right now that are scheduled in our school curriculum, I am finding a few fascinating tidbits.

Which is why I wanted to go back to doing school in the first place, so YAY!

I’ve also been reading Peace Child, and although the first chapters are fairly disgusting and hard to read, the transformation that I know is coming is going to be amazing to see too. And their reasoning behind why and how they did certain things…wow. Don’t get me started. Add in the language used to tell the story, and it’s a masterful book, which makes my readerly heart very happy!

So that’s a little of what I’ve been up to lately. Have you learned anything interesting or done something new (or the first in a long time) this past week?

What Dreams May Come Review and Blog Tour

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My brother and I bounced along in the back seat of the truck. Praise music was turned on fairly loudly in the front, and every once in a while one of us would look back to check on our load and make sure everything was staying in place. Already, we had stopped five or six times to try to tighten up straps enough to keep the tires on top of the things packed underneath them on the loaded trailer. It was a chore to make sure that they didn’t jiggle too far out—at one point, we had ended up with a tire dragging on the road, which isn’t very optimal in a high-speed zone!

However, by now, two and a half hours into our journey, things seemed to be settling down a bit. We were all heaving a tentative sigh of relief, especially since the last stop for a check had revealed that the most recent tighten-down and re-threading seemed to have worked. Finally able to relax some, and ready to enjoy the scenery, I checked the two chickens perched right behind our heads one more time. They seemed to be doing fine, with their cage securely fastened by a few bits of twine string to the bars across the back window of the truck. Their feathers were being blown around some, but not as much as they had been before we wrapped a coat around the more exposed sides of the cage.

Tugging my Kindle out of my bag, I was excited to finally be able to start the book I’d been waiting for several months to read, What Dreams May Come. And as the native bush, creeks, the occasional waterfall, and rivers slid by outside (and the chickens and tires stayed in place behind us), I lost myself in the story.

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Some of the links below may be affiliate links. Your purchase through these links helps support this blog and my reading habits, at no extra cost to you. Thanks!

I don’t quite remember what I expected when I started reading What Dreams May Come, aside from a fascinating story, but it did not disappoint in the slightest!

About the book:

What Dreams May Come by Alana TerryShe’s got her heart set on becoming a missionary. He’s determined to recruit her for the job.

But is it possible to fall in love with someone you’ve never even met?

Susannah’s convinced that God has called her to the mission field. That’s why she’s serving him with single-minded focus in Orchard Grove, waiting for the day when she can leave her small town to take the gospel to the nations.

Is falling in love with her missionary recruiter part of God’s plan for her life or a distraction from the real goal?

Scott loves his life. Traveling the globe, offering spiritual support to missionaries around the world offers enough excitement that the loneliness hardly ever gets to him…

Until he receives an application from a young girl with a heart for the mission field as large as his own, a young girl he finds himself falling for even before they get the chance to meet face-to-face.

Unfortunately, a promise Susannah made to her family may tear her and Scott even farther apart than the miles that separate them.

Book one in an inspirational sweet romance series by award-winning Christian author Alana Terry, who has won awards from Women of Faith, The Book Club Network, Grace Awards, and several others, What Dreams May Come is based off of the author’s own experiences falling in love with (and eventually marrying) her missionary recruiter.

My thoughts:

Oh, this book. I hope I can get it in print one day—I really enjoyed it!

The thing that most caught me off guard, I believe, was the fact that this story deals with an immense amount of pain—Susannah faces not only losing a parent, then a boyfriend, but the loss of a pile of dreams because of one commitment that could not be put off. Although this dealt with some pretty heavy subjects, it never came off as too much (although it was agony to have to stop part-way through!), nor unrealistic. I loved it.

There were times that I was almost crying with Susannah as she faced supporting her sister while somehow dealing with her own loss. Things came crashing around her more than once, and each one was so realistic.

Then, too, there were times I was laughing out loud due to different circumstances—whether from comedy, courtesy of a very curious but somewhat confused child (Woong is absolutely adorable!); or sheer relief that the things I thought might happen didn’t.

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Pain, hope, and love mix to make this book a one-of-a-kind romance (well, in my experience, which is admittedly not as informed as it could be!). However, in the experience I do have, this book struck a deep chord with me.

I, too, like Susannah, have had hopes and dreams dashed when I was least expecting it. The struggle—the agony of loss—came through in this story without the hype often found in other books. And Susannah’s struggle, not only to come to grips with the past but try to make sense of the future, were ones I’ve faced in the not too distant past. So in some ways, this story felt like my story—so the solutions and hopes expressed in this felt like mine to claim too.

One of my favorite quotes was:

“He is the God who finishes what he begins. He is the God who brings it to completion. … He doesn’t place a calling on your life and fail to bring it to pass.” —Grandma Lucy

In all, I came away from What Dreams May Come feeling immensely encouraged, eager to find the next book in the series, and grateful to have had the chance to read this. If you’ve ever faced loss or want a sweet romance with a bit of the deeper struggles of life thrown in, I think this might be a good choice for you!

Note: I received this book for free from the author, and chose to share my opinions of the book.

Buy your copy here.

Alana Terry Author PhotoAbout the author:

Alana is a pastor’s wife, homeschooling mom, self-diagnosed chicken lady, and Christian suspense author. Her novels have won awards from Women of Faith, Book Club Network, Grace Awards, Readers’ Favorite, and more. Alana’s passion for social justice, human rights, and religious freedom shines through her writing, and her books are known for raising tough questions without preaching. She and her family live in rural Alaska where the northern lights in the winter and midnight sun in the summer make hauling water, surviving the annual mosquito apocalypse, and cleaning goat stalls in negative forty degrees worth every second. You can find her on her website at AlanaTerry.com.

Guest post by Alana Terry:

The cat’s out of the bag! Back in 2016, I wrote What Dreams May Come, a novel that was based on the way my husband and I fell in love … fourteen months before we ever met! It wasn’t until just before Christmas that I told Scott the romance novel I’d been writing was actually our true-to-life love story, and he was even more surprised than I hoped he’d be! Watch the video to see his reaction.

Christian Book.com GiveawayGiveaway!

To celebrate her tour, Alana is giving away a $50 CBD gift card!

Click here to enter. Be sure to comment on this post before you enter to claim 9 extra entries!

Let’s discuss: What do you enjoy reading on long trips? Or do you do something else then? What’s one book that has encouraged you in an area you had recently struggled in?

New Home, New Memories

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Well, moving week is behind us now. And I’m thankful.

At the same time, it was hard to say goodbye to our old place. I have some wonderful memories of being there, and even more great memories of living in that area. Over the last eight years, we haven’t moved any further than about 10 minutes’ distance from any one place, even though we lived in four different houses in that time.

This time, it’s four hours away. And I miss our friends from over there.

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Still, I can’t help but be thankful. We aren’t renting any more. Yes, we’ve got a mortgage, but this is our house. We were able to choose where we could go. And I love this place already, even though we’ve only lived in it for a week! We have wonderful friends over here, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them (and others in the area) even better over the next few years.

During this move, I’ve realized I’m also very thankful for my memories. While it was hard to say goodbye to an area that was very much home for eight years, I’m thankful that I can remember all the good things that happened there. Like I wrote the day before we moved,

“There will always be a part of me left behind here. Life was lived to its fullest many days. There were heartaches and joys in the three years we’ve lived in this house—one dear sibling was added to the family, and another was taken away. I’m thankful for the time we’ve spent here, and the memories, and in some ways, I’ll miss it.”

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Now, we’re working on developing new memories…growing deeper as a family, getting to know each other better. We’re all thrilled that my oldest brother can live with us again, since his work is only six minutes’ drive away. We love being able to hang out again.

God is good.

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These guys? They’re experts at this unloading thing by now!

We’re still settling in, for sure. I haven’t finished unpacking yet, because I don’t have a place to hang my dresses yet. I’m thankful for room in Mom’s closet, and for the fact that an old solid-wood wardrobe was left here, which I’m currently refinishing (that post will be coming soon!). The house is mostly tidy now, and Mom got all our books sorted and up on shelves again which is wonderful! I love seeing all our books together in one place. Makes me want to get reading again. 🙂

There’s this huge old ivy bush at the front of our place, and right now my youngest siblings are having heaps of fun climbing to the top and bouncing down the sides. I love watching them play together and enjoy each other’s company! God is good! I’m so thankful for all He’s done!

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Well, I’d better get out and do some more sanding on the wardrobe. I glued a few cracks this morning (one that I inadvertently crunched earlier after I glued and sanded it a couple days ago—oops!). Just a bit more to do there, I think, and then I can apply the stain/varnish stuff. Can’t wait to see what it looks like in the end!

What are you working on right now? What’s one memory that you have that you’re thankful for?