A Melodious Sonnet

Incorporating God’s Truth into Ordinary Life

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I’m finding I like short, to-the-point posts. Which do you prefer—short, or longer posts? In today’s post, I’m discussing incorporating God’s truth into ordinary life — not only when you’re reading the Bible together as a family, but also when you’re studying history—or doing the dishes together.

Recently, I was reading a little book called Bomby the Bombardier Beetle. As I read, I was amazed at how easily the story of creation was woven naturally into the story.

Later, I realized that we can just as easily weave those truths into different parts of our homeschooling! Perhaps we won’t be teaching on creation as such, but maybe we can teach about the fall of man, or the beauty of redemption, or something else.

“x IMG_5258” by David Hill via Flickr

For example: If you’re studying World War II, you can read about the Jews that were saved, imagining their elation at their freedom from fear. Compare that to the elation of a prisoner being released, and you have a picture of Christ setting us free.

Or perhaps you are studying ancient Persia, and come across an account of King Cyrus’ miraculous rescue from death as a baby. From there, you have the perfect springboard to discuss God’s interest and working in the world as well as in personal affairs.

Maybe you’re just doing the dishes together, and notice a tree coming into bloom. This could easily develop into a thought on the new life Christ gives us, or the perfection God has put into the world so that everything happens at their proper times.

There are beautiful lessons all around us. We aren’t called to discuss each one, but when the chance arises it is a blessing to share Biblical truths with the eager learners we are teaching.

What are some ways you are incorporating God’s truth into your daily life?

(Photo credit: “x IMG_5258”, by David Hill via Flickr, is used under CC BY 2.0. Text added to original.)

Midweek Mix-Up: A River Mouth, and an Impressive Resource List for Writers

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Welcome to this week’s midweek mix-up! I’ve had a full, fun, informative week, and I hope there’s something interesting or useful for you here today. Grab a cup of coffee—or tea, if you so desire—and let’s dig in!

Reading this week:

Confessions of a De-Cluttering Junkie, by Chautona Havig

Confessions of a De-Cluttering Junkie, by Chautona Havig
Progress: Finished

Just a few random thoughts on the book. I loved De-Cluttering Junkie, and I’m beginning to suspect I’d love any of Chautona’s books. Even though this book apparently has no real plot—okay, maybe it’s just that it doesn’t have a “generic” plotline, because it does have introduction, conflict, and a resolution—it’s both fun and exciting. I suspect it would be more interesting for Moms to read than for me, a teenager, but even so I found it gripping—taking it so far as to prefer reading over watching the scenery when we went sight-seeing with my aunt!

One thing I really appreciate about Chautona’s books is how careful she is about the amount of romance she portrays—or refuses to portray. That was especially clear to me in this book, where there were several scenes that could have easily gotten, um, yucky, but she skillfully avoided subjecting us to anything bordering on too much detail. It’s obvious, through the book, that she knows what she’s talking about—but she never uses it to wrongfully stimulate the senses. I really appreciate that. Yes, there is kissing, but it isn’t dwelt upon, and isn’t cast into any other light than normal—which is absolutely acceptable, because that is real life. Husbands and wives do kiss, and they should. I don’t mind reading about it if it’s treated as the normal way things work.

Another thing I loved was that Chautona doesn’t push homeschooling in this book at all—something she has every right to do, seeing as she’s a homeschool mom of a large family. She does mention it in a very favorable light in the Aggie’s Inheritance series, but in this book it just gets a passing mention. Although I am homeschooled, I really, really appreciated that because that is normal—not everyone wants to, or has the ability to homeschool their children. Chautona gets that. I highly recommend her for choosing to portray real life the way it is, rather than creating a perfect homeschooling world—as I’m sure it would have been both easy and tempting to do.

Alright, I’ll get off my soap box now.

What we’ve been up to:

I said goodbye to my visiting aunt early this morning. Yesterday afternoon, we took one more quick family trip to show her a few local sights—including a river mouth not far away. It’s been fun to show her around our little corner of the world.

River Mouth Adventure

#1: The view…always beautiful! This is looking south from a lookout, toward the river mouth. (River mouth is just on this side of the hills, almost in the middle of the picture.)
#2 and 3: Baby sister kept trying to escape from Mom’s arms.
#4: Three oldest boys decided to foot it down the track, so they’d have more time to explore.
#5: Sign of spring! Plum blossoms are just starting to appear! I love spring….

Useful blog posts:

  • Share Your Resources Day (Go Teen Writers) — Very helpful. Over 25 links to different resources. It’s pretty fun to go through this list!
  • How To Describe A Voice (Go Teen Writers) — One of my brothers really struggles with doing this, so I’m looking forward to share this post with him. Lots of great ideas, and several good sized lists of words you could use!
  • How do you stay self-disciplined when your schedule is inconsistent? (The Rebelution) — Interesting question, and several very good answers.
  • Life: A Gift and a Responsibility (Noveltea) — A very challenging post about the responsibility of a Christian when it comes to abortion, and a great idea for all those who enjoy doing handiwork!
  • Why I May Never Write a First Draft on a Computer Again (The NaNoWriMo Blog) — I’m slowly starting to agree with Courtney Montgomery—for some reason, it makes a lot of sense for me to write the first inklings of a story out by hand. Are you a computer writer, or more of a pen-and-paper type?
  • 100 Books You Should Read by the Time You Turn 20 (Blog, She Wrote) — How many of these have you read? I’ve read/listened to 17. I think I have a ways to go! I have heard about almost every one of these books, and have even heard abridged audio versions of some. Others are on my “don’t-think-I’ll-ever-want-to-read” list.

New books on the website:

See more of our most recent books here!

Resource of the week:

Software and Tools Masterpost (Write World)

This post…is like the ultimate post for writers to drool over, ever. Here’s a quick screenshot, to show you what I mean:

Tools for Writers

Yes, some of that stuff is pay-to-use, but still there’s quite a few free tools there too. I’d recommend you start here if you want to try something new, or want to see if something will work better for you. Just be warned: Trying out new programs can be very addictive!

How has your week been? Learned anything new, come across anything interesting, or just had a “normal” week? Share below—I love hearing from you!

Do You Have Characters Acting Out of Character?

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Recently, I watched a ‘40s film of Pride and Prejudice. Near the middle of the movie, Elizabeth was visiting Mr. and Mrs. Collins. Earlier in the film, hints had been made as to what Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s personality was like, but it wasn’t until now that I actually got to meet her. Her personality was just as bad as it had been portrayed earlier—proud, arrogant, haughty—everything you wouldn’t want to find in a new acquaintance.

Lady Catherine and Elisabeth

by C.E. Brock [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Later in the film, she is shown as coming to see Elizabeth, trying to force her to promise never to marry Mr. Darcy. Of course, by this time Elizabeth loves Darcy, even though there will probably never be a way to have that love reciprocated. In the end Elizabeth refuses, and Lady Catherine leaves in an apparent huff.

The next scene made me raise my eyebrows. The movie portrayed her going out to see Mr. Darcy, who apparently put Lady Catherine up to it to find out if Elizabeth really loved him or not. Lady Catherine gives him the affirmation he wants and he goes in to propose to Elizabeth, while she drives off in apparent good humor, well satisfied with finally bringing the two together in the end.

On the surface, this may be the perfect ending to the story—but how the two got together in the end really bugged me.

The problem was that Lady Catherine was acting out of character. Majorly.

The problem originated in the fact that Lady Catherine is shown in previous scenes to have had strong family ties. She wanted Darcy to marry her daughter, not this Elizabeth who had very low social ties. She was shown as willing to go to all ends to achieve her means. So she wouldn’t have wanted to help Darcy in any way.

For the movie, it worked alright—the story was able to resolve much more quickly than in the book. But as far as portraying real characters, it fell short.

In real life, Lady Catherine de Bourgh does question Elizabeth—and tell Mr. Darcy of the results, in an attempt to keep him from courting her. Her words had the opposite effect of what she desired, though.

I want to be sure my characters don’t act out of character. I do find it difficult to spot it in my own writing, but in one place of a recent novel, my editor picked up on one instance—that I’m currently trying to correct.

Have you ever noticed similar deficiencies in characters? When was the last time you caught characters acting out of character?

Midweek Mix-Up: Mud Flats and a POW

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Welcome to this week’s midweek mix-up! I enjoy putting these together, although sometimes life does not allow that to happen. I hope you enjoy them, anyway, when I do get them up!

What I’ve been reading lately:

The Sound of Diamonds, by Rachelle Rea

The Sound of Diamonds, by Rachelle Rea
Progress: Finished.

I ended up mostly enjoying this book. While I didn’t appreciate the romance as much, I loved reading about the time period and seeing all the historical tidbits through the story. I’ll be writing a full review to post on my personal blog soon.

In the Presence of Mine Enemies, by Howard and Phyllis Rutledge

In the Presence of Mine Enemies, by Howard and Phyllis Rutledge
Progress: Finished.

I loved this book! Although it does have some adult content, it was spiritually very encouraging and I loved the historical value of the book—as well as getting a glimpse into what the daily life of a POW is like. I’ll be posting a full review of this book on the site sometime in September or October, Lord willing. (Please note that this book includes some adult content, all in relation to the way the Vietnamese treated their prisoners. It is not a suitable read for children.)

What I’ve been doing lately:

As a family, we just got back from a fun trip with our aunt who is currently visiting us! We went up to the north part of the island we live on, and had a wonderful week of exploration, walking, fascinating history, and family time.

That view!

Right: One of the gorgeous views we were treated to along the mudflats at Farewell Spit.
Left: One of my brothers trying to hide from the camera.

 

New books on the website this week:

See more of our most recent books here!

Resource of the week:

I’ve recently come across AppSumo, a site that highlights good deals or freebies of truly useful things. Not too long ago, they had Scrivener for less than half it’s normal price on there. Then soon after, they had a freebie offered of Joseph Michael’s Learn Scrivener Fast course. Just yesterday, I got an email offering Workflowy Pro for free for a year. I’d highly recommend you sign up for their email newsletters (which you can do either by creating an account through “login > not a member yet” or by “claiming” a freebie)—this is a resource worth keeping.

Creating Beautiful Descriptions Using Coffee Table Books

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I was recently flipping through a coffee table book about tigers, studying the different pictures. Interspersed throughout the book were pictures of native people, their ways of life, their religious beliefs, and their surroundings. Not many—the book was mainly about tigers, how they live, and how they’re endangered (I didn’t appreciate most of that last theme, but that’s beside the point). But there were a good number of “other” pictures.

Creating Beautiful Descriptions Using Coffee Table Books

Photo courtesy of Pixabay/Sponchia | License: CC0 1.0

Then it hit me: This would be a fantastic way to research the country a story is set in! This particular book had India, Thailand, and possibly other Southeast Asia countries as well.

Some of the pictures covered major crops, normal clothing styles, shamans (witch doctors), Buddhist temples, landscapes, the resident’s problems with native animals, and much more.

I have a hard time visualizing my characters, their setting, and the landscape around them. I know not all writers are like me, and I’m glad of that. But for those of us that struggle this way, perhaps this is a way to overcome it—visually.

Next time I’m attempting to describe a country, I’m going to find one of these picture books for adults and indulge in some beautiful descriptions.

Do you struggle with creating good descriptions? Have you ever used coffee table books this way before?