Just like that, 2020 is in the books! (Heh. See what I did there?)

This month, I enjoyed reading the first installment in Priscilla Shirer’s adventure series, The Prince Warriors. This book had elements reminiscent of classics like Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series, or Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness. However, Shirer’s debut into fiction is much more “manageable” for young readers who might struggle with archaic vocabulary. The premise: four young kids journey to a mysterious world they’ve only read about in a book. There in the strange land, Ahoratos, the children essentially live out the invisible struggle with the spiritual realm. Lots of references to passages in Ephesians. If you don’t mind reading a book that’s targeted to engage elementary students, I’d say it’s worth picking it up!

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Below – some good quotes I ran across in December!

"Oh, this is a real battle, Evan. There's a sneaky, malicious enemy that you are always in a battle with--even now.... Someone who wants to remain hidden so that you'll forget he's even there. He'll do everything he can to make you feel like you will never win.1

"She must come through on her own," Ruwach said calmly. "Others can call her, and I can make it accessible to her, but she must make the choice on her own."1

"This Book is different from any other. It cannot simply be read. It must be revealed. You may not understand the revelation at first, but if you keep it close, you will soon see its meaning."1

The speech set a pattern that he would follow throughout the war, offering a sober appraisal of facts, tempered with reason for optimism. “It would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the hour,” he said. “It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage.”2

“We shall go on to the end,” he said, in a crescendo of ferocity and confidence. “We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender—” As the House roared its approval, Churchill muttered to a colleague, “And…we will fight them with the butt end of broken bottles, because that’s bloody well all we’ve got.”2

Churchill affirmed that the only path was indeed attack [on the French fleet], and began to weep.2

¹The Prince Warriors #1, Priscilla Shirer and Gina Detwiler
²The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, Erik Larson

The start of any new school year always seems to throw off my groove. Survival becomes the name of the game. For the last couple of years, I haven’t found my footing again until close to Christmas. Even with the craziness of COVID and the lack of students here at school, the months have been beyond busy. Honestly, I was nervous for a bit about reaching my “20 Books in 2020” goal, but it looks like I’m gaining some balance as the year finishes off. Here are the books I was able to finish between August and November!

I finally wrapped up Churchill: The Power of Words, which I’ve been wading through for.ev.er. This compilation by Martin Gilbert takes a look at dynamic snippets of Churchill’s speeches/writings that he shared over the course of his political career. It took me awhile to get interested, but when the war hit, things obviously took off. The man had such a compelling way of inspiring his countrymen (and much of the world) to hold on in the face of adversity. I’ve recently been wondering what he’d have to say about the world’s current events if he were alive today…

Together, we ladies here at Freedom are working through The Beautiful Fight by Gary Thomas. I went ahead and finished early. Gary’s big point is the importance of living an “incarnational” life. What difference does Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension actually make for me today? Am I resisting the urge for complacency in my daily walk with the Lord? While this fight is a difficult one, it’s so completely worth it – it’s beautiful, in fact!

My wonderful Grandma Vi suggested a favorite series of hers, the first book being At Home in Mitford. A couple of my Goodreads friends rated this one highly as well. This long but pleasant read is based on the happenings of small-town characters who live in cozy, little Mitford. Much of the book focused in on the life of Father Tim, the bachelor rector of a small, country church. It took me awhile to really get invested, but by the end, I’d fallen in love with each individual’s quirky personality.

Orphan Train was part of my birthday haul this past January. (Yes, I read slowly, and yes, I was gifted a lot of books last year!) I loved learning about this little piece of history from the early 1900’s. Apparently, a social experiment called the Orphan Train Movement was started with the intention to help homeless children find new families. I’m sure there are some other cool historical reads out there that cover this topic, but this particular book was full of a ton of foul language. From that standpoint, I don’t recommend this read.

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I’ll leave just a few good quotes I gleaned from my reading this fall. Enjoy!

It is only by studying the past that we can foresee, however dimly, the future.1

Among our Socialist opponents there is great confusion. Some of them regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Only a handful see it for what it really is – the strong and willing horse that pulls the whole cart along.1

We apologists take our lives in our hands and can be saved only by falling back continually from the web of our own arguments… into the Reality — from Christian apologetics into Christ himself.2

If we allow the world to steal our hearts, we have all but lost the battle.2

When I refuse to face the pain of transformation, eventually I must endure the misery of my immaturity.2

Never yet was there a laborer in God’s vineyard who was not overpaid.2

In the brilliant words of Dallas Willard, grace is opposed to earning, not effort. Indeed, Peter tells us to “make every effort” (2 Peter 1:5). Some people mistake “letting go and letting God” as a call to simply stop trying. But grace doesn’t remove human effort; it focuses and empowers it.2

We have to remember that the Beautiful Fight is not eternal; one glorious moment, it will all come to an end. And in that instant, we will be fully like Jesus, our hearts’ delight. The moment of that rest is different for each one of us, but it is as certain as anything can be.2

¹Churchill: The Power of Words, edited by Martin Gilbert
²The Beautiful Fight, Gary Thomas

July has come and gone!

I finished just one book last month, but I really enjoyed it! David McCasland traces the life of Oswald Chambers from his childhood in Scotland to his journeys around the world. In one sense, Oswald couldn’t “sit still” – he traveled to Japan, England, and the US (where he briefly taught at the Bible college my parents attended). During WWII, he found himself in Egypt where he served as a YMCA chaplain until his death. This godly man was certainly devoted to the Lord. His wife was completely committed too. Because of her tireless work, many of Chambers’ lectures and sermons are preserved to this day.

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As always, some of the quotes that stood out to me this month are listed below!

“Hudson Taylor said last night that Our Lord’s words ‘Have faith in God’ really mean ‘Have faith in the faithfulness of God,’ not in your own faithfulness.”1

Holiness is not an attainment at all, it is the gift of God.... He makes holy, He sanctifies, He does it all. All I have to do is come as a spiritual pauper, not ashamed to beg, to let go of my right to myself and act on Romans 12:1–2. It is never ‘Do, do and you’ll be’ with the Lord, but ‘Be, be, and I will do through you.’1

The world is very wide and God is reigning.1

One of the blessed things about this life is that a man carries his kingdom on the inside, and that makes the outside lovely.1

He looms large tonight. Nothing is worth living for but just Himself. I see churches and... movemements all tagged with His name but how little of Himself? I wish every breath I drew, all speech I made could make Him come and seem more real to men.1

A man who would live for Christ in a turbulent world must draw his life from the depths of God himself, not from the froth and foam of surface experience.1

Oswald’s approach to the future was simple: “Trust God and do the next thing.”1

He sounded a constant warning to people who said, “Thank God I’m saved and sanctified, now it’s all right.” The result of resting on experience, according to Oswald, was “fixed ideas, moral deterioration, and utter ignorance of God’s book. Always beware of the danger of finality.”1

“What we need,” he concluded, “is to begin to walk in the way we already know.”1

“There will come one day a personal and direct touch from God when every tear and perplexity, every oppression and distress, every suffering and pain, and wrong and injustice will have a complete and ample and overwhelming explanation.”1

It is in the years of peace that wars are prevented and that those foundations are laid upon which the noble structures of the future can be built. But peace will not be preserved without the virtues that make victory possible in war. Peace will not be preserved by pious sentiments expressed in terms of platitudes or by official grimaces and diplomatic correctitude....2

¹Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God, David McCasland
²Churchill: The Power of Words, edited by Martin Gilbert