The Book Whisperer was so great. Something that has been on my heart for awhile – figuring out how to motivate our students to become life-long readers. I picked this book up since I’ll soon be working a bit more closely with new Dominican teachers. I’m hoping that they, too, will desire to read more and instill that love of reading in their kiddos. It starts with them!

Below are a good number of quotes and ideas that stood out to me this month!

I know from personal experience that readers lead richer lives, more lives, than those who don’t read. ¹

No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance. -Atwood H. Townsend ¹

Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing. -Harper Lee ¹

The purpose of school should not be to prepare students for more school. We should be seeking to have fully engaged students right now. ¹

—–

… the killing began; and thereafter each man saw the world along his lance, under his guard, or through the backsight of his pistol; and each has his own strange tale to tell. ²

(Reflecting on the sight of the battlefield after a victory.) One man had reached [the water’s edge] and lay exhausted but content, on the bank. Another had attained the water and had died at its brim. Let us hope he had his drink first. ²

The Dervish host was scattered and destroyed. Their end, however, only anticipates that of the victors; for Time … will in due course contemptuously brush both combatants away. ²

Revenge may be sweet, but it is also most expensive. ²

Beware of driving men to desperation: even a cornered rat is dangerous. ²

—-

Still I have not recovered my whole voice or strength, perhaps I never may; but let me use what I have. ³

“[Twelve years ago] you preached on God’s raising the dry bones, and from that time I could never rest till God was pleased to breathe on me and raise my dead soul.” ³

Is anything too small for the providence of Him by whom our very hairs are numbered? ³

Mr. Whitefield called upon me. Disputings are now no more; we love one another and join hand in hand to promote the cause of our common Master. ³

… such a faintness and weariness seized me that it was with great difficulty I got home. I could not but think how happy it would be (suppose we were ready for the Bridegroom) to sink down and steal away at once, without any of the hurry and pomp of dying! Yet it is happier still to glorify God in our death, as well as our life. ³

I was in the robe-chamber, adjoining the House of Lords, when the King put on his robes. His brow was much furrowed with age and quite clouded with care. And is this all the world can give even to a king? all the grandeur it can afford? A blanket of ermine round his shoulders, so heavy and cumbersome he can scarcely move under it! A heap of borrowed hair, with a few plates of gold and glittering stones upon his head! Alas, what a bauble is human greatness! And even this will not endure. ³

¹ The Book Whisperer, Donalyn Miller
² Churchill: The Power of Words, selected and edited by Martin Gilbert
³ The Journal of John Wesley

Oh my goodness. What great reading this past month. So thankful for a few days of rest and relaxation with some fantastic books over furlough!

Finished this gem. This heartbreaking, bittersweet gem. I could hardly put Before We Were Yours down, although at times I wanted to since this fictional story was based on true events that happened in American history. It’s insane to think that children were carried away from their families even as they walked home from school, just to be “sold” to others. I knew nothing about Georgia Tann or her adoption schemes that took place between the 20’s and 50’s. I’m interested to read more, so I put The Baby Thief by Barbara Raymond on my “To Read” list. Whew!

A few of my favorite quotes from my May reading are below. I’d recommend reading the books instead of just catching the Cliff notes version below – they’re worth the journey!

I shush my mind, because your mind can ruin you if you let it. ¹

It’s funny how what you’re used to seems like it’s right even if it’s bad. ¹

Life is not unlike cinema. Each scene has its own music…. No matter how much we may love the melody of a bygone day or imagine the song of a future one, we must dance within the music of today, or we will always be out of step, stumbling around in something that doesn’t suit the moment. ¹

It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you. ²

“The only time you don’t find a four-leaf clover,” he liked to say, “is when you stop looking for one.” ²

No wonder the devil was so still; for his goods were in peace. ³

¹ Before We Were Yours, Lisa Wingate
² The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown
³ The Journal of John Wesley

So much to read, and so little time. One more book finished this month.

A.D. 30 was the first piece of fiction I’ve read since Redeeming Love – and let’s be honest. Nothing holds a candle to that one. I really enjoyed the setting of A.D. 30; a few of the characters were interesting. I liked how Dekker intertwined these fictional people into the story of Jesus – or rather, how their meeting Jesus completely altered the course of their lives. I wouldn’t give the book 5 stars, but it kept my attention. I’ll probably pick up the sequel someday.

Some favorite quotes I ran across this month are below!

Yeshua’s food was the same he’d offered me, not bread for the belly, but sustenance for the soul. ¹

Put your faith in me, not the storm, nor the boat. ¹

And if but one heard, it was worth all the labor. ²

Can it be expected that God should be on their side who are daily affronting Him to His face? ²

Life can turn on a dime. The appointment book reinforces my new awareness of this. We plan our days, but we don’t control them. ³

These people can control everything about me, but they can’t control where I go in my mind. ³

You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks. -Winston Churchill

I am going to my Father’s; and though with great difficulty I am got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who now will be my rewarder… -John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress

¹ A.D. 30, Ted Dekker
² The Journal of John Wesley
³ Before We Were Yours, Lisa Wingate