New Plans for the New Year

The time is upon us for reflections and resolutions. I'll spare you the reflections and move onto some of my own plans for 2012...at least in the world of literature and such.

I was rather surprised with what I was able to finish reading in 2011. Allow me to apologize, make way for a small reflection. Books that I actually finished in 2011 were: (links to these books can be found on my page Books and Stuff)

• Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan
• Think: The Life of the Mind and The Love of God by John Piper
• The Shaping of a Christian Family by Elisabeth Elliot
• Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches by Rachel Jankovic
• Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe by Todd Wilson
• The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace
• The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

And to add to my reading was much time, although not enough, spent in God's Word and time, probably too much, spent reading numerous blogs and articles. Nate laughed at me when I told him I was going to make a small goal of four books for the upcoming year. I suppose he thinks my goal is a bit puny. I say, at least I know it's doable.

My plan is to finish the book I'm currently reading, Give Them Grace by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson. I won this in a book giveaway and will probably be coming back to say more about it. It is definitely making me rethink our methods in parenting and how we view the gospel as a whole in our home.

My three I plan to add to this extensive list of four are:

• The Hiding Place by Corrie Tin Boom I've attempted to read several times and just haven't been able to finish.
• Charismatic Chaos by John MacArthur This has been on my list for awhile. I have some family that is interested in the charismatic movement and really want to see how he deals with this movement.
• And number four is something by Francis Shaeffer. I haven't decided yet. Maybe The Christian Manifesto? or How Should We Then Live?

I also plan on continuing to look through Large Family Logistics. While we are not technically a "large family," I love some of the ideas she shares in the book.

And of course, I can't leave out a Bible Reading Plan. I found the perfect plan that will give me a few minutes after each meal to spend reading from three different sections of the Bible, starting in Genesis, Job, and Matthew. Nate and I thought this would be a good way to read through the Bible in a year to the little ones, too! I also hope to spend more devoted time to studying Proverbs. A few weeks back I started studying Proverbs alongside Matthew Henry's Commentary. I have taken a break but really hope to resume that in depth reading as well on my own.

For the wee ones, I plan to continue Catechisms for Young Children and doing scripture memory. Earlier this month I began using this system for scripture memory. It's still early on using it so we haven't got an excellent feel for how this system will work over time.

And we have finally decided on a reading curriculum! After looking at three different curriculums, we have decided to use Reading Made Easy. I'll keep you updated on my thoughts on this system and how it works as we go along. Reading lessons will be short and simple. We will also continue reading good, twaddle-free books and spending lots of time outside when the weather is just right for exploring!

So, do you have reading plans this year?

Missions Not Accomplished

I can remember a time when I thrived in the midst of completed projects. Whatever it may be…the attainment of my black belt, crossing the finish line of a 5K, or any such goal I may have set out to accomplish in this small life of mine.

The thought of a completed project now sends my domesticated, maternal, wifely-self into fits of laughter…psychotic fits of laughter. Going from goal driven professional to following my calling as “mother” definitely has had dramatic impact on my mental state at times. As all mommies know, the vicious cycle of laundry, meal preparation, dishes, diapers, potty breaks, discipline, naptimes, nursing, doctor’s appointments, play dates, reading time, animal care, ironing, grocery shopping, picking up toys, intervening in sibling rivalry, and list making can be…well… a bit unending. (And not to forget the fact that it’s canning season!) Completion is not a relevant term in my mind any more, as is evidenced by my reading habits.

It has been nearly four months since I have completed a book. Once a voracious reader, I took in books and devoured them in days with excitement. Not to say that I haven’t read a book in four months. Maybe five months? Prior to my youngest peanut being born, I had just finished Crazy Love by Francis Chan and John Piper’s Think and was ready for more good theological brain food. I started out with Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges. I was halfway through when 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp arrived in the mail. Being the emotionally driven pregnant lady I was at the time, I stopped all other reading and rushed to the couch from the mail box to devour…the first three or four chapters. Providentially, for whatever reason, I didn’t finish and haven’t even attempted to go back. AFTER, Anna was born I decided to attempt to pick up some more reading. Since that decision was made you will find a constant array of books strewn around my home…unfinished. I begin to read D. Martyn Lloyd Jones’ Spiritual Depression after borrowing it from a friend. Unfinished. I started re-reading Pink’s The Attributes of God. Unfinished. On my end table lies And Then I Had Kids: Encouragement for Mothers of Young Children by Susan Yates. Unfinished. And as of last week I started reading Sonya Shaffer’s Laying Down the Rails, A Charlotte Mason Habits Handbook. I even started reading A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer and guess what? Right. Unfinished. Not to mention the book I received in the mail today from the Grateful for Grace giveaway…I couldn’t help but read the first two chapters in anticipation. (The book giveaway was Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe by Todd Wilson. It looks applicable to my own life and I haven't even started homeschooling yet!) Somewhere in all that mess I DID finish Rachel Jankovic’s Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches…but it was almost like a series of blog posts so does that really count?

My Bible reading…much the same. I try to read some Proverbs and Psalms each day. It’s the only reading in the Bible that makes sense when read in bite size amounts and it seems bits and pieces of anything is all I can handle at one time. I did start to read through the New Testament and made it to Matthew 8 or 9. I also started in Jeremiah and made it to chapter 5.

But today…Nate announced he wanted to read through the Bible in 180 days. And eagerly my soul screamed, “Here is my chance! Here is my chance to finish something! Hooray! Hoo-rah!”

I simply want to finish a book that isn’t written by Dr. Seuss and doesn’t have pictures. And isn't the Bible the very best choice?!

And so begins my adventure…I’m glad I have hubby to tag along.