My mom gave me a little devotional about a year ago. It’s from The Daily Grace Co. called Hymns for a Mother’s Heart. It walks through about twenty old hymns, and the truths from scripture they speak to. It has been a great encouragement and blessing to me in the midst of all that is motherhood.
I think the greatest blessing I have received, however, is from a playlist I made of the hymn listed in the book. I listen through the playlist now almost daily. Some of these hymns were new to me, others are old favorites, so I equally found artists that were new to me and others that are favorites to feature on this playlist.
So today, I thought I would share not just this little devotional, but also the playlist I created via Spotify.
Here are the 21 hymns on the playlist and in the devotional: 1. ‘Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus 2. Doxology 3. Just a Closer Walk with Thee 4. Great is Thy Faithfulness 5. I Need Thee Every Hour 6. Turn Your Eyes 7. Be Thou My Vision 8. He Leadeth Me 9. Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross 10. It Is Well With My Soul 11. I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) 12. There Is A Fountain 13. Rock Of Ages 14. Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting 15. Blessed Assurance 16. Holy, Holy, Holy 17. On Christ the Solid Rock 18. In The Garden 19. The Old Rugged Cross 20. And Can It Be? 21. O Come Let Us Adore Him
Books finished: 10 M is For Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood by Abbie Halberstadt, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carré, Anxious For Nothing by John MacArthur, This Beautiful Truth by Sarah Clarkson, The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (re-read), Aggressively Happy by Joy Marie Clarkson, Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, For the Love of Discipline by Sara Wallace (re-read), A Place on Earth by Wendell Berry.
Audiobooks: 8 In this phase of life, with littles and new-ish-born I clearly would not be reading anything without audiobooks. One of my, non-audiobook was Mere Christianity, which I started reading in January 2022 – over a year ago! My other non-audiobook was For the Love of Discipline, which was a re-read. The first time I read it was via an audiobook, and I liked it so much that I bought a copy so I could read it again and make notes in it. I also started it early last year. So, yes, I’m a big fan of audiobooks.
Most enjoyed: M is For Mama hands down. I’m even ordering a hard copy of it for myself. So good. Highly recommend!
Least enjoyed: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. I knew from the tone at the beginning of this book just how it would end and how much I was not looking forward to it. I powered through this audiobook in I think two days. I just wanted to get it over with. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the book, it’s just depressing and sad and ends on a “it was all for naught” kind of note. Not my jam.
Commonplace Quotes:
To be a homemaker is a defiant act because it is work entirely opposed to the forces of evil
This Beautiful Truth by Sarah Clarkson
For it is a truth universally acknowledged that a child in possession of a sinful nature must be in want of a mama who loves and seeks the Lord (sorry Jane Austen, I had to).
M is for Mama by Abbie Halberstadt
… a Christian must not be either a Totalitarian or an Individualist. I feel a strong desire to tell you – and I expect you to feel a strong desire to tell me – which of these two errors is the worse. That is the devil getting at us. He always sends errors into the world in pairs – pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is worse. You see why, of course? He replies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight through between both errors. We have no other concern than that with either of them.
This still from the 2019 Little Women film is very Abby and I.
Anyone get this reference?
It’s from Little Women. It is arguably the climax of the story, when Jo Marsh finally gets married. At this point in the story, all the other sisters have gotten married. Jo had thought for a while that she would never get married, but then she does and it’s beautiful.
We just had this moment as a family. My sister, my dear Abby, got married last month. There are four of us siblings, just like in Little Women, and the three others have already gotten married, and now it was Abby’s turn.
I was my sister’s matron of honor. So, I thought I’d share my speech from the reception. There was much crying when I read it, so get some tissues if you need.
Hello! I’m Anna. I’m Abby’s sister. I’m the oldest Halverson sibling. I have four children, three of which were in the wedding. The youngest isn’t sitting up on his own yet, so he wasn’t in the wedding party. I’m married to Mike, and almost 9 years ago, Abby was standing up giving a speech for my wedding. I have no idea what she said, but I’m sure it was sweet and I know that I cried. So, my goal today is to make Abby cry. In order to do so, I have a story. Abby is famous for writing notes. Not just any notes, but notes to people she’s upset with. It’s one of those things where in the heat of an argument you can’t get all your words out, and afterwards you think of all the things you should have said, and you can slow down and decompress. Yes, well, Abby did that all through childhood. If you had a fight with Abby, it was highly probable you would get a note. I got a note once. We had a fight, and afterwards I got a note. The note was written in colorful marker, was several pages long, and had big fat tear blotches on it. It started a third down the page with the words: “Who is Anna?” It went on, in a rather poetic fashion, to describe how much Abby looked up to me as her big sister, how much she wanted me to be proud of her, how much she loved me, and forgave me. It was the most Abby thing I had ever seen.
So here’s my note to Abby.
Who is Abby? Abby is more. More kind, more forgiving, More passionate, more emotive. More impacted by other people’s words and actions. More confident in who her God is transforming her to be. Abby is the best singer I know. She also gives the best hugs, and the best gifts. Abby cries the hardest, but she recovers well. Give her time. I’ve been with her since she was born. She’s the Jo to my Meg, the Ramona to my Beezus, the Jane to my Elizabeth. She’s my best friend. I’ve worked hard to be her friend, because I wasn’t always. I’ve failed her lots of times. She still loves me. Who is Abby? Abby is more. And I can’t wait to see what more she will be, with Justyn, her other best friend.
Speech given on January 28, 2023
There’s me up on the stage, smiling and totally weeping. Happy, happy day!
For clarity, I am specifically going to talk about my own experience with one of my children, and what I have done that has helped my family.
What do I mean by “Struggling Reader”?
There are lots of definitions and terms in talking about students and reading. A reluctant reader or struggling reader is typically a student who is not motivated to read, does not enjoy reading, complains about reading, etc. The student may find the process of reading difficult to do, yet, without practice they cannot advance their reading skills or fluency. So, because they don’t practice reading takes more work, so it is hard, and therefore not enjoyable. It’s a bit of a vicious cycle.
My eldest son is a struggling reader. His birthday is late August. So, just because of where his birthday falls he is one of the youngest kids in his class. Reading has not – to this point, over halfway through the school year – come easily for him. It’s hard for him, and therefore he is not super motivated to do it.
My son is a typical human. He wants to do what is fun! Not hard! He’d way rather go run around, or build Legos, or tease his sisters, or really anything else besides read.
As his mom, and as a person who really loves to read, and write, I have found this struggle of his really hard for me! I know I shouldn’t take it personally, but sometimes I do. I want my son to enjoy what I enjoy. I want him to love books. I don’t want him to struggle. I don’t want him to have difficulty in school when I know he is a smart, capable child. And, and, and, and… (cue the spiral of mom guilt).
But let’s not wallow.
What have we done?
Chasing bubbles 🙂
What have we done to help our son, and all our kids? It’s pretty straight forward: we have worked to foster a love of stories. Not a love of books (not specifically), but stories.
This has turned out to be key for our son. If we force the books issue, then books become an obstacle at best, and the bad guy at worst. If we instead make the issue stories, that opens up a whole range of things for him, including shows, movies, audiobooks, bible stories (my kids don’t count the bible as a “regular book”. Kid logic, it’s cute), even songs.
My husband and I have worked to make our home a place of stories, starting when the kids were babies. Reading out loud has been an important part of this. We have been reading out loud to them since they were born. We read books before bed for years. Now, with school schedules and early mornings, we read before dinner and/or at the dinner table (after we eat, no food on my books please!). We tell stories all the time, about things we imagine, dreams we had, what happened in our days, etc. We play pretend with the kids – which is basically acting out stories. We watch movies together. We talk about the shows we watch (my kids will literally shout out “teamwork and friendship!” to their shows when they see the trope because we talk about it so much!). Anytime a story is being told, we jump into it.
I can now officially tell you that this has paid off. After seven and a half years of this, my son figured out just two weeks ago that books contain stories. More specifically, that the pictures don’t tell you the full story – but the words do. He just figured out that in order to understand the whole story (including the jokes, because of course he likes funny books best), he actually has to do the work of reading the words.
I didn’t tell him. My husband didn’t tell him. Even if we had given him the lecture about “you should really read the words, not just the pictures, because you’re missing the story”, he wouldn’t have listened, or believed us! (To be honest I did get halfway through this lecture, and stopped because I realized he had 100% tuned me out.)
If you have a struggling reader, this is the key, I think.
Keep reading to them. Keep engaging with stories. Keep things fun! Don’t avoid hard things, but don’t make them feel like they are on their own, like it’s this insurmountable task they have to do alone. Do it with them. Sit with them as they struggle through the words. Be their cheerleader. Celebrate any victory, even the small ones on the normal days. It’s a cumulative effect. They will figure it out. They will find the story that they love.
Kids are way more interested in what we adults find interesting, what we value, what we spend time doing with them.
Maybe I’ll have my husband do a post on how he encourages our kids in loving math!
What are you doing to encourage your kids in whatever they struggle in? Is there something you struggled in as a child? What encouraged you?
Update: I was looking up some books that might interest my son. He found me and joined me, and we researched some books. He got very excited about one in particular, and counted up his money to buy it. Just a few days ago it arrived in the mail! This is the first book he’s ordered for himself. So exciting!
Why did the White Witch curse Narnia with a perpetual winter?
Why did the White Witch turn creatures to stone?
These two questions came to my mind in my most recent re-reading – more on that here – of the first book of the Chronicles of Narnia. I’m a read according to the publishing date person, so yes, I consider The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe to be book 1 of the series. Just like I think the first Star Wars movie anyone should watch is A New Hope, but that’s another post.
These are two very central elements to the first book of the Chronicles. 1) The curse of the Narnian winter, and 2) the Witch’s ability to turn the Narnians into stone. Why did C. S. Lewis choose these? What’s the significance of these “powers”? After some thought, I have an idea, a theory if you will.
Warning, massive spoilers ahead if you have not read the books or watched the films. You’ve been warned. Now, go read the books.
Oh, the wonders of a crowded bookshelf.
My theory – Why Winter?
If you haven’t noticed yet, symbols are important in the world C. S. Lewis created. Although the Chronicles of Narnia is a fantastic fantasy series it is primarily allegorical, it’s supposed to be, Lewis explicitly intended it to be so. Therefore, the Witches powers of winter and stone are not just central to the plot and her character development, but are highly symbolic.
“The White Witch? Who is she?” “Why, it is she that has got all Narnia under her thumb. It’s she that makes it always winter. Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!”
A conversation between Lucy and Mr. Tumnus; The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis
Why? Because Christmas is a celebration of life. Whether it is the pagan roots of the end of winter, or the Christian roots of the birth of Jesus, Christmas is inherently a celebration of life. Who is uniquely tied to life in the Chronicles? Aslan.
Aslan is pitted a the opposite of the Witch. The Beavers call him the true King of Narnia, making the Witch a usurper. He is the good and wise King of Narnia, she is the wicked and cruel tyrant. Aslan’s power brings comfort and boldness at just the mention of his name. The Witch in appearance and name inspires terror and doubt – she is called “witch” for good reason.
So, the Witch, as the usurping, illegitimate tyrant over Narnia seeks to squash out anything even remotely Aslan-ish. She plays to the natural order of things: nature slows down in the winter, and much of Narnia is nature – the talking beasts, the dryads, and the naiads, etc. – so the best way to subdue her subjects is a perpetual winter. It’s logical and mythical.
My theory – Why Stone?
Edmund saw the Witch bite her lips so that a drop of blood appeared on her white cheek. Then she raised her wand. “Oh, don’t, don’t, please don’t,” shouted Edmund, but even while he was shouting she had waved her wand and instantly where the merry party had been there were only statues of creatures (one with its stone fork fixed forever halfway to its stone mouth) seated round a stone table on which there were stone plates and a stone plum pudding.
The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis
Why stone? Much like the first part of the theory, this has to do with life and therefore being the antithesis of Aslan.
The Witch wanted complete control over Narnia, probably because it was not hers to begin with. The control you can have over a living thing is quite limited, but you can do whatever you want to stone. Stone can’t talk back, stone can’t act in defiance, stone can’t even raise its paw in polite question, because stone isn’t alive.
It’s fascinating to think of the true king, Aslan, and then the children afterwards, and how they rule. They rule justly, and kindly over living creatures in a thriving kingdom. The Witch can only wield her power well over a dead land, and dead stone people. Apply whatever sociopolitical analogies you see fit, there are many.
Aslan, the Jesus Christ character, is the opposite, as I said. He rules powerfully over living creatures in a thriving land. He quite literally brings life with his very breath in the scene where he breathes the stone spell away from all the statues in the Witch’s castle. In the most ultimate example of this power of stone, death, and life, in the chapter titled “The Triumph of the Witch”, Aslan is slain on the Stone Table. The What? That’s right, the Stone Table. Aslan is killed with a stone knife on the Stone Table. And then… as the sun rises, the table cracks in two, and Aslan lives. The Witch uses stone to kill, to defeat, but Aslan’s power of life over death can never be defeated. This theme is all through this book, and the whole series.
“Who is Aslan?” asked Susan. “Aslan?” said Mr. Beaver, “Why, don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood, but not often here, you understand. Never in my time or my father’s time. But the word has reached us that he has come back. He is in Narnia at this moment. He’ll settle the White Queen all right. It is he, not you, that will save Mr. Tumnus.” “She won’t turn him into stone too?” said Edmund. “Lord love you, Son of Adam, what a simple thing to say!” answered Mr. Beaver with a great laugh. “Turn him into stone? If she can stand on her two feet and look him in the face it’ll be the most she can do and more than I expect of her. No, no. He’ll put all to rights, as it says in an old rhyme in these parts:
Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.
You’ll understand when you see him.” “But shall we see him?” asked Susan. “Why, Daughter of Eve, that’s what I brought you here for. I’m to lead you where you shall meet him,” said Mr. Beaver. “Is–is he a man?” asked Lucy. “Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion–the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he–quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” “That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.” “Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis
Now, a word of warning. Don’t go hunting for themes and connections like this. I made the connection only lightly while I read, and thought deeper about it afterwards. Enjoy the story. Don’t ruin the moment. Especially for someone else, especially for a child.
Gracious Purpose 