Favorite Things (and places!)

Brown paper packages tied up with string - these are a few of my favorite things! (Actually, this was a graduation gift for my friend. But I couldn't get the song out of my head...)

Long time no see, everybody! Sorry - that was my fault. Things have been a bit chaotic over here as I've been getting ready to move from Massachusetts to Wisconsin. The big moving day is finally upon me, and before I go, I want to share a few photos from the last few weeks that capture some of what I love about New England.

The pond by my childhood house that I mentioned in my last Tuesday Teatime video. Please kindly notice the upside down sign warning against feeding ducks on the tree. I feel like that sort of encapsulates the atmosphere of this pond.

A photo I snapped while I was in the center of town yesterday. There's something about the sprawling old cemeteries, stone walls and whitewashed gates, and centuries-old congregational churches that makes New England one of my favorite places in the world. I think a scene like this will always make me feel at home.

Also in the center of town yesterday. Gosh, it's nice to be back in America.

And without further ado, on to Wisconsin. I hope you're all doing well, friends :)

Knowing versus Feeling

A photo from Kensington Palace I snapped just before leaving London. I absolutely fell in love with the peaceful feeling of this garden.

Hello, friends. I had originally been planning to post about the second book of the ten that would be on 'my bookshelf,' but while praying this morning, I realized there was something more important I'd like to discuss today. So my new plan is to use those book explanations when I have the time to blog but feel like I don't have much to say (which has been happening lately).

In today's first reading, Moses returns from the mountains to find that the people have forgotten him and have forgotten God. They have made an idol of gold to worship instead. Take a look at this excerpt:

Moses asked Aaron, "What did these people ever do to you

that you should lead them into so grave a sin?"

Aaron replied, "Let not my lord be angry.

You know well enough how prone the people are to evil.

They said to me, 'Make us a god to be our leader;

as for the man Moses who brought us out of 
the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.'

So I told them, 'Let anyone who has gold jewelry take it off.'

They gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.

Exodus 32: 21-24

I was particularly struck by the people's reasoning. They had requested of Aaron, 'Make us a god to be our leader; as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' 

Punctuation nerd that I am, I was staring long and hard at that semicolon. It implies that there is a logical connection between the two clauses. In this case, I'm interpreting it as a cause-and-effect connection. They tell Aaron, 'Make us a god to be our leader because we do not know what has happened to Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt.' And then we can identify the underlying assumption as the people must always have a leader and someone to worship. As soon as their leader is gone, and as soon as they can no longer feel God's presence, the people create something new to lead them and something new to worship to fill the void that they feel.

I'm not sure about you, but I certainly don't feel God's presence near me all the time. There are many days that I feel directionless and far from God. I still know He exists. I know He is there. But knowing and feeling are two different things, and sometimes I'm like the Jewish people in the desert; I wonder where my direction has gone, and I quickly abandon ship.

But the thing about faith is that it's not all about feelings. It's about believing and continuing to act the way Jesus wants us to, even when we don't feel Him near us. Even when we're not sure where He has gone. Even when our prayer life has been feeling a bit dry and it's feeling really tempting to focus on money or popularity or career success instead. That, I think, is when it is most important to keep faith, to avoid the temptation to worship a golden calf, and to know in our hearts, even if we don't feel it, that God exists and is walking with us.

Book 1: Little House in the Big Woods

It just occurred to me that I never actually posted about the ten books that I mentioned in my Tuesday Teatime video a few weeks ago, and I really would like to share my thoughts about them. So starting from the beginning, here are ten reasons why Little House in the Big Woods would make my bookshelf of ten books.

First, this was the book that ignited my passion for reading. My grandparents gave it to me for Christmas in 1997, just after I had turned six years old. Up until this point, I had loved reading picture books with my parents and then had moved onto reading short 'chapter books' on my own. But Little House in the Big Woods was something entirely new. I identified with the main character. I delighted in imagining her life. I applied the lessons that five-year-old Laura learned in the book to my own life. My mother had been reading the book to me each night before bed, but before she knew it, I had finished the book on my own and was devouring the next in the series. 

Second, the book taught me about a strong work ethic and the importance of having a work plan and routine. (I'm not kidding. I credit a lot of my personality as a planner to this book and the rest in the series.) Some of the routines Ma, Laura, and Mary follow in the book are burned in my memory and influence how I work to this day. This passage in particular has had a very positive impact on me:

"After [the breakfast dishes and bed-making were] done, Ma began the work that belonged to that day. Each day had its own work. Ma used to say:

'Wash on Monday,

Iron on Tuesday,

Mend on Wednesday,

Churn on Thursday, 

Clean on Friday,

Bake on Saturday

Rest on Sunday.'"

Clearly, I'm not spending my Thursdays churning or anything. But I do still try to give myself one main task per day with other smaller, less important tasks. So for example, this week, my main task each day has been to plan a certain number of lessons on Beowulf for the fall. Then I have a small to-do list with secondary tasks like emails to respond to, chores to do around the house, and phone calls to make. Also, the perennial wisdom that a sink free of dishes and a crisply made bed are good ways to start the day has served me well. Thanks, Little House.

Somehow I was lucky enough to find friends who also loved the series so much that they also found it fun to dress up in 'olden days' clothes, as I called them. We were nine here, I think. (And yes, I was tiny.)

Thirdly, and closely related to the previous point, the book introduced to me the concept that Sundays should be kept free from work. My parents didn't work on Sundays, and the day was always reserved for mass and family time anyway, but my parents had never actually told me they refrained from work on Sundays. It wasn't a concept that entered my consciousness until I read the chapter on how Laura and her family spent Sundays. At six years old, I didn't really have any work to refrain from on Sundays, and in high school, I was studying every spare minute I had in order to try to get into Harvard. But from college onwards, the idea that Sunday is the Lord's day really became important to me, and I even revisited the chapter in Little House when trying to think of ways to make Sunday special.

Fourth, the book taught me that I didn't need fancy toys to have fun. Laura had a corn-cob doll and a ball made out of a pig's bladder (okay, that one is kind of gross) and she always had a good time. I started playing with paper dolls and playing 'house' in the yard with my sister because I wanted to have fun the same ways that Laura had fun.

And finally, the silly little lessons I learned from the book have stuck with me for almost twenty years, and I think they'll probably stick around at least twenty more. Some gems include: (1) don't jump on a hornets' nest; (2) if you're advised to do something as quickly as possible, there's probably a good reason; (3) brown hair is just as pretty as blonde, and it's not worth fighting over anyway. Oh, and (4) if you don't have a ball handy, use a pig's bladder. (Just kidding.)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Quotation taken from Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House in the Big Woods. 1932. New York: HarperCollins, 1971. p29.

Tuesday (...Wednesday again...) Teatime: Summertime

Even if you're not on vacation at the moment, have you been doing anything 'summer-y'? What do you associate with summertime? Things? Places? People? Activities? Wishing you all a lovely summer! :)

Thoughts on Love

Sometimes, it's a doodle-in-your-planner kind of day...

I was just reminded of this beautiful truth and thought I would share it with all of you:

"The person who does not decide to love forever will find it very difficult to really love for even one day." 

~St. Pope John Paul II

I don't think it just applies to romantic love, either. Every day, we need to decide to really love our parents, our siblings, our friends, our coworkers, and our neighbors. Some days, I'm pretty bad at it. But remembering that love is more than just a feeling--it's a choice we make to will the good of another--always makes such a big difference in my day.

Lots of love, friends. Hope you're doing well.

Goodbye England Part 3: Goodbye and Hello

So long, London! It's been so great.

The wonderful thing about endings is that they're also new beginnings. So while it was tremendously difficult to say goodbye to the country and city I've come to know and love, the trip ended in a welcome back to a familiar place (home in Boston) and the promise of a new adventure around the corner next month (when I move to Wisconsin to begin a new teaching job). Thanks for sticking with me through all these transitions, friends! :)

Hello, Massachusetts. It's nice to be back.

Tuesday Teatime: Goodbye England Part 2

A little on the sentimental side this week. Why I love England and what I'm going to miss about it...