Sisters' Spring Reading Challenge

Last year, my sister Charity and I came up with monthly reading challenges which we shared here on the blog. We both enjoyed these so much. We loved pushing ourselves to read new genres and being a bit more deliberate about our reading choices. We read many unread books from our shelves. 

But we are reluctant to do monthly challenges in 2022. The next six months look very busy for both of us. Though we will certainly find time to read, we don't want the pressure of too many deadlines. Plus, last year we were reluctant to begin longer books because we didn't think we could complete them in a month.

So this year, we are going to do seasonal reading challenges. This will give us three months to complete the list, giving a bit more breathing room while still challenging us to complete some of the unread books on our TBR. 

We hope that you will join us! Each season (spring, summer, fall) we will have eight challenges. Six of the challenges will be to read a book and two of the challenges will be a book-related activity. That means, if you read two books a month, you will be able to complete these challenges. 

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Sisters' Spring Reading Challenge

1. Read a classic you think you should have read. 

Is there a book that others talk about, but you have never read? Maybe Dicken's Tale of Two Cities or Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. We are defining a classic as a book written before 1970. 

2. Read a verse novel or a book of free verse poetry. 

April is Poetry Month. We both love verse novels, and if you've never tried this genre, you are in for a treat. Verse novels are short and easy to read, but can pack an emotional punch. 

Some examples:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

3. Ask a friend to pick a book for you--and read it.

I get so many  great book recommendations from friends. Here is an excuse to read a book one of them suggests.

4. Read a book that has siblings as the main characters. 

This could be fiction or nonfiction--anything from a book on the Wright Brothers to the many middle-grade books that feature siblings.

5. Read a book about a less famous historical event.

You can define "less famous" however you wish. The book could be nonfiction or historical fiction. Some examples:

The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner (Ellis Island) 

Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff (Irish Potato famine)

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society by Annie Barrows (World War 2 on Guernsey Island)

6. Read a book that has an elderly person a main character.

They don't have to be the main character, but they should play an important role in the book.

For example: 

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

7. Read from a book before picking up your phone in the morning.

You could extend this challenge to see if you could read a book before picking up your phone every morning for a whole week. And maybe you'll begin a new habit of reading a book before checking your phone every morning!

8. Copy a poem (or write one) and hang it where you will see it.

This challenge is specifically for Poetry Month in April, but you can do it anytime.

Hope you have a fun spring season in books!

January Brighter Winter Reading Challenge

Charity and I both enjoyed the Brighter Winter Reading Challenge this month. Nothing beats reading a  good book on cold winter evenings. Here are a few of our favorites read this month.

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Charity - Read a book published in 2021.

Turtle Heart by Lucinda J. Kinsinger

The unlikely friendship between a young Anabaptist woman and an elderly Indian woman is the subject of this thought provoking memoir. Lucinda is challenged to work through what she really believes about God, salvation, and much more. I found this book hard to put down and written in a way that made me feel for the real life characters and their struggles.

Gina- Read a book written by a female missionary and read a biography.

Mimosa by Amy Carmichael

As a young girl, Mimosa was told about a God who loved her. She had never heard the name of Jesus, and she didn't have a Bible, but for many years afterwards, she faithfully served God in her Hindu village in India without any Christian support. This story is inspiring, yet sobering, because I have so much more than Mimosa had, yet I wonder if I live as faithfully to the truth I know.

Charity - Read a new-to-you middle-grade book.

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

What can I say, but that I feel cheated that I didn’t meet Caddie and her family as a child! As I read about Caddie I was reminded of Laura Ingalls and all the delightful hours I spent in her books. Caddie is a lively tomboy living in Wisconsin surrounded by hard work, mischievous brothers, Indian friends, and a faithful dog. A delightful middle-grade book that made me want to turn back time.  

Gina - Read a book published in 2021.

The Unlikely Yard of the Dragon Lady by Sharon Mondragon

I think one of the Home Joys readers recommended this book to me. Every week four women knit prayer shawls in the chapel, but their pastor has a bold plan for the women to knit in a public place. This book has the charm of a Mitford book, and though the plot is a bit predictable, I found myself wondering, what would happen if several women knitted in the mall each week and offered to pray for people? The result might be as amazing as in the book.

Charity - Read a book set in winter and a book borrowed from the library.

Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks & Micah Sparks

Two brothers set out on a once in a lifetime trip around the world in three weeks. With all the skill of a gifted novelist,  Nicholas Sparks writes about their trip while also remembering growing up with his brother, sister, and parents. Warning: this book is gripping. I laughed, I cried, and I read fast. I have never read any of Spark's novels, but I can recommend this true story of two brothers that learned the value of family. 

Gina - Read a book about food.

The Soul of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman

I cook every day, but not like this. Ruhlman takes the reader behind the scenes into the Certified Master Chef exam and into the kitchens and dining rooms of two award-winning chefs. The food he describes is so far out of my league that I can't even visualize it. He is describing an unknown culture. But his writing is superb and I found the book riveting. (Note: I didn't appreciate the one chef's use of profanity.)

Gina - Read a collection of essays

What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

I love Gladwell's books but find them hard to define. Gladwell is a journalist who does an amazing job at connecting unrelated subjects to give insight. Whether he writes about dog training, finding criminals, or the difference between marketing ketchup and mustard, Gladwell always surprises me by the way he makes me think in new ways. These essays were first published in The New Yorker and kept me riveted.

I can't wait until February1st so I can start the February Brighter Winter Reading Challenge.

Making Yogurt in an Instant Pot

 Long-time readers may remember how slow I was to climb on the Instant Pot craze. But one thing that has become a routine in my kitchen is making yogurt in the Instant Pot. It is so simple and always turns out. No more milk boiling over on the stove or struggling to keep the proper temperature.

I start by pouring a gallon of milk in the Instant Pot. I use raw cow's milk, but other types of milk will work too. 

On my pot, I have a "yogurt" button. I press that button then toggle the "manual" button until it shows "boil." I place the lid on the pot, and it brings the milk to the perfect temperature - very hot but not quite boiling.

Meanwhile, I get out my yogurt culture. I buy a quart of plain yogurt and freeze it in an ice cube tray. I keep these yogurt cubes in the freezer. When I make yogurt, I pull out two ice cube portions and allow them to thaw.

When the Instant Pot beeps to show it came up to temperature, I sit the insert in a sink of cold water to cool the milk. I occasionally stir the milk, but usually just walk away and forget it for an hour. I want the milk to be below 110 degrees. 

When the milk has cooled, I mix a cup of milk with my yogurt culture and stir it well. Then I stir the culture into the whole pot of milk and again stir well. 

Next I place the pot of milk back in the Instant Pot and again hit the "yogurt" button. I press "manual" until it gets to "8:00." This will incubate the yogurt for 8 hours. I sometimes let this incubate overnight. Other times I start the incubating in the morning.

At the end of 8 hours, I pull the pot insert out of the Instant Pot, cover the top, and place in the refrigerator without stirring. After it is totally cool, I take the first dip into the fresh yogurt. I'm always  awed that the liquid milk has turned into a totally different product. I then stir the yogurt well and place it into containers for serving.

Obviously this makes a lot of yogurt which is perfect for a large family. My favorite way to eat yogurt is with granola. You can add sweetener to the yogurt before you incubate it, if you wish. I prefer it plain, but my children like it a little sweeter.

Yogurt intimidated me until I tried it and found out how truly simple it was. 

Shaping Surroundings for Good Habits

For the last number of years, I've done a series in January that has had something to do with Bible reading and schedules.  

2021- 30-Day Phone Challenge

2020 - Friends share Goals and Routines that Work 

2019 - Friends share Choosing His Words

In the last five years or so, I've read several very good books on habits. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhig, Switch: How Change Happens When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, and Atomic Habits by James Clear. I read a lot of books in a year, and maybe it shows the value of these books that I can remember so much about each one, though some were read quite a few years ago. (This post contains affiliate links.)

But, of course, it is not enough to read a book and agree with what it says. A book on habits has no power unless it changes my habits. 

I know from reading about habits, that change best happens when we make a specific plan to make the good habit "obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying." (from Atomic Habits)

"If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your systems. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change." James Clear in Atomic Habits

Lots of people make goals at the beginning of the new year, including me. And it shouldn't be a surprise that when I make a goal without thinking through how I'm going to make that goal a habit, it flounders by mid-January. 

Since last January, I've been thinking about the changes I want to make and why some of them can't seem to become consistent habits. 

For example, in the last few years, I've been terrible at planning. All kinds of planning. Planning meals. Planning grocery lists. Planning schedules. As the result, I often feel like I'm running behind, not knowing what I'm going to make for dinner tonight. Going grocery shopping only to get home and find I missed a necessary items. Completely forgetting an appointment. 

While I feel like I'm doing relatively well holding together and most people in my life think I'm organized, I know how scattered I feel inside. 

Last January I made it my goal to begin using my planner again. At one time I used my planner often. I covered it with to-do lists, reminders, and random thoughts. But the last few years, the pages have been blank. I knew that if I would begin to consistently write things down, I would feel less disorganized. 

But I had no plan for how I'd actually begin this new habit and nothing changed. 

And that is just one example. I could make great goals, but unless I knew how I was going to incorporate them into my life, nothing would change.

So I've spend the last couple months thinking about my specific routines. I don't have babies anymore. I'm crawling out of the grief fog. My life is fuller than ever, but it has more predictability than in past years. I knew I could find a way to shape my environment to encourage better habits. 

Now is when I start to feel silly. This probably isn't worth sharing on a blog post. And I know it is only January 19 - too soon to tell if this will truly work. But I've been analyzing this for months, it isn't a hasty idea, and I've been slowly making tiny changes, so I think this will last. 

I'm also hesitant to share this because you may not need, or want, to copy me. I'm only giving this as an encouragement to look at your life, consider the changes you want to me, and find ways to shape your environment to make the changes work for you.

One problem I found was that I had things scattered around the house. I read my Bible on the couch, but if I wanted to journal, it was beside my bed. I kept my planner in the kitchen, so if I had an idea before bed, it wasn't handy. 

My bedroom is small and can tend to be the catch-all room. For example, it contains a large bookcase that contains school materials and teacher's manuals. There isn't many options on moving furniture in that space. But a few weeks ago I had an inspiration. By moving the large bookcase in the opposite corner, I was able to squeeze out space for a chair and a small bookshelf. I picked up a lamp at Goodwill and instantly I had a comfortable spot that I couldn't wait to use. 

This comfy spot became what I needed to shape better habits. My Bible, journal, and planner now have a home. I anticipate sitting there each morning and evening to plan my day. Walking in my room became a delight. And my phone is not kept in this space. No longer am I faced with the temptation to check my phone before reading my Bible because I have a lovely place to read my Bible, with no phone in sight.

Ask me in a few months how it is going, but because I've shaped my surrounding to support my goals, I think this will give long-term benefit.

I'd love to hear how you set up your home to encourage good habits.

Sisters' December Reading Challenge

The last month of the year was a great reading month. I love the coziness of a reading a book during the dark nights of December. With busier schedules this month, a quiet hour to read was even more cherished.

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December Reading Challenge

1. Read a Christmas book.

Charity- Hallelujah by Cindy Rollins

Handel’s Messiah is always a wonderful addition to the month of December. In this advent book Rollins breaks down this beautiful song into a 25-day listening schedule and Scripture readings. Each day Mom and I enjoying a few minutes of beautiful singing. Over and over we were amazed as we listened and read the words that Handel set to music. Rollins also included guest writers who share their Christmas traditions and explain Handel’s remarkable piece. We are already talking about how we are going to read it again next year! 

Gina- Home for Christmas - numerous authors

This was a heart-warming collection of Christmas stories. Though some of them were possibly doctrinally unsound, such as rewrites of the Christmas story with shepherds and wisemen arriving at the stable at the same time, I can overlook such things. A few were true stories, many were classics, but most I had never read. Short stories are perfect for a busy schedule.

2. Read a book on doctrine/spiritual growth/self-help.

Charity-Unseen: The Gift of Being Hidden in a World that Loves to Be Noticed by Sara Hagerty

Being unseen and unnoticed is hard. We want to do something worthy of notice, to change lives, visibly serving God. But what if God wants us to hide in Him? To know Him personally without the crutch of “doing” something great? Hagerty explores the concept of being hidden and unseen by telling her experience of learning to know God more fully. I didn’t finish reading this book yet, but I’ve been challenged and can’t wait to see what the rest of the book will teach me. 

Gina - Adorned: Living Out the Beauty of the Gospel Together by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth

Nancy examines the verses in Titus 2 and the role of an older woman to teach the younger to "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." (Titus 2:10) While this book didn't reveal lots of new truth to me, I need reminded of the strength we have to encourage each other in the faith.

3. Reread a favorite book.

Charity-Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I stepped back into a childhood favorite this month, and it was pure delight! I am a firm believer in rereading books because the way you view life is always changing. Little Women held so much meaning as I read it again in my twenties. It is the story of four sisters living with their mother while their father is away fighting in the Civil War. They are trying to decide what really matters in life and overcome their valleys and weaknesses. It is a story of growing up and learning that their castles in the air won’t always come true, and yet maybe there is something much better in store for them.

Gina- A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser

I read this book quite a few years ago after my brother-in-law died. I've known I should reread it and this seemed like a good time. Jerry lost his mother, wife, and daughter in a car accident. He wrote this book three years after the accident. I felt like he understood where I am in the grief journey. I like that he is willing to answer the hard questions of where is God in our pain. He also acknowledges all pain, not just death, but other losses such as unemployment, infertility, and abandonment. I underlined lots in this book and highly recommend it as the best book I've read on grief. 

4. Write a list of favorite books you read this year and share your list with a friend.

Charity-

• Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose
• The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
• The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera
• When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin
• Under the Tuscan Son by Frances Mayes
• Unbroken by Laura Hilenbrand
• Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens 
• Son of Hamas by Mosab Has Yousef
• The Boy in the Window by Bobby Easton 

Gina- Here is my list. And I'm sharing it with you, my friend. My ten favorite books this year lean heavily toward books on grief, and only one is fiction. Not sure what that says about my year, but looking through this list reminds me of how richly I was blessed by words on a page this year.

• The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield
• Home by Marilynne Robinson
• Unseen: The Gift of Being Hidden in a World that Loves to be Noticed by Sara Hagerty
• Missional Motherhood by Gloria Furman
• Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings by Shari Zook
• I've Seen the End of You by W. Lee Warren
• Just Show Up by Kara Tippetts and Jill Lynn Buteyn
• Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop
• The Insanity of God by Nik Ripkin
• A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser

5. Read a book while listening to Christmas music.

Charity -

Christmas music is often playing in the background after Thanksgiving. This month often found me enjoying the cozy mood of Christmas songs while snuggling up with a good book! Also mom and I would often be found listening to Handel’s Messiah with our advent book in hand so that we could follow along.

Gina- Christmas music is played on repeat at our house so it was the backdrop to lots of reading this month.

Both of us enjoyed the reading challenges this past year. I read more books this year than usual and  severely cut back my screen time. It was fun to have a little push to read the books that have been collecting on my shelves. 

We will be taking a break from the Sisters' Reading Challenge for the next two months to take part in the Brighter Winter Reading Challenge. But we will be back in March with a new version of the Sisters' Reading Challenge. 

If you want to make sure you never miss a blog post, you can sign up to receive the blog posts by email. Some of you have said that you used to get the emails and now don't. I know that some of the email addresses were lost when I switched to a new email service last summer. So feel free to sign up again. You can find the signup form on the right column of the blog.

(The literary scarf I'm wearing in these photos was a gift from my children and can be found at Storiart. I'll let you guess what book they chose!)

Happy New Year! We look forward to reading with you in 2022!

From our house to yours

 

I'm reading in Isaiah now, the perfect place to be reading over the Christmas season. In the midst of all the chapters of doom and destruction, we find words of hope. Never easy words of "it will be okay," but words that point to Jesus. 

"There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse..." (Is. 11:1) 

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid..." (Is 12:2) 

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee..." (Is 26:3)

Today, on Christmas, may you know the peace that only Jesus gives. 

"My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." (Is 32:18)

Contrasts

I've heard that Christmas is a hard time for many people. One study found that 38% of those surveyed said their stress increases in December. Others find the longer hours of darkness to negatively affect their emotional health. 

There are many reasons for depression, but I used to assume that those hardest hit are the ones with no family and friends, like the man we caroled to this week who sat in a dark trailer and said no one visits him. My heart breaks for him, and the many others, who sit alone night after night.

I wonder if it is the contrast that is most painful. The contrast of what you had and now don't. The contrast between what you want and what you've been given. The contrast between reality and desire. The more jolly and merry in the world around us - even if it is fake, the more stark our own life can appear.

Our December has been rich, and full, and beautiful. I love the gatherings, the food, the people. We've attended numerous music events: church caroling, Christmas singings, concerts, and community events. Each one fills me with deep joy. 

But the joy contrasts to loss. Just as a splotch of mud stands out starkly on a bride's white dress, so grief at Christmas feel highlighted with neon lights. 

Twenty years ago Ed proposed on Christmas Eve. Though he is gone, the hole he leaves is too big to be forgotten by filling the social calendar and singing "Joy to the World." Memories run too deep. I'm surrounded with tangible reminders. I pull a book off the shelf and find his name inscribed. I rummage for a piece of scrap paper and find a list of points in Ed's handwriting for a game he was playing with the children three years ago. The children flip through photos and videos on my phone (which was once Ed's), and I hear his voice singing Christmas carols. 

I don't want to lose memories. But the beauty of memories carry a gut punch. 

I recently reread A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser. He compares catastrophic loss to an amputation. 

"We can recover from broken limbs, not amputation. Catastrophic loss by definition precludes recovery. It will transform us or destroy us, but it will never leave us the same. There is no going back to the past, which is gone forever, only going ahead to the future, which has yet to be discovered. Whatever that future is, it will, and must, include the pain of the past with it. Sorrow never entirely leaves the soul of those who have suffered a severe loss. If anything, it may keep going deeper." (Please go read the whole book because I can't copy down everything I underlined.)

Somehow that has been comforting. Maybe it is a sign of health that the deeper the joy, the greater the contrast to the deep sorrow. Sweet contrasts with bitter. Light to darkness. The heartbreak of the cross to the glory of the resurrection. The valley of the shadow of death to the gates of heaven.

I don't know how to hold both joy and sorrow in my heart at the same time, but I'm not given an option. I know many of you are walking through similar contrasts. May we not deny the pain or decline the joy, but embrace both. It sounds cliché, but this is why Jesus came. To walk into our sorrow and give us eternal hope.

"And ye, beneath life's crushing load, 

Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps and slow,

Look now! for glad and golden hours

Come swiftly on the wing:

O rest beside the weary road, 

And hear the angels sing." 

(3rd verse of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear)

I'm including a video of a song by Aspire Chamber Choir that I loved this month. (If reading by email you may need to click over to the website for the video.) You can also enjoy Aspire's entire Christmas concert.