Debussy: Girl with the Flaxen Hair

I have loved this piece ever since I got the soundtrack for “Ladies in Lavender”, and now I’m thrilled to be learning to play it on the piano. I think you will enjoy this lovely version by Joshua Bell; he performed it on the soundtrack, too.

 

A Walk Down Ludwig Strasse

A dear little spot in Partenkirchen, and one of my happiest memories of vacation.

And what would a walk downtown be without a little lunch, I ask you?

Maria’s grilled chicken halves and french fries just about satisfied us. But not completely. (Heading for the coffee shop…)

Some hand-made lovelies…

A church steeple that called my name…

Four lovely sisters. Two rugged brothers. My dear mother.

A lovely walk.

~Meg, returned from her perilous travels abroad

Gone Campin’

See you in November!

~Lizbelle, Meg, Lolly

The Doings of a Young Woman

Today, I am…

Seeing: The sun. He’s a stranger, mostly. Every once in a while he pops out of nowhere and gives us all a shock, but if he sticks around for too long Germany comes to scare him off with a few rain drops and then he goes away again. He was all over the place during the summer, but as winter comes he’s nowhere to be found. Funny; we always end up missing him.

Listening: To footsteps in our kitchen, and the microwave doing it’s microwavey thing. The clonking of boots on a wooden floor; it means that little ones are on the move. On my iPod: Bethany Dillon’s “Everyone To Know”. A sweet and short song, I just love the vocals. But it also has a lot of meaning, and as I hear it it sounds like a cry from my own heart, not somebody else’s.

Thinking: About a great many things, as usual. About hard things, lost souls, the Great Physician, my own conceit and arrogance, and the “weather and the state of the roads”.

Reading: Well, Daddy just read aloud a book called “White Queen of the Cannibals” about Mary Slessor. She is truly a fascinating woman; fiery red hair and courage to match it, blue eyes, a Scottish accent, and a HUGE heart for the people of Africa. I was stunned by her get-up-and-go; she evangelized nearly the whole jungle of Calabar alone and on foot. I think I admire her most for rescuing the twins that were left out to die because of ancient tribal traditions (they believed that twins were possessed by evil spirits). For myself, Homer’s “The Iliad” for Schola Classical Tutorials, and my assigned headache hard book is “Counterfeit Revival”, by H. Hanegraaf again. Very good, but definitely a toughie. I’m just about tired of reading about all the awful men who are messing up the church.

Imagining: What life would be like in Oxford. Sigh. To walk in C.S. Lewis’s footsteps.

Creating: Well, I’m about to create Susan’s Coronation Gown!!!!!!!! YIPEEEE!!!  My dream is becoming a reality.  The fabric is sitting on a shelf; the pattern is somewhere over the Atlantic.  I’m hoping to wear it in the Alps this October.  Still working on those Christmas presents…

Writing: Well, I’ve been trying to catch up on e-mails, comments, and letters, but it is a mountainous task indeed. I’ve very nearly given up altogether on my story… perhaps I should write a work of non-fiction instead .

Praying: For contentment. Peace. Gratitude. A chance to stand for life.

~Meg

Awarded

The Honest Scrap Award.

Gracious. My first one.

Thanks, Natalie!

Here are the rules:
1. Say thanks and link to the person who gave you the award. (I dun that.)
2. Share ten “honest” things about yourself.
3. Award this to seven people whose blog design/content I admire or who have encouraged me, and inform them of their win and of the rules of this award.

 Alright, and I’m being as honest as I can.

 

1. I HATE BANANAS. That was EXTREMELY honest.

2. I have a very fierce temper that only the girls who share a bedroom with me can tell you about .

3. I have a weakness for anything C.S. Lewis. ANYTHING. Jolly good chap, don’t you know.

4. I go berserk over the color red. Red shoes, clothes, iPods, books (Do Hard Things is red, after all), and red food (I love spaghetti).

5. I am extremely fond of a vintage boutique in Ft. Collins, CO.

6. I am not allowed to say “like” as in, “I, like, totally think that rocks, like.” Family rule. It’s slang.

7. I am very clumsy when trying to get past people in church pews. (I almost stepped on the pastor’s wife’s toe. In fact, I’m pretty sure I did.)

8. I love the Rebelution. You probably knew that, but I’m being honest.

9. I have awful finger nails, even after my dear godmother got me a manicure. With little siblings and dish washings…

10. Even more than I want to live in NZ, I want to live in Oxford and study at Magdalen College.

 

I award:     Lucie

                  Marian

                  Raora

                  StrongJoy

 

Aaaaaaaaaand… Actually, I can’t come up with seven. Oh well.

                 

                 

 

Rebelutionaries of the Past: Laura Ingalls Wilder

I’m sure most of us have heard of Laura Ingalls Wilder, or seen the (rather dumb) TV show, or perhaps even read her books. I loved those books as a young girl in love with aprons, bonnets and general stores; but now I have an even better reason for admiring Laura, and the life she lived. As a matter of fact, she was what I consider a Rebelutionary Example of the Past (REP). I’m sure if she heard me attaching such a curious title to her name, she would have great cause for offense; but since she would not understand the meaning behind the name, I’m sure I can bestow that great honor (known only to few) upon her head with all dignity and good-will.

Laura was born in 1867, and she lived with “Pa, Ma, her big sister Mary, her little sister Carrie, and a bulldog named Jack” as the familiar beginning of “Little House in the Big Woods” goes. The Ingalls moved at least as frequently as I have (that’s a lot), and suffered nearly everything imaginable as a family. They lost their baby brother when he was nine months old. They lost countless crops to grasshoppers, storms, and fires. Mary lost her eye sight at the age of 14, after the entire family suffered from the scarlet fever. They continually lived on almost nothing, yet they were always happy. Little things like candy and a penny brought great delight to the three young siblings, who were joined later by sister Grace. Ma worked her fingers to the bone being frugal, and running a house; and never did she raise her voice to her husband or do anything contrary to his will… the perfect example of a biblical wife. Laura herself took on a great deal at a young age. When Mary became blind, Laura became responsible for the jobs of two sisters instead of one, doing almost as much around the house as Ma. At the ripe old age of fifteen she got her teacher’s certificate, and taught three terms in a one room schoolhouse to help pay for Mary to go to a college for the blind. Some of her students were even older than her, and the family she boarded with was crude and violent to each other, but that didn’t daunt her. She divided her time between teaching and going to school herself.

Laura showed her devotion to her sister Mary, and her whole family, by considering it her duty to help earn the bread (and bake it, too) in hard times. But she wasn’t a prissy, goody-goody kind of character; she struggled with many of the same things that we young ladies struggle with (and young men too, I suppose ), such as jealousy, a quick temper and sometimes sharp tongue. I find her much easier to relate to and learn from than a character such as Elsie Dinsmore, or Princess Adelina (reviews of those possibly coming at a later time). And she has certainly inspired me to be content and useful in the family that God has blessed me with, which is something I have often times struggled with. It is so easy to be pining away for something else; and much less easy to be content helping your mother and father with the ordinary, mundane, and anything but glamorous tasks, which is what Laura did before she ever went to be a school-teacher or a seamstress’s assistant (both of which I might find rather fun!).

While you may be wondering what the whole point of this post is, be assured! There is one. I’m about to give it to you. Laura did a Hard Thing.

 

 

~Silly Meg

The Doings of A Young Woman

Today, I am…

Seeing:  Paint. Red paint and brown paint on the walls (and a bit on other people) and white paint on me (and a bit on the walls). Have I mentioned that I’m slightly…erm…drip prone?

Listening: Debbie Reynolds “Singing in the Rain”

Thinking: About maybe not going to college after all. Lots of interesting ideas for staying at home have been flooding my mind.

Reading: “Christianity in Crisis” which is a very sobering look at the heretical and cultish “Word of Faith” movement, with a special eye to such men as Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn.

Imagining: How my medievalish (yes, that’s a word) people can use explosives without charges of cross universe pollination being laid at my feet.

Creating: Crocheted foods for birthday and Christmas (yes, already) presents for the little girls that we know.

Writing: A test for biology.

Praying: For God’s mercy and to kill my pride. Just like Aslan had to tear off Eustace’s dragon skin before he could be restored, so I want my hard heart torn off to bring me to Christ. In theory. In actuality I’m a rotten sinner who is scared of the process of becoming sanctified. Which I guess is something else to pray about.

Namárië,

Lizbelle

The Schaeffers…

…the latest biography that Dad has read to us is about Francis and Edith Schaeffer.

This couple had a lot in common with the Taylor’s. Edith actually spent her childhood in a CIM/OMF compound, so she was familiar with the principles that Hudson and Maria held dear.

When Edith was 17, she prepared to debunk the ideas of a Unitarian who had been invited to share in her (extremely liberal) church. Before she could stand up to say her piece, however, a 20 year old Francis stood up and refuted the doctrines of the visitor. She had no idea that anyone else in the church thought like her. When he was finished, she stood up and took her turn contradicting the false doctrines. He had no idea that anyone else in the church thought like him. It didn’t take them long to figure out that they were meant for each other…

After many years, they ended up in Switzerland with their house open to anyone who might want to stay. They always trusted God to provide all that was needed for them and he did. Right from the beginning they prayed for a few specific things. Among them were that God would send the people he wanted to be there, and that he would keep everyone else away.

I really admire their willingness to take whatever God wanted for them. Many people, when faced with the situations thrown their way would have given up. They persevered, and were richly rewarded for their faithfulness.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

They did, and he did.

Namárië,

Lizbelle

Clean

Sparkling cold water in a blue pool. An elder and a pastor. The sun and The SON. A woman dressed in white. A girl in pink. Down under and out again into the crisp morning air. Clean. Fragrant. Cold. A miracle happened before my very eyes. Two ladies where washed white as snow, and became new creations in Christ. We all rejoiced with the angels.

Hoo Boy! Another Love Story!

Has anyone besides me noticed that my dad reads us alot of books? And that he takes great delight in assigning us the review of them? Well, the latest one was “Francis and Edith Schaeffer” by L.G. Parkhurst, Jr., which I must say I liked even more than “Hudson Taylor and Maria”. Because I think their love story is even more compelling. (I’m really into compelling love stories, folks).

Francis Schaeffer came to the conclusion that the Bible was absolute truth all on his own at the age of seventeen. He had just read a book on humanistic philosphy, and found it lacking. So he decided, for literary purposes, to read the Bible straight through. It worked. Edith Rachel Merrit Seville was born in China, to a family with the CIM (tee hee). She returned to America around the age of five, and continued to grow up learning about and believing in God. Francis, meanwhile, was in a family hostile to the truth that rejected his decision to join the ministry. They met in 1932. One Sunday evening, at a Presbyterian church, a Unitarian came to speak. Edith sat in her pew, ready to stand up and debunk the Unitarian from a biblical standpoint, when lo and behold! a young man stood up before she could and did exactly the same thing. Neither Edith or Francis thought that there was another person in the church who believed that way, so naturally they met up afterwards. Then they wrote letters. And yes, opposites do attract. They got married.

Francis and Edith began one of the most effective ministries of the 20th century when they moved to Switzerland, and decided a few years later to open a home called “L’Abri” (which means Shelter), where wandering students or just anyone could come and find answers to the big questions that all humans without God struggle with: Where are we from? What on earth are we stuck here for? Where are we going? Is there a purpose in life? Edith practiced generous hospitality, and always made her home a beautiful place where anyone could take refuge. Those who stayed at L’Abri where taught to work as well; in the garden, kitchen, workshop, or wherever. They had discussions in the evenings with the Schaeffers and other L’Abri workers, providing the true and biblical answers to the hundreds of questions man faces. Francis and Edith where soon known as the “ministers to the intellectual”. They were both intellectual equals, prolific writers, and thinkers. Lizbelle, Lolly and I are currently working through Francis’ “How Should We Then Live” film series, which I HIGHLY, highly reccommend. He teaches us the only real and true reason to be a Christian, and to believe the Bible as absolute infallible truth. I’m planning on watching his “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” once we are done with this. One of the things I love most about Frances and Edith is their unabashed and intelligent defense of life, including the defense of babies in the womb. If only Frances could see where we are now… he died of cancer in 1984. Edith has gone back to Switzerland now, and she lives near some of her children. She is my mother’s heroine .

~Meg