Immeasurably More

The tall bookshelf in the living room, second shelf up from the bottom is where the Notebooks are.  None of them fully used, they hold scraps of (some really bad) poetry, french vocabulary notes, mind maps of  books I've read, several attempts at food diaries.  I'm sitting and reading through page after page trying to salvage anything worth saving.  And then what can I do with the leftover notebooks? One of the quotes I've found: At first we want the consciousness of being guided by God, then as we go on we live so much in the consciousness of God that we do not need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing any other will never occur to us.  If we are saved and sanctified God guides us by our ordinary choices, and if we are going to choose what He does not want, He will check, and we must heed.  Whenever there is doubt, stop at once.  Never reason it out and say - "I wonder why I shouldn't?"  God instructs us in what w...

One of my favorite traditions from Scotland is the celebration of Robert Burns's birthday.  Gather together good haggis, drinkable whisky and someone with the right accent to read "Address to a Haggis".  Add mashed potatoes, masked swede, whisky sauce and a bagpiper (recorded is acceptable if you value your relationship with your neighbors).  Enjoy! This is the second year we've ordered our haggis from Cockburns , and the guests provied a selection of whiskies to try.   This year's entertainment (in the absence of a ceilidh band and dancing) was my long anticipated attempt at the Blue Blazer cocktail.   We spared the Glenmorangie, Ardbeg and Lagavulin and set the Johnnie Walker Red ablaze.  (The guests insisted I tie my hair back.)

These *are* going to charity.  I once knew a man who moved from Chicago to Boston and when he did,  he sold or otherwise disposed of all his books.  "They're just books." he told me.  "They can all be replaced." Just books? While I acknowledge its practical benefits,  I'm struggling to embrace the "just books" way of life.  Books make a room cozier. They give guests something to browse through while I'm in the kitchen. They don't just speak about their subjects,  but also about me - where I've been, what my interests are, how I organize (or don't). Some of my books have changed the way I think.  Some of them make me laugh every time I read them. Some of them I quote. Some of them I would buy again at the first used bookstore I come to. Some of them I haven't read yet and can't possibly part with before I've turned every page. Discarding them feels like discarding bits of myself, my memories and my d...

I always knew it would happen eventually.  The Reason would appear and I would buy a one way ticket back to the U.S.  And I was right.  The Reason has appeared and I am going home. Well, not home exactly, but back to the U.S.  To my Grandmother's home, actually.  We lost my Grandfather recently and so Grandma thinks she can spare the time now to look after me. It's strange this count down to departure.  So different from when I started this blog and left Boston.  I own more things. I have more friends. I've taken more photos of more places than even my best friends want to look at. More stamps in my passport. More knowledge of myself.  More appreciation for the grace of God. I will be changing the description of this blog, but not the title. ~~ LeAn