The highlight of the month was definitely reuniting with relatives (more to come in August!).
Read
It was also a good month for reading around here, though I feel that I must include some caveats for the novels I read. Ordinary Grace — a coming of age story set in 1861 Minnesota; I love this type of writing and found it quite moving by the end, but it does have some profanity (and several deaths). The Rosie Effect — this made me laugh out loud many times; I recommend the whole trilogy if you don’t mind some swearing. The Guardians — a legal thriller about acquitting wrongfully convicted people; I listened to this one and there were three times that I quickly pulled out my earbuds because of gruesome content! The Dearly Beloved — the four main characters are so well drawn; it explores faith, marriage, friendship, hardships and gives insight into liberal churches. Now, I hope I didn’t dissaude everyone from reading these because I loved them all!
I was pleasantly surprised by Anna Hibiscus, an early chapter book about a girl growing up in Africa whose mother is Canadian — it seems to me an excellent blend of tradition and modernity, frivolity and morality. 🙂 There are eight books in the series so I hope the others live up to the first.
I’m also working my way through some helpful books, including Risen Motherhood and Loving the Little Years. Perhaps I will share some quotes in a future post.
Do
I’m very grateful for these things we were able to do in July:
- Canada Day desserts with friends at Harrison Park
- Having my Dad over, including a board game, experimental cocktails, and a morning at the beach
- Playing in our new “water wiggler” sprinkler
- Two visits with cousins we hadn’t seen since 2019 (and the babies got to finally meet their grandparents from across the border!)
- Day trip to Tobermory (plus side: lighthouse, boats, and ice cream cones; downside: roadwork, lineups, and paid parking)
- Our baby learned to sit up and to army crawl (He’s not up on his knees yet but he really scootches across a room!)
Meditate
“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.” – 1 Chronicles 28:9
Margaret, I want to give you some real encouragement about all of the wonderful experiences that you share with us! For health reasons, I have not been able to travel for a very long time. But I feel like you take me to a different world with me never having to leave my couch! I, too, loved the novel ordinary Grace! It was very real and not at all goody-goody. Keep up your Splendid writing!