Sight and Sound: Art For Advent

Nativity, by Martha Copeland, wood engraving

This weekend, a gift arrived in the mail from a dear older friend. I was speechless with delightful surprise, wonder, and reverence. Handcrafted in Arizona, my friend created a beautiful wooden nativity scene in a crescent moon. It now sits on our mantlepiece in our “bear den” family room where we most frequently gather, and where our church’s mom ministry gathers once a month, and where piano students sit to wait for their lesson turn. I want this art piece to bless all who enter our home. This piece of art was lovingly crafted by my dear friend, Martha, a true artisan, and a woman after God’s heart, as she took material from His creation, wood from a tree, and fashioned it into something very beautiful with skill and precision.

Art is a gift that evokes deep emotional responses and can reach into a person’s heart and mind to add understanding and draw out wonder. I have been curating art lately and let me tell you what I’ve found!

First, how is your Advent going? Although Advent is a time in the church calendar that signifies a theme of waiting, for our family, it has been a very full season. As the children get older, and taller (our 3rd child just passed me in height), we have more activities, fuller schedules, studying for final exams, school projects to complete, “ugly christmas sweaters” to pull out of the closet, christmas parties to attend, secret Santa gifts to purchase for classmates, music recitals, concerts and advent parties to attend. Our Advent is full and bustling as we are hustling. It hasn’t been very quiet or still! However, I’ve been taking a few extra naps, taking quiet moments as they come, however brief, and evening coffee has been a more frequent treat as we gather together with cozy blankets in the den after the early setting sun has disappeared behind Mt Adams.

One thing that I’ve been focusing on this year is gathering a couple of art pieces for our den. One is an Advent piece titled, “Mary and Eve” drawn by Sister Grace Remington, crayon and pencil, 2005. In an interview with Plough Magazine, Sister Grace explains deeper layers of meaning in her art piece.

Mary and Eve, Sister Grace Remington, 2005

“One of the things I was pondering as I drew this picture was the question of why Eve said “no” to God and Mary said “yes.” I started to think about how Eve had no idea what it would mean to live in a fallen world, to be separated from God. Whatever purity of soul Mary had, Eve had in her creation too. And yet, whatever innocence Mary had, she was not spared the experience of living in a fallen world. First-century Palestine was no Garden of Eden. I wondered whether Mary was able to give her yes precisely because she knew the pain of life. She knew how desperately we needed God. Her eyes were open. This was part of what I see as her compassion for Eve in this picture. She is not standing with folded hands on a pedestal above Eve: she is standing with Eve, touching Eve, seeing her deeply. She knows the gift she is carrying is for Eve as much as it is for herself. She doesn’t need Eve to get herself together, or to even drop the apple before inviting her in. I also hope the picture communicates the way Christ is present in our encounters even when we cannot see Him. The picture is of Mary and Eve, but Jesus is there too. He is, in fact, at the very center.” https://www.plough.com/en/topics/culture/holidays/christmas-readings/mary-consoles-eve

This first time I encountered this artwork was likely in Advent of 2009, in our little town of Bellingham where we lived and served a church for three and a half years. This beautiful art piece was on the cover of the bulletin. It struck me with meaning as the image plunged itself into my heart and spoke to me in a language of symbols, divine kindness, and consolation. Just like the gift from my friend this weekend, this art piece delighted me with surprise at such an image, wonder at Mary reaching out with consolation to let Eve know that her promised Redeemer has come, and reverence for this is a sacred moment on which all of history pivots. The Kingdom of God has come, the King has arrived.

As I vascillated back and forth on which art print I would order, I finally decided on this one. It is interwoven into our story with meaning and memory. And so, every year from here on, as December rolls around, we will bring it out as a part of living out the church year in our home.

As my sense of sight has been delighted by art and beauty of the season, so too, my ears have been hearing good news of great joy through song. Here are some beautiful ones:

Wendell Kimbrough, Advent

In the Bleak Midwinter, John Van Deusen

Brightest and Best, The Gettys & Ricky Skaggs

Sarah Sparks, Advent Pt. One - 400 Years

Elizabeth, Keith & Kristyn Getty & Ellie Holcomb

May your heart be nestled this Advent in the reality of God with us, God with you.

Lilias Trotter: The Life & Work of a Soul in Blossom

(This essay was originally published in the print magazine, Deeply Rooted Magazine, Issue 12, The Calling.)

When the Lord calls a soul to Himself, there is an unmistakable dying that occurs at the same time as there is a supernatural giving of life into union with Christ. At this point of receiving that resurrection life and power, the new child of God begins a life-long journey of hearing the continuous call in God’s Word, through the Holy Spirit, to die daily to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). That call of God demands a response. The question then becomes, how will you respond to this Christ-life dwelling within you? This is an account of a young woman who responded to that call with great sacrifice and with a passion for the impossible.

“This dandelion has long ago surrendered its golden petals, and has reached its crowning stage of dying - the delicate seed-globe must break up now- it gives and gives till it has nothing left….There is no sense of wrenching: it stands ready, holding up its little life, not knowing when or where or how the wind that bloweth where it listeth may carry it away. It holds itself no longer for its own keeping, only as something to be given…” Lilias Trotter, Parables, 26-27

The young Lily became a woman with a way of seeing in regards to spiritual matters, the natural world, and human relationships. Much of this can be attributed to her mother and father, Isabella and Alexander Trotter. The Trotters were an influential and economically prosperous family in mid 19th century England. A dynamic couple, they each possessed a love of nature, adventure, travel and most importantly a love for Christ. In their travels, Lilias’ mother was known for her prayers and evangelism both in England and across the ocean in the New World of America. Their fascination with various subjects, peoples and cultures, prepared Lilias for her future ministry working with people who lived in very different circumstances and contexts than she was accustomed to.

Lilias grew up during an era of celebrated writers, theologians, poets, and artists including the likes of George MacDonald, Bishop Wilberforce, Christina Rossetti and famed art critic, John Ruskin. Perhaps the most spiritually influential of these voices were those of Dwight L. Moody and Hannah Whitall Smith whose writings, devotional material, and evangelistic meetings became for Lilias a source of discipleship that would develop the inward journey of her soul to a deep and abiding surrender to God, and propel her outward as she prepared for a life of serving others.

Nature was a classroom for Lilias. When she saw a dandelion, a sand lily in the desert, or a delicate bouquet of violets, she not only saw the beauty within the blossom, but saw beyond, into the miracles that took place to cause the flower to bloom, knowing that the full expression of the flower was merely the end of its life cycle as it prepared for reproduction. Through these observations in nature, she drew parallels in the spiritual life.

Early on, Lilias’ mother saw her bourgeoning talent as an artist. It was 1876 in Venice when an opportunity presented itself to show some of Lilias’ work to one of the greatest figures of the Victorian Age, art critic and social philosopher, John Ruskin. She sought an evaluation of her daughter’s work, though she had been mostly self-taught from childhood. Ruskin’s initial impressions were of astonishment, and this opportune meeting changed his ingrained beliefs that a woman was incapable of such creativity and beauty in art. This was a turning point in his personal life as he began to pursue Lilias as her teacher, and eventually, as a dear friend.

Ruskin spent much time tutoring Lilias and guiding the formation of her art, particularly her work in watercolors. At the same time as she was progressing in her talent, she was also beginning a work of compassion to prostitutes in London, rescuing and training them in employable skills. She opened the first public restaurant for women in England and also worked with the YWCA. Her parallel loves of art and mercy ministry would eventually come to a crossing, one in which she would need to cross, and one in which would break her and wound her while simultaneously giving her a new and determined passion, setting her on a course for a new land and a new mission.

Ruskin began to notice a change in Lilias’ art which he felt was being negatively impacted by her deepening involvement in her mission work. At the same time, her mother had lost a battle with a degenerative heart condition and passed away. The impact of losing her mother and the emotional and physical strength needed for her work with the poor brought a solemnity to her work as she was faced with much brokenness and constant need all around her.

It was at this time that Ruskin approached Lilias with a vision of what could be her future career in art if she were to give herself completely up to a life of study and honing her skills. He strongly urged her to leave her religious work, and completely immerse herself in her art alone so that she could develop her potential and make her mark as one of England’s finest artists.

This crossroads that Lilias came to was not a decision to abandon a talent, for all of God’s good gifts are given for us to steward and use for His Kingdom purposes. The crossroads was a realization that she would either wholeheartedly give herself over to developing a career of art, fame, and worldly acclaim, or give herself over to the missionary work that God was leading her to, which would involve the use of art, however, it would now become a tool in God’s work and not an end in itself.

“Take the very hardest thing in your life – the place of difficulty, outward or inward, and expect God to triumph gloriously in that very spot.  Just there He can bring your soul into blossom.”       Parables of the Cross, p.17

This was the heart-wrenching and complicated decision that Lilias had come to. As she wrestled with this decision, painstakingly weighing what this would mean for her, she came to the conclusion that it is the Christian’s duty to abandon one’s entire self to God’s purposes. Her willingness to part with all these things came swiftly and with joy, though not without a sense of grieving the loss of something that was so precious.

For the next forty years, Lilias worked in Northern Africa among the Arab peoples. She and two friends began the Algiers Mission Band, now known as Arab World Ministries. She was a contemporary of Amy Carmichael, missionary to orphans in Dohnavur, India, who became to her a dear and trusted friend through regular correspondence.

What became of this talent that Lilias so obediently gave up? The gift that had been given now became a gift to others. Her art became the tool which, not surprisingly, was the very instrument God would use to communicate His Word to the Arab people with whom she worked. Working with a printing company and the mission band, she produced a series of color leaflets and text cards featuring illustrations, Biblical texts, and questions with answers.

“Before us all dawned, I think a new horizon – of the glory of the task to which God has called us – a glory in its every hardness & in the sense that we are working for the future & its coming day.  ‘We were dreamers dreaming greatly.'”  23 October 1911

God’s pursuit of this young woman to walk in faithful obedience to His ways is the same call He gives to all His people. It is a call to lay down our entire lives and well laid plans at His feet, to let them go in full surrender, and follow Him in the divinely designed roles and vocations He has called each of us to for His glory and His Kingdom.

Lilias had a way of seeing, even to the end of her life when, as her body began to give way to death, she experienced a vision of a chariot and horses. A friend asked her if she was seeing beautiful things. Lilias responded, “Yes, many, many beautiful things.” (Pigott, Memoriam, 3).

“Turn full your soul's vision to Jesus, and look and look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him, and the Divine "attrait" by which God's saints are made, even in this 20th century, will lay hold of you. For "He is worthy" to have all there is to be had in the heart that He has died to win.” Trotter, Focussed: A Story and A Song

The following is a list of resources for further study on the life and work of Lilias Trotter:

Books & Film about Lilias Trotter:

A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter, by Miriam Huffman Rockness

https://ililiastrotter.wordpress.com

Miriam Rockness: Reflections on the Art and Writings of Lilias Trotter.

Many Beautiful Things: The Life and Vision of Lilias Trotter, film directed by Laura Waters Hinson

Lily: The Girl Who Could See, by Sally Oxley and Tim Ladwig with Miriam Huffman Rockness

Books by Lilias Trotter:

Parables of the Cross

Parables of the Christ-Life

(Lilias wrote many books, booklets, and story parables. Most are currently out of print but may be accessed at the Arab World Ministries UK Headquarters in England.)

A full list of works by Lilias Trotter can be found here:

https://ililiastrotter.wordpress.com/works-by-lilias-trotter/

Thanks for reading Every Morning New Mercies!

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Homemaking - The Ministry of Vacuuming

I was in my mid-twenties, single, holding a undergrad degree and frankly, not quite sure which direction my life was taking me. My dream jobs were not coming to fruition, and though the “world was my oyster,” I was pondering why this oyster was stuck shut and refusing to open and reveal to me its prized pearl! An oyster that refuses to open, whether by breaking your nails to force it open, throwing it against a rock, or stomping on it, can be quite a frustrating situation. So, like that oyster, I felt tossed aside, forgotten, thrown back into the ocean to settle amidst the silt and darkness of the ocean floor, only to grow algae and be passed over by mudsharks. I jest!

In those years before I met my husband, it was a determined effort to choose to trust God and practice contentment. It took a massive mental assent to make it my project to keep walking forward and ask the Lord to use me in his kingdom, even though my expectations for what my life would look like in that time stamp were not manifesting in reality. With one step forward, day by day, I found the joy and contentment of walking with Him and determining to joyfully and passionately walk with Him in every season the Lord granted me.

I was in between jobs, and I found myself with an opportunity to work at a beloved Christian ranch camp in my neck of the British Columbia woods. Living at my parent’s house at the time, I drove my little blue Toyota Echo down our mountain slopes and out into the countryside until the pavement met the gravel. A few more miles, and I was surrounded by horses at the foot of the mountains. I had taken a seasonal kitchen assistant job. One of the tasks our team had each day was to clean the dining hall after the 200+ campers left for their afternoon activities. As an introvert, this was my opportunity for some much desired quiet time. I volunteered nearly every day to vacuum. That is, until I got carpal tunnel syndrome from vacuuming… too much!

I love to vacuum. I know this is not the case for many people. But to see those little specks of dirt magically disappear and create a clean environment for all to enjoy is deeply satisfying for me. Could there truly be this much joy in the mundane work of vacuuming? For me, there is!

I remember as a kid, discovering the ability to create lines and patterns on the carpet with the vacuum, the realization that one could create dark and light on the carpet depending on which direction the vacuum moved, the determination to get those lines in order and parallel with one another with a slight diagonal to give way for the vacuum to shift and turn. Attention to detail, anyone?

As a newlywed, we didn’t have a good vacuum for our first rental place. My husband loves to search for well engineered products that will last for decades. He told me about a bagless vacuum with cyclonic technology, and though pricey, we decided to purchase one and try it out. It was a game changer. Even though I already took joy in a good vacuum session, now vacuuming became a hobby. Not only did this machine do an  impressive job unlike any other machine, I could also see the dirt it collected in the transparent plastic cannister! I needed more carpet in my life.

A simple definition of ministry is to serve people. To clean a space for the benefit of others is to serve them. The act of vacuuming is to prepare a healthy, clean, orderly space for others to feel at ease, to feel cared for, and to function in a healthy space. Its so sweet when I’ve done a deep-clean of my kids’ rooms and they haven’t been expecting it (because they are at an age to steward their spaces well). They knew I took time out of my day and schedule to help them out. The delight on their faces is so satisfying! Their hugs and thank yous are the reward I treasure in my heart. Knowing they feel loved and seen gives me greater joy. These little mundane tasks fill their hearts with tangible love and care. Each of us needs that from others.

As a Christian, I can pray for those who will benefit from a space being cleaned and vacuumed, whether it is my husband, my children, piano students, or guests. When I vacuum at our church building, I can pray for the families who sit in those pews, the students who come for chapel four days a week, the family who has lost their grandparent, the young couple who have just found out they are pregnant, the absent family who is away because of sickness, etc. Vacuuming brings beauty to a space, and  welcome to those in need of that healing space. Someone’s hands, made in the image of God’s hands, have served them and prepared a place for them. There is beauty and calm in the mundane and monotonous. We just have to choose it.

Gathering In - Heart & Home

I’m sitting in my quiet reading corner in my bedroom, overlooking western hills dusted with freshly fallen snow. Welcome, snow. It will be a while before you reach our place, but to see you in the distance brings a smile, like the arrival of a faraway friend. We are gathering in and winterizing. The in-ground sprinklers have been blown out, the irrigation canals that bring life-giving water to our valley lie empty. The dahlia tuber I’m experimenting with has been dug up, washed and safely stored in peat moss for the winter. I do hope I did that correctly. I had a brief 6 weeks of working at a dahlia farm right before the COVID era lockdowns began in 2020 and mostly worked with post-February dahlia tubers. This is the first time I’ve dug up my own tuber to care for it over winter. The blueberry, strawberry, and raspberry starts are all so young and vulnerable, but they, too, are tucked in with peat moss for a long winter’s nap. I hope to have flourishing crops for my future grandchildren one day, so they can come over to pick the berries and read picture books and make raspberry jam and blueberry pies! Yes, I’m already dreaming of becoming a grandma one day. I must prepare early and begin praying for those precious ones now.

It’s the season of “gathering in”, and I see it now so clearly living in the country. Those who work the land to feed the nation with apples and other summer fruits, who raise the grapes and hops that will ferment and brew into festive wines and ale to adorn the feasting of holiday tables- they depend on the weather, the urgency to bring in the harvest before the cold winter months when all goes silent in the orchards and fields.

In our own home, it’s time to prepare the fireplaces, to button up the chicken coop, and to make sure the older hens are letting the younger hens into the coop on these cold nights. Twice I’ve had to go into their run to catch the younger ones and put them inside the henhouse at night. I’m not sure about this new arrangement! We have massive tree stumps that need to get chopped into firewood, the apple tree needs to have its annual pruning, and I’m delightedly making preparations for my piano studio’s Christmas recital. There is the welcoming of friends in your home, stocking the freezer with pie ingredients, soups, and the coffee corner with an assortment of teas and hot drinks. We gather the blankets, the old ones knitted by great-grandmothers now gone on to Glory, others acquired on missions trips, and the growing Pendleton collection. The slippers are brought out, and the blinds are drawn early as we gather at dusk.

Gathering in is a season when we prepare for the colder months outdoors & inside the home. But there’s also a sense of “gathering in” for our hearts, making preparations for spiritual nourishment, Biblical encouragement from God’s Word, the praying of ancient prayers to bring light in the darkness. We follow the liturgical calendar at home and at church, and we are so cognizant of the symbolism of the physical seasons and the way the ancients used those to put the gospel on display by living out the church year in a repetitive and meaningful way. These habits form us, and we want to be formed for goodness, truth, and beauty.

I want to share just a few resources that are encouraging me this Fall and are a sort of “gathering in” spiritually as I stock my home, my children’s imagination, and continue to seek to be faithful in the formation of their souls.

Kingdom & Culture podcast: My husband, Craig, and our friend and co-worker, David, have just started a podcast discussing the Kingdom of God and how we are to live in this time and place and develop the culture around us as Christians. I invite you to listen in as they have deep conversations with Os Guinness, Uri Brito, Nate Walker, Aaron M. Renn, and others who have a heart to see God’s Kingdom come into all the corners of our civilization and world.

The Daily Grace Co.: I have been continually impressed with the resources from The Daily Grace Co. both for my family and our church. This group of people are passionate about the study of God’s Word and provide tools and inspiration to help others dive into this as well. It is that “gathering in” season of looking forward to which Advent devotionals and readings we will be doing as a family, and their newest study, Just As He Promised, is beautiful. Not only do they include a study through this “lenten-like” season of waiting and preparation for Christmas, they also include their signature charts on the attributes of God, the timeline of redemptive history, historical context into the intertestamental period (the 400 “silent” years) that paved the way and set the stage for the incarnation of the Son of God. They also include a glossary of theological terms in the back, and space for notes, reflection, and prayers. I can’t wait to get into this study with my tweens and teens. (They also have beautiful discipleship resources for teenagers!)

The Daily Joy & Daily Strength Podcasts: This Fall, I have been fed and nourished by listening to the Daily Joy podcast for women. The long passages of Scripture narrated by Irish music artist, Kristyn Getty, sets my heart ablaze to hear from God in His life-giving and life-sustaining Word. The brief devotionals by various authors and read aloud by Lydia Brownbeck, add a short encouraging commentary to help us unpack the Scripture passages in our time. There is also one for men called Daily Strength. The podcasts are basically audio versions of the physical books produced by Crossway.

As you gather in this winter, may you attend to the gathering in of your home, but also of your heart and the hearts of others in your care.

Christ and His Beautiful Bride

Wedding Rehearsal

The string trio set their bows to the strings and began the prelude as a holy hush gathered in the sanctuary of the 98 year old presbyterian church building. Grandparents and parents were seated first, and then bridesmaids and groomsmen. Turning my head toward the back, I caught a glimpse of the bride, the music changed, the congregation stood in awed respect to honor the bride as her father escorted down the aisle and gave her away to the groom.

I have been to countless weddings through the decades, mostly because my dad was a pastor and as a family, my sisters and I were always eager to attend yet another glorious marriage ceremony as we daydreamed of what ours would be like one day. This afternoon, as our dear friend gracefully and gloriously walked down the aisle with her father, the thought that came to mind was how glorious and beautiful Christ sees His Bride, the Church.

His Church, the people the Father has given Him, through no merit or effort of their own, have been chosen by God, before the foundation of the world, before literally anything was created into existence. His Church past, present, future, contains millions and millions of redeemed sinners, saved by His own sacrifice, to make them whole, healed, forgiven, redeemed. He makes His Church beautiful by giving her His own goodness, not of their own doing, but by unmerited favor poured out upon them and in them through the outpouring of His Holy Spirit into them, as He regenerates their souls and makes them a new creation in Christ.

As a congregation, we sang the song, Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me. Entering into this song of worship took this group of people into a moment of musical praise to our Lord Jesus whose presence was honored and invited and felt. A wedding is a picture of Christ and His Bride, the consummation of the ages, the glorious end to which we travel in this world, and yet what lies beyond this is more than we could ask or imagine. It will truly be the beginning of endless days of praise, goodness we have so long waited for, truth that heals all the lies we have believed about ourselves and others, and beauty that shines from the face of Jesus Himself, a beauty that outshines all others.

Will the world learn this? Will they hear these truths and turn to Him who so longs for them to know Him? Now is the time to turn your heart to Jesus and look into His wonderful face. Look at your groom! He comes for you, dear Bride of Christ.

Listen to this beautiful hymn recorded by our sister church in Washington state, by dear friends of ours:

The Church’s One Foundation, by Christ Church Bellingham

Photo from Unsplash

Gathering Gardens of Words in Autumn

The teenager appetite is quite impressive! Not only is our family consuming 120 eggs a week in this season of life, but baking has also ramped up this Fall. With prices at the grocery store also increasing, our food budget is quite tight, especially in that last week of the month when we are nearing the red line and have to get extra creative with what’s in the pantry. This is when our family opens the fridge door and stares a while as we contemplate whether or not to heat up the leftovers, concoct something out of the random remains of other meals or ponder what kind of soup we could make with perhaps a fresh loaf of artisan bread, because even a meager “end of the month” soup tastes like a feast with a fresh loaf of bread! Ah, it is Fall, my reading friends! The smells of fresh baked Autumn Apple Pie and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins fill our home and brings a smile of delight and sense of care after coming in from a long day of work and school.

Where we live, we have 300 days of sunshine and quite a dry climate, so we have been enjoying the beauties of the season all around us. The leaves that have shadowed protectively over us are turning all crimson and golden as they make their farewell tour. We thank them for their service to us and bless them as they make their way into the autumn decay where they will return to nourish the soil. Our sunflowers finally made their way into a blooming golden fiesta! Even my chickens have enjoyed a couple of sunflower stalks growing around their coop. The two newest chicks, Poppi and Daisy, are now big enough to join the rest of the flock and are doing just fine! I realized I needed to get them acclimated to the rest of the flock after seeing some frost on the ground in the early morning. So I took down the makeshift fence within the coop and now they are able to nestle together in the shared warmth of their body heat for the colder days of Fall.

Just like the western winds that blew down from the Cascades this past week ushering in evidence of seasonal changes, our September was a whirlwind of hoisting the sails of new schedules and routines for our family. With our eldest now driving, we are able to manage a fuller load of activities. Along with starting up the school year for our children at their little classical school, milestones are happening at our church with the launch of new ministries and discipleship opportunities. And in the midst of all the beginnings and activities, I had the joyful gift from Jesus to whisk my teenage daughter away on a mother-daughter trip. At one point on our getaway, as we were surrounded by women worshiping the Lord through song, I whispered in my heart to my Lord, “Thank you, Lord. This is perfect.” Gratitude to my Lord Jesus, Giver of good gifts.

I want to share a quote with you that is the theme of where I am at right now in this moment as I chair our church plant’s Women’s Ministry Team. Its from the booklet of the Made for More Conferences that have begun this Fall around the nation:

“If we keep talking and walking together, things are going to change! Not only will we be changed or transformed as we unpack the content of the gospel in the context of intergenerational community, but also, we believe, the intergenerational discipleship culture of our churches will change. We will begin building bridges and removing barriers across the generations. Women will begin to think biblically about all of life and live those truths out covenantally and relationally. And as we keep walking and talking together, we will become increasingly ready to share the gospel and our lives together! You, our friend, are made for more than this world can offer!” -Karen Hodge and Katie Flores, PCA CDM

This month, I am also participating in a book launch team for Sarah Clarkson’s newest offering, Reclaiming Quiet, Cultivating a Life of Holy Attention. As part of the launch team, I get to begin reading a digital version of it before it releases in November. In these beginning chapters, I am drawn into her story as she describes the events that led her into the realization of her need to desperately pursue a season of quiet. Again, like in her other writings, I can relate to so much of her experience. Reading her words is like sitting down with an old friend who understands so much of seasons I have also walked through, including the intentional battle to pursue and attend to quiet in a noisy and distracting modern world. She writes:

“Somewhere along the way, my mind became crowded with the images and thoughts of countless screens and headlines, my soul restless and on edge, and the way to quiet, even in solitude, was no longer plain to me. I watched myself become increasingly formed and driven by my inward distraction, my incapacity to be still, my unease with hush. I witnessed the holy quiet of those early years being swallowed by the buzz of a mind primed to turn to a screen for comfort, addicted to headlines. I felt chased by all I witnessed online and all I must accomplish, desperate both to keep up with and also attend to the myriad voices calling out in sorrow or anger or outrage in the words on my screen. I could no longer look away from them without a mighty inward wrestle, and even then, I was haunted by the echoes of their frenzy and fury… St Teresa discovered a palace within her soul. I found a kitchen table in mine…”

“I stepped back into a sense of God’s companionship.”

-Sarah Clarkson, Reclaiming Quiet

I look forward to this month of delving into her book, reflecting on seasons of quiet in my own life and how God has so dearly met me there in the past, and what He will teach me this month as I wrestle with how “quiet” looks for me in my season and stage of life. I hope you will pick up a copy of her book too! It might just be a discipleship message others need to wrestle with as well.

My little pumpkin, a late bloomer, but happy to be here and growing quietly, sheltered by a blue spruce in a part of our yard that doesn’t usually get water… well, some water found the seed one day, and in late August, the plant sprouted up and began to grow. Its been a welcome surprise of life adorning our chicken coop and making me chuckle every time I pass by it.

Into the Whimsical World of Anne

I am reading the book, Anne of Ingleside, for the first time. In the Anne of Green Gables series, it is the 6th book in the series and shares the escapades and mischievous shenanigans of Anne and Gilbert’s children. For some reason, I never got around to reading the entire 8 book series growing up. I just started and stopped with the first book. Actually, I’ll share the reason, and for me it is a story of kindness and rediscovery. As a young girl, I was gifted the first book in the wonderful world of the orphan, Anne Shirley. However, I was swimming delightedly in an ocean of music, and so my literary adventures would blossom later, even though I loved reading short and inspirational chapter books.

In our church, the young girls were paired with an older woman who would pray for the girl they were matched with, send a card on her birthday, and little encouragement notes every once in a while. A kind and generous woman (so very lovely and godly; I think of her with such gratitude) gave me a brand new copy of Anne of Green Gables. I didn’t know the story, except that it was about an orphan girl on PEI and that it was made into a movie featuring Megan Follows in the 1980’s, of which I watched at some point in my growing up years and really enjoyed it! Oh how I loved watching television shows of that time in history: Road to Avonlea, Dr Quinn Medicine Woman, Pollyanna. These shows fascinated me, and I imagined what it would be like to live in Avonlea with pinafores and horse drawn carriages and oil lanterns. However, the book would have to wait.

I didn’t know it at the time, but I had obsessive-compulsive disorder which hugely affected my reading capacity. I would read sentences and then ruminate over the words, getting stuck on words and staring at them as the minutes ticked by. Perhaps that is why I chose short books, ones that were about hope in God, overcoming trials, and horses, of course. Reading Anne was very difficult for me because the words she used were very long and sometimes foreign to my level of vocabulary. I stopped reading after trying very hard to tackle this large tome, and that’s okay. I wasn’t ready for it. At some point, eventually, I picked it up to finish it… another OCD reason because at that time, I felt that I had to finish books I started to feel a sense of completeness. It was a challenge the Lord ordained for me.

Many years later, when I finally met my beloved husband and we got married and started a family, my music world was diminishing for a season, and it was time for my literary world to awaken. What a wonderful Savior to bring about these seasons in his perfect timing. He knows oh so much more about ourselves than we could imagine. When my daughter was elementary age, we started a tradition of reading my beloved Mandie books to her. This was a precious time of the day. As she grew older, I decided it was time for the Anne books… for her AND for me! I found a beautiful set of the books with cover illustrations by the Canadian artist, Elly Mackay, published by Tundra Books. We began reading these books together, her and me, on our mommy dates, at times laughing out loud at the ridiculous adventures of Anne and her friends, and at other times, just delighting in the word craft of L.M. Montgomery. We loved the first 3 books, skipped Windy Poplars, and then I took up reading Anne’s House of Dreams and now Anne of Ingleside on my own. I think my daughter might rejoin me for the final installment in the series, Rilla of Ingleside!

And so I read and enter the worlds of beautiful descriptions of landscape and scenery, of seasons and sunsets all taking place on the magical Prince Edward Island in Canada. Sadly, the work of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne books was not noticed on the world stage during her lifetime, but in God’s timing, the stories she crafted with her impeccable imagination and grasp of the English language was a ministry of joy and virtue that still builds up young girls to this day. Reading together has created wonderful memories for me and my children, and the books and characters we’ve met through the years have taught us all meaningful lessons for life, virtue, and character. I pray my children will take these books with them into their marriages and families one day.

Its been as an adult that I’ve rediscovered Anne and the beauty of LM Montgomery’s words all these years later from the challenging reading days of my middle school years with undiagnosed OCD. But finding beauty is hard won in this broken world, and even LM Montgomery, the writer of some of the most beautiful verses in Canadian literature lived with incredible pain and suffering that her readers never knew as news articles have revealed in recent years.  I am convinced that joy and beauty are hard won, sought after through endurance and perseverance, and sometimes born out of severe circumstances, like the formation of the rarest and most precious gems. I leave you with a few quotes from this beloved author:

“In imagination she sailed over storied seas that wash the distant shining shores of “faëry lands forlorn,” where lost Atlantis and Elysium lie, with the evening star for pilot, to the land of Heart’s Desire.”
”

— L.M. Montgomery, Anne of the Island

And this blessed quote that speaks so dearly to my season of life and motherhood right now! How precious are these years:

A family hike through sunflower fields

“They were all growing so fast. In just a few short years they would be all young men and women... youth tiptoe...expectant...a-star with its sweet wild dreams...little ships sailing out of safe harbor to unknown ports...
But they would be still hers for a few years yet... hers to love and guide... to sing the songs that so many mothers had sung...
The night was cool; soon the sharper, cooler nights of autumn would come; then the deep snow... There would be the magic of firelight in gracious rooms...hadn’t Gilbert spoken not long ago of apple logs he was getting to burn in the fireplace? They would glorify the grey days that were bound to come. What would matter drifted snow and biting wind when love burned clear and bright, with spring beyond? And all the little sweetnesses of life sprinkling the road...
”What a family!” Anne repeated exultantly.”

— L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Ingleside

My brave sunflower, shining with beauty and just loving the fact that she was created!