How Does a Bibliophile Decorate?

As a family who is constantly collecting books...it becomes a difficult decision sometimes as to where I put all these treasures.  We have six double bookcases in our den alone that are full of books.  My husband, being first a pastor and now a Chaplain, has collected great theological works ever since we were married.  Then came homeschooling, which literally exploded our book collection...and there are other books too... for crafting, cooking, spiritual edification, etc.  What to do with all those books!?  So, I try as much as possible to find attractive ways to arrange our collections.  I like to group books in sets together, so I do not lose sight of them, and then I begin arranging them in different ways, placing various articles on or around them to make them a decorative grouping.

In this grouping, an old chair holds gardening books.  The bench is home to a very old collection on top that works with the primitive touch there and underneath are my Gooseberry crafting books all lined up to give some color.

Here is a shot a little distance away from some of our bookshelves.  I have tried to use my book and basket collections to make groupings and use the space as wisely as possible.

Pictures nearby always add a homey touch.

Some paperback books are just not attractive on shelves.  I like to put those in baskets (which also saves room) and then use these small chalkboard ties to easily let me know what is in them.  I tried using chalk with these and little ones kept wiping them off.  Then I found out about these. However, they can be expensive, but Michael's and A.C. Moore carry them...so if you have those stores, wait for the 50% off coupon! 

Do you have lots of books at your house?  I would love to know how you manage the ever growing collection!!!  Hope you are all having a glorious week in the Lord!

A Great Gift Idea

Most of you that have followed my blog, know that I have a thing for books...children's books, cookbooks, craft books...and especially spiritually edifying books.  This is one of my all-time favorite children's books!  It would make a great gift for any child on your list.  It is the story of a little boy named Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge who lives by a nursing home.  He goes and visits the patients there, but his absolute favorite person is an elderly lady who also has four names just like he does.  She is losing her memory.  Gordon doesn't understand what a memory is so he goes and asks the other friends there in the nursing home.  They give him some sweet answers, and still not fully understanding, Gordon goes and gathers precious things he owns to take to his friend to help get her memory back.  What happens next is even sweeter...but I won't give it away because I don't want to spoil the surprise.  It made me tear up a little bit myself!  So, if you have a young one on your list that you need to buy for...or you want to add to your own home library...I highly recommend this book.  I like the fact that it promotes respect for elderly people.  That it shows a precious relationship with this boy and the residents in the nursing home.  It is very well written.

I do have one disclaimer about it though.  There is a part where one older gentleman was known for telling Gordon "scary" stories.  We personally do not condone scaring children...so we just blacked out the word "scary" and it read that he told him stories.  If you want to preview it first, check it out from the library first.  I think you will like it. 

History Reading

Anyone who knows me knows that I am an avid book collector.  I have always had a great appreciation for books, mainly given to me by a mother who read to me almost non-stop!  So, when I became a homeschooling mom myself, it was easy to start filling the shelves with quality literature.  Unfortunately, many good history books are out of print and we have authors today who choose to rewrite history to fit into their political, spiritual and social agendas. 

A great resource for history books that we found out about years ago at a homeschool conference are the Landmark books.  There are about 200 of them, and most all of them are out of print.  We have picked up a few here and there from homeschool conferences we attended.  I have gotten some great deals on them through Ebay.  And I have also been fortunate enough to find them tucked away in obscure little used bookstores we have found while vacationing.  I never seem to take a vacation from searching for books!

I never thought we would have this many just picking up one or two here and there.  But, here they are.  I had my oldest daughter get them all out and write out the titles for me since I have been known to buy a book I already have!  We'll blame that one on getting older!  I urge you to look for these books when you are out and about.  They are written on about a fifth grade level, but hold so much information on their individual subjects that they are fit for adult reading as well.  Some of the best children's authors of the 50's were asked to author these books, so they capture the reader's attention.  My oldest son, Josiah, has really enjoyed these and has read several already.  Since they are out of print, some of them can be expensive, but at the homeschool conferences we have attended, they have ranged from about 8 to 12 dollars a book.  I have found quite a few of them much cheaper by winning auctions on Ebay or by finding them in used bookstores.  Other people have been successful getting them almost free from libraries that are discarding them!  So, when you are out and about, keep a lookout for Landmark books...and Happy Hunting!

Book Review

I cannot believe it has taken me this long to read this book.  To think that I am approaching my 47th birthday in January and I have never read this Christian classic.  I have made it a habit ever since having children that we have a family read aloud before bed every night after family devotionals.  This is on top of other books I read to them during school times.  We just finished this wonderful book.  If you have not already read it, I urge you to do so.  It is the heart wrenching story of the Ten Boom family, Christians caught up in the setting of WWII who take up the dangerous cause of hiding Jews from the Gestapo.  Knowing the danger they are in, they continue to make the selfless decision to hide and help God's chosen people.  It is a beautiful story of self-sacrifice.  But, it goes even farther than this.  It is the story of a family who is caught, sent to prison and then, some of them, on to an extermination camp.  It is the story of childlike simple faith in a God who works all things for our good.  God's overwhelming Hand can be seen throughout every page.  I was especially convicted by Betsie Ten Boom's thankfulness in all situations.  She is a shining example of taking from God's Hand all that He gives with gratitude.  There is even a time when she is in a camp that is riddled with disease and fleas and she even thanks God for the fleas!  We find later that even God uses the fleas for her good.  One of my favorite quotes from Betsie is,"...tell people what we have learned here.  We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still.  They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here."  These women were heavenly minded!  It has encouraged me to be more heavenly minded as well. 

Our Family Truths ~ Evaluating Reading Materials ~ Part One

One of the things I enjoy most about blogging is being able to keep what I call an online journal.  I am able to write about so many things that are going on in our lives and put my thoughts down in a somewhat organized, succinct way...although there are many times I feel like a rambling blogger!  But, I thought it would be beneficial to let you all know a little bit more about the Fowlers besides the little glimpses of our lives.  I thought it would be nice to let you step inside our philosophies of life and share with you how we feel the Lord has led us in making certain decisions for our family.  I do want to say however, that I am NOT sharing this to say that if your family does not follow these guidelines they are wrong.  What your family does must be done in light of Scripture, prayer, the leadership of your husbands and the personal vision you feel is best for your family.  The things I hope to share with you over the next few months are areas God has spoken specifically to OUR family.  However, I do believe the Bible is very clear about what it addresses.  It is not a book of grey areas...on the commandments God states in scripture, there is no debate.  What God calls sin is sin whether your family or my family interprets it that way or not.  I read a quote just recently that I really like...it went like this.  "Right is still right if no one is doing it and wrong is still wrong if everyone is doing it."  In our society, where so many things the Bible calls sin is the norm, that is something that would be well worth remembering.  
      One of the first areas the Lord directed us when we were young parents was in the area of reading materials.  What is appropriate for our children to read?  What is a proper criteria to judge a book we would buy to add to our in-home library?  This is not always an easy assignment and as we have grown in our role of parenting, our views have shifted over the years.  We try desperately to look for materials first of all that are Christ honoring.  Therefore, we have a lot of books from publishers like Lamplighter and continue to add these to our library when monies allow.  It is so important to watch what our children read.  Books truly do influence us for good or for evil.  I can see that many things I read as a child had negative influences on me and helped form ungodly ideas in my thinking.  Therefore, we try to evaluate books before the children have a chance to read them.  We have also found that we have trusted certain curriculum choices and bought books that we have later gotten rid of because they did not match our families philosophies.  So, how do we go about evaluating books?

1.  Does it honor Christ?  That should always be the first question when deciding on reading material.  Not every book we have is written by a Christian author.  Many of the classics are not written by Christians.  But, just because they are deemed "classics" doesn't mean our children have to read all of them.  How many adults do you know today that are versed in all the classics?  We try to make sure that our desire to provide our children the best education possible never trumps our desire to encourage them in Godly living.

2.  What religious views does the author hold?  Everyone comes from a religious viewpoint.  Even athiests, by not believing in a god, hold to a god-less religion.  Those views will influence every aspect of who they are, and in turn, will influence their writings.  If you read a book by a feminist author, often times you will find women in the story who feel trapped by their homelife.  They "want more."  Many times they will usurp the God given roles of their fathers and husbands to make a "better" life for themselves.  Don't underestimate how these "ideas" put in the form of a well-written story can influence young minds.  What is the author's view of family?  Every author has one...does it promote what you are teaching your children?  This is the very reason we stopped reading the Berestain Bears books.  In most of those books, you will find the father is portrayed as a weakling.  The mother is the only one who seems to know what to do in situations...and the children just humor their father...well, because that is just the way Dad is.  This attitude of showing men as weak and ignorant is pervasive in our culture...we certainly do not want to promote these ideas in the books we read to our children.

3.  Does it have occultic practices?  You would think this would be an easy one huh?  I thought so too.  We don't do Harry Potter because of it.  However, we have been great fans of "Lord of the Rings."  Well, that is written by a Christian right?   And for the record, I am not trying to put into question Tolkein's salvation.  However, whether I like it or not, the character Gandalf in those books is a wizard and God is perfectly clear about His view on the subject of witches and wizardry.  I would not have had a problem with the book if Gandalf had been portrayed as evil.  But, how can I read in the Bible that God calls this wicked and then read to my children about Gandalf the "good wizard?" 

   "When thou art come into the land which the LORD they God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations:  There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a chamrer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a nercromancer, for all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD and because of these abominations the LORD they God doth drive them out from before thee."  Deut.  18:9-11

 Remember that TV show "Bewitched?"  Once again, calling good what the Lord has called evil.  Merlin in "King Arthur" is also troublesome to me.  Some would say that we are overreacting.  After all, isn't "Lord of the Rings" Christian in its themes?  Well, good does win out over evil.  But, if that "good" is made of up a wizard, would God call that good? When I know what God says about sorcery, I really cannot imagine sitting down and reading these as bedtime stories to my children if He were sitting there listening in person.  If I err, I prefer to do it with a heart that takes what God says as He says it, rather than making excuses for why this practice is acceptable.  This was probably the hardest decision for me personally.  The "Lord of the Rings" books were my favorites as a child and I did read them to my children years ago.  But, I never felt easy about the wizardry and it was my husband that made the decision to not make these books reading material for our children anymore.  I finally had to come to the conclusion that at times, I value my pleasure (reading, viewing, etc.) above God's commandments.  To water down what God calls evil is just allowing me to get used to the dark.  If I do not make a distinction with my children now, then when they leave my house, will they watch things that dabble in this area?  Will games, computer and otherwise be acceptable, that have "good" witches, wizards and warlocks?  I don't want my children to justify such practices to me by saying, "Well, you and Dad let us read ______, or watch_____." 

I hope to post part two in a couple of days.  Pray about what you are reading to your children.  Does it honor God?  Does it fit with your families goals in training your children?  God bless!  Until next time! 

Projected 2010 Reading List

Reading has always been one of my favorite hobbies.  I remember consuming books when I was younger and I still enjoy it so very much.  One of my goals for 2010 is to read more books for my own personal enjoyment and edification.  I read constantly to my children, but with five children, the demands of homeschooling, keeping a home, healthy cooking and other responsibilities, my own personal reading time has been almost non-existent.  I know some of that has been due to the fact that my husband has been deployed for nine months now and so there are added responsibilities that take up what little time I may have found previously.  So, while praying and thinking about ways to improve this coming year, book reading was one of those areas.  I always enjoy looking at the blogs of others and seeing a glimpse into what they are reading.  And because of that, I thought I would begin to share on a somewhat more regular basis some of the books I read to my children, with a little review and an idea of the age group they are geared toward.  But, first, I would like to share with you the "projected list" of books I want to read this year.  Now, it will be a great feat if I get this done...or even half done...but what is wrong with dreaming big huh?  As I finish, I will try to share my thoughts on them, or at least some of them, with you.  And I would greatly enjoy hearing some of your favorites as well. 

Crazy Love by Francis Chan 

Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman

To Train Up a Child by Michael and Debi Pearl

Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham

Raising Real Men by Hal and Melanie Young

The Heart of Anger by Lou Priolo

Already Gone by Ham and Beemer

Let Us Highly Resolve by David and Shirley Quine

Our Father Abraham:  Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith by Marvin R. Wilson

Quiet Times in Loud Households by Kimberley Eddy

Keeping Our Children's Hearts by Steve and Terri Maxwell  (reading this one again)

The Duggars:  20 and Counting by the Duggars

God's Appointed Times:  Practical Guide for Understanding and Celebrating the Biblical Holidays by Barney Kasdan

From Clutter to Clarity:  Simplifying Life from the Inside Out by Nancy Twigg 

A Well-Kept Home:  Household Traditions and Simple Secrets from a French Grandmother

Womanly Dominion:  More than a Gentle and Quiet Spirit by Mark Chanski

The Stay at Home Mom:  For Women at Home and Those that Want to Be

Extra Reading 

Feminine Appeal

The Joy of Hospitality

There are actually others, but I don't think I should make this too unrealistic!  Many times books have been the mentors that have been lacking in my life.  There is definitely a shortage of Titus 2 women, so I have gleaned so much from books by them.  I thank God for providing these materials for my sanctification.  These, however, should NEVER take the place of God's Word.  They should only be read and used AFTER spending quality time in the Bible and prayer.   I'd also like to you leave you with a quote,

 "Be as careful of the books you read, as the company you keep, for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as the latter."  Paxton Hood.

Happy Reading!