Olivia W > Recent Status Updates

Fireworks! Horse races! Weekly town socials! Laura and her family are taking quite well to life in town. True to the times, there is some discomfiting sexism ("A woman must keep her voice low") and racism (literal blackface). Also, the Ingalls family is infuriating when they shame their children for expressing sadness or anger. But still, I'm enjoying the fast pace of life in this one! So very fun.

Disturbing. An adjective I rarely use to describe the books I read. This book had better end with a drop of hope and happiness or else I'm suing everyone who wrote a 5 star review.

How wholesome

And so the mystery commences!
Re-reading this has been lovely so far.

"Jamie did some more thinking.. He still thought Death, but at least he had a manlier thought in facing it. And when he thought Life, he did not think of himself, or upbraid his government, or pity other wounded men. He thought merely of that one thing he might possibly do and what it might possibly be that would give him some justification, when he faced his Maker, for the spending of his latter days."

Got too invested and went further than my book club leader told me to. I'm hooked!

"What I am confident about is... Jesus wants us to understand the human heart as soil and think of it the way a farmer might. On the contrary, the modern era, with its emphasis on efficiency and repetition, has led us to view even discipleship through a lens of the factory model. But people are gardens, not factories." In reference to the parable of the seed and soils

Mentions Hebrews 5:14 (the importance of applying Scriptures, practicing Scripture) and Matthew 25:40- perhaps the doubters and skeptics are "the least of these" in society.

Preston talks about the power of investing in friendship even when you don't know if someone will end up following Jesus. He is describing unconditional love in the context of friendship when one party is deconstructing or doubting. This is real unconditional love.

"Not only will reaching the doubter compromise your reputation, you may never see them decide to follow Jesus. Remember Judas? He received an invitation to the table even though Jesus knew how Judas's story was going to end... To be like Jesus to the doubter, it is helpful to remember the daily invitation he offers to each one of us..."

Please step up the pace, Mr. Lewis!

The plot development is very slow. Very. But I have a feeling Lewis won't disappoint.

This is very dense, similar to a history textbook, but I'm glad I'm reading it.