The journeys I've been on

I think one of the reasons I love to read so much is the journey, each book a new journey, each book a new relationship, each book changes a part of who I am.  These are the books I read this year....

1. Humility by C.J. Mahaney
2. The Poisonwood Bible by Barabara Kingsolver
3. My Prison, My Home by Haleh Esfandiari
4. Love and War by John & Stasi Eldredge
5.  The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong
6. Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Parrillo
7.  Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
8. The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris
9.  The Letters from the Land of Cancer by Walter Wangerin Jr.
10. Spiritual Direction by Henri Nouwen
11. Nuture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
12. In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
13. Reclaiming the Past by David Seamands
14. I  Want to Live: A diary of a young girl in Stalinist Russia by Nina Lugoskaya
15. Truefaced by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, John Lynch
16. The Heart of a Family by Elizabeth Goudge
17. Belong to Me by Marisa Los Santos
18.  Love in the Driest Season by Neely Tucker
19. A Glimpse of Jesus by Brennan Manning
20. Old Men at Midnight by Chaim Potok
21. Lucky by Alice Sebold
22. Instrument in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul David Tripp
23. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

24. Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton
25. Sheet Music by Kevin Leman
26.  Preparing Your Daughter for Every Woman's Battle by Shannon Ethridge
27.  Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
28. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
29. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
30. Intended for Pleasure by Ed Wheat
31. An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
32. A Bear called Paddington by Michael Bond
33. Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille
34.  Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham

35. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
36. Leadership Reconsidered by Ruth A. Tucker
37. The Lonesome Gods by Louis Lamour
38. The Rest of God by Mark Buchanon
39. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
40. A Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levison
41. The Help by Kathryn Scott
42. Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
43. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
44. Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb
45. More Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levison

46. Danse Macabre by Gerald Elias
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
48. Bartholomew's Passage by Arnold Ytreeide
49.  Countless Picture books :)

Recounting these books reminds me of the countless journey's I went on this year, some good, some not so good, some down right horrendous.  I wonder.... what journeys I will go on this year?

2010 in Pictures

2010 has been a hard year for the Braddy family.   But in the midst of the hardness and the struggle we are learning to open our eyes and see whats around us and experience the joy full on!  

Open Hands

I have been reading A Christmas Carol to my kids.  Dickens at any time of the year can feed my soul, but reading A Christmas Carol at Christmas (with my kids on my lap) is sheer bliss.  His imagery is absolutely luscious, I am cold with Cratchit and can hear the rumbling of Marley's chains, I am in eager anticipation with Mrs. Cratchit to see if the Christmas pudding has turned out.  And I am caught off guard by the generosity of the second spirit.  He is so generous that his presence brightens a room and his absence is noticed. This in comparison to Scrooge's absolute stinginess brings a sudden light to the book.  He is absolutely unable to be generous because he is so fearful of being poor.  I was surprised as I read it this year to catch a glimpse of his fear of poverty, I always assumed his stinginess was because of his love of money.  But his stinginess doesn't come with longing for the comforts of wealth, because he doesn't take any pleasure in his money.  Actually, he doesn't even seek pleasure.  Rather, he holds on to his money because he is anguished at the thought of poverty.  His fear of poverty for himself leads him to hate those that are poor and to look down on them.

One of my favorite scenes is right at the beginning when the gentlemen come asking for a donation for the poor and Scrooge asks, "Are there no prisons?".
The gentlemen respond, "Plenty of prisons."
"Are there no union workhouses?"
"Plenty of union workhouses."
"Oh! I was afraid from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course." The gentlemen go on to explain that this donation is not necessarily meant to meet the physical needs of the poor but to provide some Christmas cheer.

I want to have a generous spirit, not one that is so fearful of absolute poverty that I hold onto everything I have.  I want to have open hands.

A Different Kind of Christmas

For our entire married life, Christmas has equaled  concert craziness and party overload.  But this Christmas has been different.  No parties, no concerts, just chill.  Sick kids have kept me homebound and so this Christmas I have baked and sewed and listened to Pandora.

Once upon a time, Paul's grandma baked and baked hundreds of cookies for the Christmas season. She would make turtles and sugar cookies, Russian Tea Cakes and chocolate covered pretzels.  This year I decided to attempt to make a small amount of the cookies she made.  Starting with my own version of  turtles.... ahhhhh.... aren't they cute.

Chocolate covered pretzels also got their own twist and this year we made turtle pretzels - yum!  While attempting to include all of Paul's favorites I decided to include a few of our traditional cookies.. crinkles with a twist, gingerbread men, and my mom's favorite...cherry mash

What fun is cookies if the kids can't help

To top off the whole project..... gum drop trees

A Few of His Favorite Things

 Today, Malaki cured his boredom by creating a photo journal of a few of his favorite things.

Advent. Adventus. Coming.

Advent. 
Adventus.
The coming. 
Eager anticipation.  
Careful preparation.  
Thoughtful readiness. 
 Joyful awareness.

I thoroughly enjoy Advent, the waiting, the preparing, the thoughtfulness.  I love reading to the kids the stories of people who were waiting for their Messiah to come and taking the time to imagine ourselves there with them.  This is a time when we learn to wait well and enjoy the moments of togetherness.  



Each morning as we open our lunch sack, it is a reminder of the eager anticipation of the coming Savior.  As we put together the puzzle, we are reminded of  the careful preparation of our hearts as we remember the first coming of our Savior and the thoughtful readiness as we wait for him to come again.  When we look at the puzzle, there is a joyful awareness that we only see a portion of the picture now and are eagerly anticipating the moment our eyes will be open to the whole picture.  

Jamming With Dad

Every once in a while it is nice to have an evening home with dad to just be silly :) But once is never enough so.....

Life is a Musical

I always wanted to believe that somewhere life was a little bit like the Sound of Music.  When children were scared, they would sing.  When they were sad, they would sing.  When they didn't want to go to bed, they would sing.  When the Nazi's were too close, they would sing.  This week I found out that when children do math, they sing "Wicked".

sojourner...wanderer

I am a sojourner... a wanderer... a pilgrim.  I am not in the land where I will permanently reside.  I am on a journey....