The Typist and The Girl in the Gatehouse

For different reasons, I find I am not reading as much lately. I have read a couple of books, so I'll give my opinion of them.


Julie Klassen has written historical books that I have really enjoyed - Lady of Milkweed Manor, The Apothecary's Daughter, and The Silent Governess. Her latest, The Girl in the Gatehouse, is another success.

Mariah Aubrey, for reasons that are not immediately divulged, has been banished from her family home by her father. She and her companion are sent to live on the estate of an aunt she has not seen in some time, where they take up residence in the abandoned gatehouse. As the story plays out, we discover why Mariah was banished and the secrets that abound in the lives of the characters of the story.

One reason I like Julie Klassen's books is that her characters are flawed. She addresses life circumstances that are not confined only to the 1800's, but are worthy of our consideration even now. But for the grace of God, we could find ourselves in situations that cause us shame and social alienation.

Another book I read is The Typist by Michael Knight. I saw a recommendation for it in the Books section of the Kansas City Star and decided to give it a try.

Francis Vancleave is a typist in the U.S. Army assigned to work in Tokyo during the post-war occupation period in Japan. In the course of his work and life there he comes into contact with various people, the most notable being Gen. MacArthur and his family.

Thankfully, this was a very short book. It gave me a small desire to further research the post-war period in Japan. The main character, Van as he is known, was not very interesting in comparison with the other characters in the book. Unfortunately, those characters were not fleshed out to the extent they could have been. This book could have been a lot better than it was.

A Resolution Kept

I am not usually one to make New Year's resolutions.

I have only made two that I kept for the entire year. One year I decided to go to one new restaurant a month, and it couldn't be one of the national chain restaurants. That was the year I discovered Smokehouse Barbeque, which until this year, was my favorite barbeque restaurant.

This year I resolved that I would read one book a month by an author I had not previously read. I work in a library. How hard could it be? Well, as it turns out, it was fairly difficult. Over the years I have seen books by very popular authors on the shelves. Why are they so popular, are they interesting? I was curious.

I am not going to mention every new (to me) author that I read. A few really stood out, and I will mention those later. Of the "popular" authors I did read or started to read, I was not impressed. The story or characters did not interest me, the language was too foul, the subject matter was better left unwritten - for whatever reason, I doubt I will read books by those authors again. Thankfully, there are many more authors out there to sample.

The first book I read that really stood out was The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I had put it on hold at the library and then when it came in, I couldn't remember why I wanted to read it. A friend told me it was on the bestseller list, so I decided to give it a try. It was a good read and caused me to think about a painful and unjust period in our nation's history.

The second book that made an impact was Hunting Eichmann by Neal Bascomb. It is about the hunt for Adolph Eichmann, a Nazi war criminal. What an eye-opener this book was in terms of who helped Nazis escape after the war. And no, the United States is not innocent.

The third book I would recommend is Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. It is a biography of Deitrich Bonhoeffer, who was a noted theologian. He was also a spy and involved in a plot to kill Hitler. The meatier theological aspects of this book were hard to absorb at times, but it really caused me to think about what part one's nationality can play in how the Christian life is lived.

The last book I want to mention is Faithful by Kim Cash Tate. It is a book about four friends, who each ponder what it means to be faithful. It is written by an African-American woman and that only adds to the take-away value as it is a perspective that I need to acquire that as a follower of Christ.

Now I'm reading Muslims, Christians, and Jesus by Carl Medearis. I've already learned a lot, and I've barely started the book. I think I'll try to make this seeking out new authors a habit rather than just a resolution.

The Pressure to Know What You Want

I was just reading one of my favorite blogs, Stuff Christians Like, when I realized I needed to get something written. The blog was about "I am _______, but_________." Meaning I am doing something with my life now, but it isn't what I really want to be doing. It is not my intention to go into what that means for me. My thoughts actually turned to my son.

My son just started 10th grade about a month ago. He is taking a couple of classes at the high school in the morning and then going to a career center in the afternoons to eventually learn a trade. It had not been our intention prior to this Spring for him to attend the career center, but he was allowed to apply and was accepted. Our intent has been that he will attend college. It still is our intent, but we feel that it can only help him to learn a trade also.

I am learning as the days go by that high school is a high-pressure environment. Get ready to take the ACT. Decide now what course of study you want to pursue and what field you want to work in.

I am feeling stressed.

Years ago my son asked me what he should be when he gets older, and I responded that I wanted him to be whatever God wanted him to be. His response to that was "You want me to be a pastor?!" I laughed then and I still think it is humorous.

The thing is that I found my thinking on that starting to change. I began thinking that we need to really knuckle down and get all those classes in to make him a sterling college candidate. We only have three years to get him ready for life.

Yes, we do need to get him ready for life. But his life is ultimately in the hands of a gracious and loving God. We need to seek His wisdom on how to proceed and help our son develop into the man God wants him to be, not what we want him to be.

It is so easy to get caught up in keeping up with society. Having the wonderful degree, owning the right accessories (iPod, cell phone, big screen TV), going on the foreign vacations, living in the nice houses, etc. That is not what my focus should be, though.

I want to help my son discover who God created him to be. What are his gifts, what is his passion, what energizes him? If he is involved in something that involves those things, he will be on the right path.

A Joyful Noise

My car radio is usually tuned to one of two stations - Air1 (91.9 on your radio dial) or K-Love. I prefer Air1, but will switch it over to K-Love if I'm not thrilled about the song on Air1.

Sometimes I will sing along to the radio, but I really like it when my son sings along to a song. When he sings along, I realize that he IS hearing the good lyrics of the songs, and that pleases me greatly.

First, let me just say that I love my son very much. Secondly, let me say that he does not necessarily stay on key when he sings. It doesn't matter that he sings off key. I absolutely love to hear him sing. At least part of it is that I know he is internalizing what he is hearing and is letting it out, participating in the music.

The Bible says we are to make a joyful noise. So often I look around at church and notice that people are just standing there during the time for worship through music. I hope they are involved in the music and that their souls are being fed. Are they not singing, though, because they feel their voices are not good enough to share with others?

If I feel such joy when I hear my son sing, imagine the joy God feels when He hears His children sing. Even if they don't sing well or on key.

Ready, Set, Speak!

I like to think that I am a fairly open person, transparent if you will. But I'm not really. I am actually superficial. There is a lot going on inside me that only God and I know about. I need to work on sharing myself with others.

My husband often complains that I don't talk. My response usually is that I don't have anything to talk about. WRONG! What I should say is that I don't want to share my deepest thoughts with him, that I want to (as the British would say) keep myself to myself.

Yesterday when I was working at the library I happened to notice a young man (probably late teens or early twenties, very sweet looking) who was attending a magic program being presented. I'm pretty sure he has some kind of developmental disability. When I saw him, my heart pretty much just broke. Why? Because, but for the grace and kindness of a very loving Heavenly Father, that could have been my son sitting there.

When my son was about four years old, he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified. Pervasive Developmental Disorder is like a big umbrella under which are other diagnoses such as Autism and Asperger's Syndrome. My son had some autistic behaviors, but evidently not enough to make that diagnosis. He has received assistance through the school system and since that diagnosis has made incredible progress both academically and behaviorally. Incidentally, he no longer has some of those behaviors he exhibited as a child.

I have not yet shared the incident at the library with my husband. It really was not until this morning as I was praying that I processed my thoughts and feelings about it. I was convicted, though, about how little I share with my husband (and others) about what is really going on inside my heart and mind. I doubt it will be easy, but I must make more of an effort to go beyond the surface in my relationships.

On Exhibit

I like history and I like to go to museums and places like that. I do not feel the need to read every word of every display sign, though, so I don't think I've reached museum nerd level yet.

We have discovered the Kansas City branch of the United States Archives. It is located next to Union Station and if you are not paying attention, you can drive right past the entrance and miss it. I recommend finding it, though.

The first time we went was for the Deadly Medicine exhibit, which I have already written about. In June we went to see Mugged, a small exhibit on the history of Leavenworth Penitentiary and some of the prisoners there. Coming up is an exhibit featuring items loaned by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

Admission and parking are free. There is a bookstore, which for me is always a bonus. The only thing missing is a squashed penny machine. Maybe I'll suggest it next time we go.

The Recovering Glutton

I have been overweight for most of my life. There were some times when I lost quite a bit of weight, only to gain it back and then some. One thing didn't change no matter what weight I was, though. I was worshipping food. I was a glutton. That is hard to admit, but there it is.

Sometime in April I was listening to Air1, the radio station I usually listen to in the car. The announcer was talking about how Jimmy Needham had been a guest at the radio station and that he had lost 50 pounds. She then mentioned the website of the program that had helped him. It was settingcaptivesfree.com. I remembered the website so I could check it out later.

I went to Setting Captives Free and looked at the program, called The Lord's Table. It consists of 60 daily devotions to do online. They provide a mentor to review the responses given in the lessons and to offer prayer and encouragement. It is also suggested to have at least one other accountability partner who receives your lesson responses by e-mail. To help the participants develop disciplined eating habits, a 60-day eating guide is also provided.

Every diet I have been on, the focus has been on food. This is not a diet. It is a plan to change allegiance from food to where it belongs - bringing glory to God.

I consider May 1st to be day I began my journey to freedom. I feel so much better, I have lost some weight, and I have hope that food will never be be my master again.

The most important thing about all this is that in my own flesh, none of this would have been possible. It is quite evident to me that it is only the Holy Spirit living inside me that has given me the strength to do this. All the praise goes to Him.