Live with Flair

Making Time to Get Lost in Books (and Other Joys)

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Sat, 25 May 2013 08:25:59 PDT

We find cozy places to read in our home so we can get lost inside of a book. Reading--as one of life's greatest pleasures (at least for me)--allows new worlds and experiences to open for us, and I love encouraging it now that every family member can read.

"Go to the bookshelf and find a book to get lost in," I tell the youngest. She snuggles up by the window with a big pillow beneath her head, and she goes inside the book.

Just yesterday, a friend's older daughter gave my daughters her old books from her pre-teen years. Driving away from her house with a treasure box of books, I can hardly wait to introduce my youngest to new characters and new adventures: Winnie Foster in Tuck Everlasting, Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables, and more of Nancy Drew.

I lose myself inside of a book. I love that feeling that time has passed, and I've been somewhere else, unaware, at peace, and full of joy.

It's that way with writing, too. My oldest says she feels that way working on a certain school project or with knitting. For my husband it's woodworking and gardening.

But for all of us, it's reading.

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What's on your summer reading list? I like to reread my favorites from high school including A Separate Peace, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Great Gatsby. Throw in some Steinbeck and some poetry anthologies, and I'm one happy reader!

10 Things You Learn About Healing When You Raise a Wounded, One-Eyed Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Fri, 24 May 2013 07:16:21 PDT

A few nights ago, Jack starts pushing his nose against us and rubbing our legs with his face as we approach him. As a classic cat declaration of ownership, this behavior is Jack claiming we belong to him.

It's authoritative. It's bold. It's a way of leaving a territorial mark upon us. He never did this when we first took him in.

If you remember his journey, healing came slowly and curiously. With one eye, a broken tail, an infected mouth, and no interest in being his true cat self, he seemed half-alive.

And then, then!, he learned to purr again. He figured out how to meow and finally spoke to us one day in the kitchen. Then, he began caring for another cat. One day, he stood up to our dominant cat. A month later, instead of moping, I found him basking. Sometimes, his wounded eye would leak, and I felt like we were back to square one. He then learned to do things normal cats do that he had forgotten. Then, he bonded with our cat, Snowflake, began napping only with her, and seemed he had found his true love.

And now, he's rising up and declaring what belongs to him.

As I think about healing processes, I've learned some things from Jack:

1. Wounded cats--and people--slowly find their voices.
2. They'll cry out when they're ready.
3. Part of healing is caring for others.
4. You have to stand up for yourself and your needs.
5. Begin to worship again. Let yourself experience beauty.
6. You'll have setbacks.
7. You'll remember what it feels like to be healthy.
8. You'll find friends.
9. You'll let yourself love and be loved again.
10. And finally, you'll be strong enough to claim who you are and where you belong with a particular type of authority.

I love my little wounded cat.

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Have you learned something about yourself from animals?

Are You So Offended?

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Thu, 23 May 2013 11:40:34 PDT

Today, I remind myself and my family from Proverbs 12:16 that "fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult." Likewise, in Proverbs 19:11, we learn that "it is to one's glory to overlook an offense."

My dear neighbor reminds me of these verses at just the right time this morning. She has children, too!

I realize how much time we walk around in this house with hurt feelings. I think about the number of conversations I mediate between offended children. It seems like it feels good to always be offended. It makes us feel important, entitled, and right.

Always being offended and hurt can quickly become a way of life, like an identity you choose.

With sibling rivalry at an all time high these days, I smile when I hear my husband tell my daughters, "You don't have to always be offended."

It's true. It's a choice to overlook an insult or offense. It's the sign of a wise, patient heart who entrusts herself to God's care. It's the mark of love which is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs.

Oh, to be so free that we might live this way!

We can. We can because we operate in another economy and by a different law.

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How would you advise a child that's easily offended?