What I'm Reading

It seems like a good time for a roundup of what I'm currently reading so....

Out of the Blues by Wayne Mack
This book deals with depression and loneliness from a biblical perspective, and I think it's an excellent counseling book. I actually just finished it, so I guess I'm not currently reading it.

The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life by Charles Spurgeon (compiled and edited by Robert Hall)
I've been reading this for a few months. I read a bit, and then get distracted by other books. I only have 1 1/2 chapters left to read; I will finish it by the end of the year!

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
Because: Brandon Sanderson. Need I say more?

Because He Loves Me by Elise Fitzpatrick
I've read this before, but it's been a few years We're using it for my women's counseling class this year. Since I'm the teacher, I thought I should at least re-read the book.

The Blessing of Humility by Jerry Bridges
It's Jerry Bridges. Of course I'm reading it. This is my "while I'm eating" book right now.

Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado
I picked this one up because of the title. I didn't pay much attention to the author's name, so when she talks about her sister Sandy, and then mentions that Sandy is a movie start, it took me a while to figure out that she means Sandra Bullock. And I actually finished it last night.

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan
Let's be honest: I'm not really reading this. I started it, but it goes on and on and it's very, very small print. I was reading it for "a book by a puritan", but I think I'll trade it in for Pilgrim's Progress. One day I'll finish this one, but it may take a very, very long time.

Christmas Concert

It's almost Christmas! At the very least, it's Christmas concert time again, and I'm spending my evenings listening to Christmas carols and trying to decide what to put into the concert, and where, and how. I want O Come, O Come Emmanuel, but I don't have anyone to play it this year, so I may have to live without it. I'm still looking for another song for the grades 2-4 contingent, so I can move Hark the Herald Angels Sing over to the little guys.

Also: my "multitude of the heavenly host" is currently sitting at 1 angel. Of course, I only have 2 shepherds, so it sort of evens itself out. I may have to recruit from the grade 4 kids to fill in the gaps, but that leaves me with fewer children singing, unless I can have them sing before the angels and shepherds need to be on stage, in which case it all works. At the same time, I need to schedule the child playing Joseph to do his musical number (with his siblings) at the beginning of everything, even though it fits best when the shepherds come on, because I cannot have Joseph get up, leave the manger, and grab a violin!

And....I already have parents asking if they can miss rehearsals, and they haven't even started yet!

Anyway, since I don't think I can have it in the concert, here are 2 of my favourite versions:

Remembrance Day

A Mix of Thoughts

I have too many passwords. It's amazing that I can log into anything on the first try. I often can't, and then I get frustrated with myself, the computer, and the world in general.

In Sunday School, I told the students that Tyndale and Wycliffe were "freakishly awesome", and then told them that I need a new adjective to replace "freakishly". They suggested awesome, amazing, and totally. I think that I won't try "awesomely awesome", but I might go with "totally awesome" and then try to slip in "totally radical" to see if they react.

Last week I was trying to explain about idioms and figures of speech to a student. The sentence was, "They were like three blind mice trying to find their way through a maze". She could not get what it meant, and thought that maybe they were blind or something. I finally got her to understand the concept, and then started telling her that she's just a blind mouse trying to find her way through a maze. She was not amused.

I have a pen in my office that was given to me by my MLA one day. He and the MLA from the next riding were at the bus terminal one day (I think the bus terminal is in the other MLA's riding, but it's close to the boarder between ridings and many of us come from the south and the next riding over). They had coffee, Timbits, and free pens. I almost feel bad about not voting for him.

We had our first Christmas Concert meeting yesterday. I guess it's Christmas time now. We start practices in 2 weeks. That gives me enough time to put the concert together (it's pretty much the same thing every year, with some changes to songs), and still gives us 4 Sundays to practice, plus the Saturday big rehearsal. This year the choir is joining us; they'll do a call to worship, and opening song, and then Silent Night at the end. They plan to sing the first verse in German, and then the congregation will join in with the rest (in English). I plan to tell my students, when they complain about how hard it is to learn the songs, that at least they get to do it all in English.

It's oddly warm for November. It's more like the beginning of October. It's nice.