by Alaina | Apr 11, 2021 | Sunday Scripture
In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Philippians 4:6 ASV
Last week was Easter Sunday. Leading up to it I was reminded of a sermon by our pastor from a little while ago; he was talking about prayer and fasting. When was the last time we prayed and fasted over something? An issue, a situation, a health scare- when was the last time we sacrificed in order to focus on bringing something before God. This is something we are repeatedly told to do, yet how many of us practice this discipline? Why do we not practice it regularly? Are we scared of the answer? I was reminded of the story of Esther in the Bible and how she prayed and fasted for God to save her people and give her strength to go before the King and ask for them to be spared. The end result turned out favorably for Esther but not so for everyone who prayed and fasted in the Bible.
It was the night before the crucifixion. Jesus took 3 of his closest disciples out to the garden of Gethsemane to pray through the night. Even being the Divine Son of God there were still things Jesus didn’t want to do, and He did not want to hang on that cross. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to know what a grisly death was so soon to befall you. When they get to the garden Jesus leaves the 3 disciples to go off to another area of the garden to pray privately. He prays so fervently that there are little beads of blood, rather than sweat, running down his face because He is so stressed. (Incidentally sweating blood is something that can occur only when the body is under such stress that the body can barely take it.)
Jesus pauses praying for a minute and goes to check on his disciples, and what does He find? They are asleep! How could they?? Talk about having friends you can count on! He wakes them up, rebukes them and then goes back to praying. They didn’t know what was coming, But Jesus did. He prays this cup pass from Him, but not His will but the Father’s will be done.
We all know the end of this story. Jesus does have to endure a grisly death so that we can live eternally with him. Jesus plead with His Father and still had to endure the cross for us. This didn’t mean that His prayers were wasted, they drew Him close to the Father when He needed it most.
This is something we all can learn from- I know I certainly can! It isn’t about the outcome with prayer and fasting. It is about being faithful to the commands we are given and that even if life doesn’t go the way we want it to,being faithful to our God who is always faithful to us- even to the point of sending his Son to suffer on a cross so that we might live eternally with Him.
END
by Alaina | Apr 7, 2021 | Grace Notes
We recently went on vacation. A warm beach vacation. In Pennsylvania where we live, the weather is starting to warm up but it is by no means warm weather season yet, therefore making it the perfect time to escape to somewhere warm and skip out on at least a few days of the teasing spring weather.
Now I love going on vacation—despite what my friends and family may say—I’m not a total weirdo! But there is a lot to do to get ready to go away: someone has to watch the dog, the cats need to be checked on, loose ends in the business need to be taken care of, on and on the list goes. I found myself thinking, is this even worth it . . . all the loose ends, the touching base with people, and the packing! Wouldn’t it be easier to just stay home? Well, yes, of course it would! But at what cost? What about the magical part of going away?
When I was little, for several years my family used to go to the Bahamas in the spring and, though I was very young, I vividly remember the unbridled excitement I felt about going away—unsullied by the adult concerns of packing and last minute details. Furthermore, since I was so little, I had no concept of time and it was always a bit of a surprise when I realized it was the night before the big trip! My mom had a cassette tape (starting to show my age a little!) and we would listen to the Beach Boys’ song, Kokomo, on the way to the airport. That was the moment when I would be bouncing in my plastic car seat with excitement! We were going to the beach! The ocean! The water! Warm weather! Pretty flowers! (The Hibiscus bushes where we stayed, I remember, were always covered in the most exotic of blooms.)
Conjuring up these memories just a few days before leaving on my adult beach vacation I had to ask myself—what happened? What happened to that feeling of unbridled excitement that I felt as a little girl? Why did I no longer want to bounce in my chair at the realization that we were going on vacation?!
The simple answer is—I grew up. I now have adult responsibilities, and have had more experiences, more vacations, and it is easy to become jaded. But why do we settle for this excuse so easily?
Life is still full of experiences as new and joyful as they were when we were young, but it is the way we approach these experiences that changes. We go on vacation expecting that something won’t be to our standards rather than thinking about how wonderful every minute of this experience will be. We compare the experience we are having with past or similar experiences to see if this one measures up—not only measures up but surpasses past experiences and if it doesn’t we want to put a red x next to it.
What if we approached new experiences and vacations from the point of view that we did as children? Excited and full of expectation that we are going to have so much fun! What if we stopped killing the magic of every experience and abandon ourselves to the pure joy of living in the moment? What if we embraced the magic, not just on special days in our lives, but every day? What if we lived everyday looking at it as the magical gift that it really is?
by Alaina | Mar 30, 2021 | Book Nook
Recently, I fell down a rabbit hole of spy books about the revolutionary war, and it was not just any spy books. They were ones about female spies and they are all based on real women! I have been in heaven reading these books! I love historical fiction—especially when it is fast paced and reads more like a thriller. I hold the view that the events and people of the past are as exciting as anything that can be imagined- perhaps even more so because these things actually happened. Imagine being an untrained spy and the enemy is boarding in your home with you. To add more suspense to the situation, the particular enemy boarding with you in your home was sent to ferret out the spies that they know must be living in the area. They are hunting you as you are spying on them! This stuff actually happened! This is what history is, and a good author will take you there and make your palms sweat. This is what the following 3 books about the female spies of the American Revolution did for me!
Before I launch into discussing these three books about some of the lady spies of the American Revolution, I want to give you some context for the setting of each of these books. A few years into the American Revolution, things were not going well for us Americans. Washington was in trouble and he knew he had to outsmart the British as there’s no way our little American army could over power them. He, therefore, set up with the help of one of his military men- Benjamin Tallmadge- a spy ring. There came to be 6 members of this spy ring known as the Culper Spy Ring, and without them the outcome of the American revolution could have had a very different outcome. Of these 6 agents, one of them was called 355 and the only name given her in the code book was “Lady,” rather than her real name. The term lady denotes a woman of high status. I won’t give away any spoilers as to the fate of this lady, 355, but rest assured she did exist and she did help turn the tide of the American revolution. There is much room for speculation as to this lady’s true identity. If you want a compelling but factual read about the Culper Spy Ring, I suggest George Washington’s Secret 6 by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yager. Now, onto the lady spies!
355: A Novel, The Women of Washington’s Spy Ring, By Kit Sergeant
This book is probably the most factual out of the three books I am discussing today. It follows 3 women who played a part in spying in the American Revolution. All 3 of the women portrayed in this book were actual people. They lived and did the things (at least to a certain extent) told in the book. While I really enjoyed this story, there were a few things I would like to mention:1) the book is called 355, yet none of the characters in this book quite fit what we know about the actual lady agent known as 355 in the Culper Spy Ring of New York. That doesn’t mean that these women didn’t do great things for the American revolution. Neither does it mean that none of them could have been agent 355. To this day, the identity of agent 355 still remains a mystery, but none of these women quite seem to fit the bill so if you are picking this book in order to learn specifically about agent 355 you may be a little disappointed. 2) The book came to a rather abrupt ending. I respect and value when an author stays as true to the real history as possible, and as real life doesn’t have neat little endings tied up in bows, neither does this story. The story in this book was good. I felt that the characters did come to life for me by sticking closely to the history that is known about these women the author did well, but I would say this is more of a portrayal of events told, well, than a story with a plot. Read it and judge for yourselves- I’d probably say this is a 4 star rating as far as the story goes, but 5 star if you are reading to learn the history!
Agent 355, by Marie Benedict
This is a short little story (currently only available via audio book) about agent 355 of the Culper Spy Ring in New York. Again, agent 355’s true identity remains a secret but there is a case to be made that the woman in this story is a possible candidate. The woman in the story was a real person, and she could have easily been agent 355. While short, this was a great telling of the events that the true agent 355 is suspected have had a hand in during the revolution. This woman moved in the circles with the social elite of New York during the British occupation of New York in the later years of the American revolution. She had a chance to be a fly on the wall while the British superiors spilled their intended battle plans right in front of her. There is also the social constraints of the day in which a single woman did not wander about the city unchaperoned— Agent 355 therefore would have then had the additional obstacle to face of how to get her information to another agent who could then relay the information to Washington without incriminating herself in the process. Agent 355 was a 5 star rating for me in every sense- compelling plot, lots of history, staying true to the event of those fateful years. My only complaint was that this book was simply, too short!
Rebel Spy, by Veronica Rossi
I couldn’t put this book down!! Out of the 3 books I’m discussing today, this one definitely had the most compelling plot that kept me on the edge of my seat through the whole book! Soo good! While this book also discusses the event that agent 355 is supposed to have had a hand in, the rest of this story is highly fictionalized. This makes for a very engaging read, but not quite as great of a history lesson. If you are reading this to learn about the events 355 played in the revolution read it, absorb the events, but be prepared for the fact that someone like this woman likely did not exist. However, if you are just looking for very compelling and entertaining historical fiction read it and enjoy every minute of it!
by Alaina | Mar 28, 2021 | Sunday Scripture
The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Matthew 21:9
I grew up in a little house on the banks of the Allgheny River, in rural Western Pennsylvania. It had a been our family camp until my parents decided to escape city life and we moved up there full time. I loved it. Still do. I spent long summer days growing up reading in the warm sun on our deck that faces the river. In the middle of summer the water level would go down and a small sand bar would appear partway out into the water, would drag my beach chair and book down to the river and sit on that sandbar and read for hours. Then I would paddle around in the water, floating on my back and think that I had to be one of the luckiest girls in the world.
Now instead of living in a valley by a river, I live on the top of a hill, in a house that faces east and west, surrounded by a few neighbors, woods and horse pastures. I look out my sliding glass door early in the morning and watch as the sun crests the far off hills and paints the sky with all the glory of the morning colors, I look at the horses slowly eating grass as the morning fog burns off and I think, surely I must be one of the luckiest girls in the world. Then in the evening I get to watch as the sun again colors the sky to the west as the sun set and I ask; how do I get to enjoy such splendor every day?
I love to travel and to see different places, to learn about the history of different cultures, but I’m always glad to walk through the doors of my home. I love being in the place that is my home. But this world isn’t my real home, not my forever home— it’s easy for me to forget this.
Today is Palm Sunday, the day we commorate Jesus’s coming through Jerusalem on a young donkey and the people crying out “Hosanna, Hosanna!” how it must have broken Jesus’s heart. Today the people loved Him and praised Him, but He knew this wouldn’t last. I can’t imagine knowing that the very people who were welcoming you would also be the ones to call for your tortuous death in just a few days. How did He manage to show grace to them? `
Perhaps it helped Jesus knew the end was in sight, He knew that in a week He would be returning to His real home— Heaven. For Him this earth was never His home, and perhaps that helped Him endure the horrible events that were to come.
This is just one small lesson of many for us to remember on days when life is so very hard— it gives us hope. But this is also a lesson for us to remember on days when life is good too. If this world can feel like, home, if the days here can be good, yes many of them even great; filled with joy, and laughter, and fun; how much better will our real home be?
by Alaina | Mar 23, 2021 | Book Nook
I always hear about “life changing books” and maybe I’m just a skeptic but, while I find many of these “life changing books” to be thought provoking and inspiring, I very rarely find it to be life changing. However, I think I might have just found such a book titled, Rest, of all things.
I came across the book, Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less, and my interest was quickly piqued by the title and am I glad that I did! The book starts by discussing the great thinkers and change makers from the late 19th century and early 20th century and their work habits. The author discusses how these people approached work and the lines they drew between work and their personal life. The author challenges that rather than working all the time in order to win a badge of honor, as it were, these people separated work and their personal life in order that they feel truly rested when they returned to work, thereby increasing their longevity and effectiveness in their field.
The chapter I found most interesting was about the people who were most prolific and well-known in their respective fields, people like Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens, were not people who worked 60-80 hours a week, but rather ones who focused on dedicated work for 20-30 hours a week. (Read more about Charles Darwin and his devoutly Christian wife in my post “Charles and Emma” here). The most influential people of the 20th century rarely broke a 40 hour work week. They didn’t work long, but they did work hard. The author stresses the importance of workflow habits to produce really focused work and, therefore, effective and prolific work. Truly focused work can be draining and because of this many of these people worked in 90 minute bursts with a short break in between, followed by another 90 minute session. Usually after a large break in the day, one last work session in the afternoon would follow. This was very interesting to me! Think about all the side hustles out there today. There is no limit to what one can do in this day and age. But when to do it? If the greatest minds of the last century (and the author did give examples of non-geniuses who followed this work model), could do all that, what could we do with a small amount of truly focused work each day, day after day?
The other chapter that really stood out to me was about deep play. Deep play is something you do that you enjoy and that you lose yourself in entirely that you lose track of time. The benefit of deep play is that it gives your mind a chance to rest, to wander a bit as you tinker, to rest, and will perhaps offer the side benefit of helping you solve a problem on which you were previously stuck.
Other chapters in the book dwelt on the importance of sleep, what walking can do for our creative problem solving skills, and how exercise can help improve longevity in careers. While none of these topics are new, I did appreciate the nuanced approach offered in the book and found it to be very thought provoking.
While some of the advice and models set forth in the book will not work for everyone—hourly workers do not have the luxury of working a 30 hour week—there are nonetheless, little nuggets to be gleaned from this book that I think just about all of us could benefit from. If you are struggling to start a side hustle, know that you don’t have to pour endless hours into it in order to make it successful. You can effect a big difference by truly dedicating a few intense hours to it each day. If you know you need to exercise but are afraid of the time it will take away from your job, read this book and see the evidence of how it could help improve your performance and expand your career life. Lastly, if you are needing permission or a gentle nudge to pick up that hobby, go for it—there will be more benefits from it than you realize.
I’m sure there are people who will not be impressed with this book; but, if you are one of the many people who feel the constant need and pressure to operate at full capacity and never take time for the things that matter to you, I urge you to give this book a go, and see what you think!
