DOODLER FUN IN THE SPRING!
April 26, 2015
Spring has sprung and my eyes are hurting from all the bright green everywhere! This happens to me every spring. Does anyone else experience this? I’m not complaining. I enjoy all the greenery, but after the grayness of a long winter, my eyes have trouble for a few weeks adjusting to the brightness of spring green all around. It’s like going from a dark movie theater to noon on a day in July. So to celebrate this glorious seasonal change, let’s have some fun!
I’m making this up as I go, since I have absolutely nothing profound or even noteworthy to talk about this month, which reminds me of how much I admire those bloggers out there that come up with something every week or even every day. It makes me tired just thinking about that! Maybe someday I will have a brain explosion that opens new vistas up in there and I too will have endless ideas to explore. I wouldn’t count on that, however, dear Doodleheads. I may be past the age for brain explosions.
So what would be FUN to talk about? Books come to my mind. How about yours? Here are a few I would recommend from my recent readings:
**Gilead** by Marilynn Robinson. A Novel. An old preacher writes a journal for his young son to read after his death. An easy read, but one full of wisdom and spiritual insight. This will go down as one of my all-time favorites.
**All In** by Mark Batterson. Spiritual Growth. This is the same guy who wrote **The Circle Maker**, which is the best book on prayer I’ve ever read. This one discusses what it means to go “all in” for Jesus, following the call on your life, going with Plan A rather than settling for Plan B. Really convicting and inspiring for anyone who wants to be the person God created him/her to be.
**Flight Behavior** by Barbara Kingsolver. A Novel. I’ve enjoyed every one of Kingsolver’s books that I’ve read and this is the latest. She weaves an intriguing plot about Monarch butterflies nesting in Appalachia because of climate change and how that affects the lives of her well-drawn characters.
**A Spool of Blue Thread** by Anne Tyler. A Novel. This latest by one of my favorite contemporary authors is the one I’m currently reading. Her quirky characters always remind me of people I know, making me chuckle and sometimes cry at the same time.
**The Man Without Qualities** (Volume I) by Robert Musil. A Novel. My latest “great” read. Shew! A big book full of the philosophical musings of, and discussions between, some odd characters in Austria just before WWI. Not one of my favorite “great” reads, but not bad, and quite captivating in parts. I will not be looking for Volume II, however. I think 700 pages is enough to allow me to check this one off my list.
What else is fun? Grandchildren, duh! I spent a happy day with Charlie and Poppy this last Wednesday. Charlie and I took a walk. He was desperate to visit the Baptist church a couple of blocks down the road, but walking all the way around the building was not enough. We had to go inside. We met a young man who may have been a pastor or music leader. I don’t know, but he was nice and he told Charlie he could look around as much as he wanted. So we went into the sanctuary to see the organ and stained glass windows and pretty flowers. Charlie wanted to go upstairs and wander around, but I told him we didn’t need to do that. Thankfully, he wasn’t too disappointed. On our way back home we saw a garbage truck and THREE school buses, so that thrilled our souls from the tippy top of our heads down to our toenails! He makes the whole world seem so exciting. I love that about children! Poppy is smiling a lot and chortling when bounced and jostled, especially when Mommy is doing it. I love the way she follows Amy around with her eyes. She knows her mama!
What else? This isn’t exactly fun, but it’s certainly exciting. Our youngest lovely daughter will be graduating from college in two weeks and she already has a full-time job awaiting her where she will be able to use her graphic art skills!! And it’s in Lexington! Oh, the joy that floods my heart!
God is certainly good all the time, whether my PLANS match up with His or not, because His plans always lead to Hope and a Future.
Tra la la la la! That’s it for this month. Hope your eyes adjust to the spring green just enough that you don’t have to squint, but not so much that you become immune to how glorious it is!
