Home in Vermont--February 17

Now back in Vermont after around 5,000 miles, 15 states and 10 different beds, Ian and I have returned to unpacking boxes and squeezing furniture, clothes and dishes into our charming but tiny house. Every day I pray for a miracle of space and organization!
We returned to a beautiful snowy and blue sky Vermont. Our house is cozy and warm; even the mice found it so. Four brave ones met their match in one evening thanks to a new kind of trap that works neatly with a dab of peanut butter. Ian adeptly disposed of our unwelcome guests. Sorry, no pics of this slaughter!

On the road I read three books I can highly recommend. First was Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs--a wonderful slice of life and relationships set in upper New York state. You will fall in love with the characters and wish that you could sit down and have dinner with them.

Next I picked up the current Christian must read, The Shack by William Paul Young because my Nashville friend Kathy Edwards suggested it. It helps the reader picture and get to know the Trinity in a whole new way. I found myself thinking about it when I went to church, talked with people about God and as I went about my day. It feeds your soul. Why do people fight God? Sometimes I get tired of being patient with church member's anger at God and constant challenges to what seems so obvious to me--his love for us.

The next book was passed on to me by Mary and Steve Smith in Houston. We swapped books; they got The Shack and I got Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It's an autobiography of two men who alternate telling their life stories. Ron is a white man and Denver a black man, and they begin from different backgrounds, but end up in a powerful friendship forged at a mission for the homeless in Fort Worth. Ron's wife Deborah fosters this friendship and prayerfully follows what God is directing her to do. Quite a witness. Some parts are humorous, and other parts make you weep. Read it!

For my devotional time, I am reading Christ, My Companion by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre. My friend Mary Hays in Pittsburgh gave it to me. It takes the prayer of St. Patrick (Christ be with me, Christ within me, etc.) and describes each line of the prayer/hymn. She brings in current literature, poets, and even Star Wars to make her points. Her writing is poetic in itself and beautifully crafted. Each chapter is a jewel and an encouragement. A good Lenten book.

Now I need a next read...