A Meme for Me

(Did you ever notice how narcissistic the word meme looks?)

I’ve been tagged by Carla (who seems to read just about the same number of novels that I do) for a book character meme. I read lots of novels as a child and on into young adulthood. Then I had to quit, because once I started a novel, I felt compelled to read it until I finished it. Straight through, that is, without breaks. You can imagine what kind of a mother I was while I was reading a novel. 

True story: One day I found myself sitting on a rocker that I’d pulled into the kitchen next to the fridge so I could reach over without looking up from my page, open the fridge door, grab a snack, and toss it at whatever child needed my attention. That’s when I realised that I needed to give up novels while my children were young. Once I got out of the habit of reading novels, I just never went back to them.

I did read a lot of novels to my children, so if my choices of book characters seem childish to you, now you know why. 

Name three characters (from books)…

1). You wish were real so you could meet them.

• The mom in Little House on the Prairie. Okay, she was real, but I would like to meet her, so I could ask her how she did what she did.
  
• Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia.  Who wouldn’t want to meet him?
  
• Eeyore.  I’d like to see if I could get him to crack a smile.
  

2). You would like to be.

• When I was a girl, I wanted to be just like Caddie Woodlawn.
  
• Tigger.  It’d be fun to enjoy life moment to moment like Tigger does, although I’m not sure I’d want to be Tigger permanently.
• I’m coming up short here. If I think of anyone else, I’ll come back.
  

3). Who scare you.

• Injun Joe from Tom Sawyer.
• When I was a little girl I was terrified of the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz. The movie, not the book. I couldn’t bear to read the book if she’s in it, and I’ve never watched the movie again and never will.
• I’m going to have to come back later for this one, too.

If you want to be tagged, let me know. I’m coming in on the tail end of this meme, so I’m not sure who’s done it already and who hasn’t.

Book Review: The Hidden Smile of God

The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd by John Piper.

This is the second book in the series The Swans are Not Silent. Like the other books in the series, it contains three of Piper’s biographical sermons on historical Christians. In this case, those featured are John Bunyan, William Cowper and David Brainerd, three men who endured great suffering during their lives, and whose suffering bore fruit, both in their own times and onward through history to the present day. Piper’s purpose in telling the stories of these men’s lives and expounding on them is so that the story of

how they suffered, how they endured, and how it bore fruit … will inspire in [the reader] that same radical Christian life, God-centered worship, and Christ-exalting mission.

The first section is on the life of John Bunyan, best known for writing The Pilgrim’s Progress, one of the best-selling books of all times, although he wrote at least fifty-seven other books. Bunyan was a “brasyer” or tinker who became a nonconformist  preacher. He suffered in many ways throughout his life, including spending 12 years in jail away from his wife and children for refusing to stop preaching. Bunyan’s imprisonment drove him to God’s word. Piper quotes him:

Click to read more ...

A Common Thread

Someone tagged me for the book character meme yesterday or the day before.  I made a mental note of it and then forgot where I saw it. If you read this and you are the one who tagged me, will you remind me?  Pretty please?

And yes, you are right to conclude from these last two posts that I might be just a tad absentminded.  

Update on Friday, April 27, 2007 at 11:29AM by rebecca

Never mind, I found it.  It was Carla.  Now I just have to remember to answer the questions.