Don't Expect This Too Often

I am going to tell you about a book I am reading. Why can you not expect this too often from me? Because I am not one of those blogs with a sidebar entitled "What's On My Nightstand." True, I do have a book list down there, but I flip back and forth between those books so much that the same ones just might stay there all year.

The thing is, I grew up reading in bed at night. At my childhood home, it was imperative that everyone have a lamp on their nightstand. My parents, sisters, all of us read something before we went to sleep. I continued that in college and thankfully, my roommate read her Bible every night so the light didn't bother her.

And then I got married. S didn't seem to mind at first. Then, while I was reading, I would hear a little noise. It sounded kind of like "phew." What was that? I looked over at my dear husband, whose eyes were closed, and saw that he was pretending to "blow out" the light on my nightstand.

He is just so funny, ya'll. Needless to say, he wanted me to read in the living room but everyone who reads in bed knows that is just no good. The point is to read until you are sleepy and then just roll over and go to sleep. (After blowing out the light!) And, as I have pointed out to him several times, it's dark if you close your eyes. He just doesn't see things my way.

So, it's taking me a while to get through this book. But not just because of not reading at night. It's because I keep having to re-read sections. My mind cannot absorb it all.

The book is Homemaking by J.R. Miller. (There's the pic right off of Amazon for you.) If you have read it, then you already know. If you have not, this post is for you. This book would be a great read for any Christian: husband, wife, older child, etc. It isn't about being a homemaker as we think of today. The title is decieving.

This book is about what a Christian home is all about. There is a chapter for wives, a chapter for husbands, one for children and lots of other topics about the workings of a Christian family. Or at least how the author believes God intended it to be. I have to say I have seen nothing to disagree with yet. In fact, I have spent most of the time thinking two things:

1. Wow. I never even thought about that before! and
2. Man! I wish I read this before I got married!!!!!

My daughters will read through this book with me before they are married, that much I know. I am so in awe of some of the sections, and the writing is so beautiful and rich (I have never read writing like this) that I am reading and re-reading sections over and over to really let my mind absorb what is being said. Every single thing I have read has been completely relevant to my life today. Why is that incredible? Because the book was first published in 1882. How can this book be about MY life if it was written 111 years before I got married?

Because God is unchanging, folks. So don't let the old picture on the cover fool you. I also thought, "Is this going to be one of those books that encourages us all to go back to Victorian times?" It's not. Don't worry. It's not. It will encourage you to go back to God's word and to re-think your own marriage and family and home life.

If that interests you, I strongly encourage you to read this book. There you go...the one and only book review this blog has ever done.