Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Book #6-The Screwtape Letters

Clever, revealing, and all too true, while bringing to light my terribly limited vocabulary! Loved the book. It's definitely a must-read for all Christians. However, C.S. Lewis' writing style reminded me how small my brain is: how much my 3 children have fried it or, how it was never all that sharp to begin with! If I had more time to devote to such a venture, I could have kept a dictionary by my side and made a vocabulary lesson out of each letter. It seemed there were no less than 5 words per letter that old Screwtape wrote to his dear nephew, Wormwood, that I had either never heard of before in my life (like chattels) or had heard of/used to know but forgot the actual meaning of (like avarice). Despite this shortcoming, I do believe I got the gist of each letter! So I think I'll make a note of this book's ability to expand my vocabulary and perhaps try it again in the future, with the dictionary by my side!

chattel: 1 a) a movalabe item of personal property, as a piece of furniture, and automobile or a head of livestock b) any interest in real estate less than a freehold 2) a slave

Lewis writes: "The man can neither make, nor retain, one moment of time; it all comes to him by pure gift; he might as well regard the sun and moon as his chattels." I get the sentiment, just wouldn't be my choice of words.

avarice: too great a desire to have wealth; cupidity.

I can't find the sentence I saw that word in, but I still don't get its definition. Maybe I never knew what that one meant in the first place but I'm sure I've come across it before...was it Pride and Prejudice or The Diary of Ann Frank?

Well I'm onto Bringin Up Boys by Dr. Dobson. Isaac has been going through quite the rebellious phase and it has brought Keith and I to tears at times. Maybe reading this book will give me some peace of mind that he won't always be this way. Or will he?

Per the agreement between me and my dear competitor, Kelly, I will be cleaning the bathrooms and the tile floor before beginning my next book. I also have a small, 3-picture collage frame in the shape of a baseball that has been sitting on my craft table since October I think that I have intended to hang in Josiah's room if ever I fill it with pictures! Other to-do list items? There are a few small albums small enough to carry in my purse as brag books if ever I put pictures in them. I have yet to review the cd that came with my nifty new camera last May describing ALL the neat-o things it does. Lastly, there is another small frame I got for Elizabeth that could use a picture. So there you have a bit of my to-do list. One of these items must be completed as well as my cleaning before starting Bringing Up Boys.

By the way, I just want to mention that I changed a total of 7 poopy diapers yesterday alone, plus several more pee-pee diapers.

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