Reading and Remembering with The Wingfeather Saga {April Edition}

Welcome to April’s edition of “Reading and Remembering.” (Formerly called “Quotes from our Current Reading Material.”) This month I included a book Ruthie’s been enjoying, a book I’m reading out loud to Samuel, my current reading material, and our Family Worship hymn and Bible verse (under “Remembering,” as we’re committing them to memory). I highlighted The Wingfeather Saga in this edition’s title–I’m through book one and onto book two, and I can’t put them down. This is my second time reading the series and they’re just as wonderful as I remember. You can buy them here, at the Rabbit Room store.

Reading

We’re going on a bear hunt.
We’re going to catch a big one.
What a beautiful day!
We’re not scared.

Oh-oh! Grass!
Long, wavy grass.
We can’t go over it.
We can’t go under it.
Oh, no! We’ve got to go through it.

Swishy swashy!
Swishy swashy!
Swishy swashy!

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury (Ruthie’s pick)

***

“If I am defeated tomorrow, I want to die as I have lived–a shepherd boy, with the sun on my forehead and the breeze in my hair. But if I overcome, everyone must know that the One God, and not Aidan Errolson, is the Champion of Corenwald. Neither arms nor armor can deliver Corenwald–only the arm of the One God.”

The king’s eyes grew wet with tears as he listened to the shepherd boy. He remembered a time when he, too, lived to serve the true Champion of Corenwald. “Your wish is granted,” said the king softly. “Live or die the way you see fit.” He put his hand on Aidan’s head, the way Aidan’s father had done so often, then walked silently from the armory, lost in a memory of Corenwald of old.

The Bark of the Bog Owl by Jonathan Rogers (Samuel’s pick)

(I wrote a book review of The Bark of the Bog Owl for my pastor’s website. You can find my review here.)

***

Janner and Tink’s excitement had evaporated.

Boys sometimes forget that before one leaves on an adventure, if at all possible, one must pack. There are situations in which packing is secondary–such as escaping a burning building–but if there is time to plan and arrange and discuss before leaving then it is a fact of life that grownups will do so. When children say it’s time to leave, they mean, “It’s time to leave.” When grownups say so, they really mean, “It’s time to begin thinking about leaving sometime in the near future.”

North! Or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson

(This quote also applies to Midwesterners leaving a get-together.)

***

He stretches out the north over the void
and hangs the earth on nothing.
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
and the cloud is not split open under them.
He covers the face of the full moon
and spreads over it his cloud.
He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters
at the boundary between light and darkness.
The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astounded at his rebuke.
By his power he stilled the sea;
by his understanding he shattered Rahab.
By his wind the heavens were made fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways,
and how small a whisper do we hear of him!
But the thunder of his power who can understand?
Job 26:7-14

***

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
2 Corinthians 2:14-17

***

What we see in the life of Jesus–his teachings, actions, and attitudes–is what true humanity is supposed to look like. It is what the kingdom of God looks like. To the degree that such is lacking in our cities, workplaces, and families, to that degree the reign of Christ still needs to have its full effect. Moreover, if the church is the body of Christ, then these things [fully incorporating women into church life and ministry] must be included in the marks of a healthy church. To the degree that such is lacking in local church culture, perhaps then, so is Christ.

Worthy by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Eric Schumacher

Remembering

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.”
Matthew 28:5-6b

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Foll’wing our exalted Head; Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise; Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” Charles Wesley, 1739