I've Been Tagged!

Thanks to the wonders of wireless networks and laptop computers, I am able to continue a life of ease from my bedroom while James and I engage in a baby lovefest. (Isn't it amazing the way you can spend hours just gazing at a newborn and doing nothing else?)

Q. Most books I have ever owned:

Goodness! It would have to be in the thousands. I have stacks of boxes and rubbermaid containers in the attic that contain my treasures, not to mention the bookcases that line one wall and which are filled with books I have collected over the years for homeschooling purposes. I do go through them on a fairly regular basis (like every couple of years) and cull out the ones that are no longer necessary, but the collection still grows. Books are a resource and an investment in my view. I also own a good thousand books of Puritan and Reformed classics on CD which I got from Still Waters Revival Books . It is a much more compact way of collecting books and requires less storage space, but you do need a computer to read them unless you print them out.

Some of the books represent stages of study I have been through. I have several boxes of books that represent my "doula and possible midwife stage" when I was actively doing labor support for women and learning to be a midwife's second. I even contemplated taking up midwifery as a career for a brief time and own a number of midwifery textbooks, books on breastfeeding, doula work, postpartum, etc. However, it is a very taxing calling when you are raising a family, and after seeing the number of marriage casualties and bitter children that resulted from midwives who didn't know when to balance their calling as wives and mothers with that of midwifery, I decided that I didn't want that much stress in my life.

Probably my biggest collection right now centers on natural healing methods because of the area of work I finally dedicated myself to.

Q. The last book I bought:

Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About by Kevin Trudeau. This book lays out how the big money interests in modern western medicine in collusion with the US federal government and the scientists they fund help to keep natural, non-toxic alternative forms of treatment out of the hands of consumers by making them illegal, or by discrediting them through poorly designed studies and news releases. Think about it -- do doctors and pharmaceutical companies make money when you are well? Cancer and AIDS support huge numbers of people in what has become an industry in its own right.

Q. The last book I read:

A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh and Dorothy Sayers

Q. Five books that mean the most to me:

I guess another way of answering this is to say which five books would I want with me on a desert island? With one notable exception, I would say this is the most difficult question to answer. So many books have been of great help to me. Some have opened up my mind to new concepts that helped me and others. So many entertained me and gave me needed rest in times of stress. So many provided answers to things I needed to know.

The Bible -- In dire straits or good straits, you always need encouragement, strength, wisdom and connection to the source of your life.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery -- this is the quintessential book for me that exemplifies everything that was ever wonderful about Canada and the innocence of girlhood. I read this book many times over the years when I was feeling jaded about life and it never failed to restore me.

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis -- He may not have been reformed, but he was one of the best communicators of Christian thought that has ever written, imho.

The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink -- what a Sunday School teacher started in my conversion from Arminianism to the more Biblical Calvinism, Pink completed. This book turned my whole view of Scripture and God on its head and made reading the Bible a whole new adventure. Knowledge of the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty also forms the foundation of my life, my peace, my salvation, and my sanctification.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible -- ok, there are 6 volumes but this is what I use on a daily basis for my private and family worship. Lots of profound thoughts and life-changing comments from a godly man.