Top Reads of 2014

It's that time again.  I evaluate what I've read this year.  My goal was to read 10,000 pages this year--a goal I just fell short of in 2013, and to read more non-fiction than biographies and fiction.  So...

I finished 41 books in 2014.
     * 7 Fiction
     * 19 Non-fiction
     * 15 Biographies

I read a total of.....10,601 pages.  Goal Accomplished.

Top Reads of 2014:

1. The Blessed and Boundless God by George Swinnock
2. Jesus on Every Page by David Murray
3. Gulag--A History by Anne Applebaum
4. Broken Minds by Steve & Robyn Bloem
5. The Hiding Place by Corrie TenBoom
6. Martyn Lloyd Jones: The First Forty Years: Iain Murray
7. Into Their Hands at any Cost by Harvey Yoder
8. The Godly Man's Picture by Thomas Watson
9. The Secret Lives of Saints by Daphne Braham
10. Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung

Looks like such a tiny, simple list as I briefly glance at it.  Many hours were spent in these 10 books.  These 10 books made an impact on me in 2014.  I hope you have the chance to read a few.

My reading challenge for 2015:
     *12,000 pages
     *All 3 books of William Gurnall's Christian in Complete Armour
     *Iain Murray's Martyn Lloyd Jones: The Fight of Faith
     * William Perkins Volume 1

King of the Mountain

Found my daughter loudly singing, "I'm king of the Mountain, I'm king of the mountain!" Cute, but unfortunately, that mountain is my laundry pile and worse yet, that's only half of the laundry I have to tackle today.

 

2014 Christmas Tree

When our Christmas tree gets set up early in December it looks like a pretty generic Christmas tree.  It has some lights, a star and a few ornaments.  By mid December the tree has officially become customized--Gordon style.  This year we have a massive snowman perched in the bottom, a star flag wedged in the middle, 2 oversized giant Christmas balls hanging in the tree, and the latest addition is a few Little People who seem to be nesting.  This is what I love about our little tradition.  The tree is not a show piece in my house.  Rather it's a family tree.  

 

Working For the Prize

 

Oh Seth, you saw a lego tractor set in the store that you completely fell in love with...and your mom was a total sucker and bought it.  However, instead of giving it to you right away, she got a piece of paper and drew 10 boxes on it.  She said you had to earn this tractor set.  Every time you went in the barn and did a full morning's work, another box got crossed off.  Now, because you go to school part time and you're not allowed to help on Sunday mornings, it took about a month until you were able to cross off that last box.  But you were diligent and you never lost sight of the prize.  You never got discouraged.  Son, enjoy your lego.  You totally deserve it!

 

 

Fun With Courtney

Courtney is 3.  She told me she wanted to write her name.  So we both sat down at the table, each with their own paper in front of them.  Truthfully, I wasn't expecting too much.  I showed her how to write a C and then she proceeded to write her own C on her own paper.  We proceeded this way and the end product looked like this:

 

Yeah.  I was really impressed too!

 

 

Later Courtney and I went to the grocery store to get a few things.  In true fashion she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of our shopping trip.  (She doesn't really have to go...she usually just wants to see the bathroom).  So of course we see these pictures on the bathroom door.

 

"Mommy, this bathroom is for girls with clothes, and this bathroom is for the naked girls."