Donging

On Monday night, due to the -30* C (or -45* C with wind chill) temperatures, we found ourselves stranded at home. Monday nights usually start our busy week with my husband being off at a meeting, so it was a treat to have the evening to ourselves. We dug out the Scrabble board and started a game.

I got the first turn, so drew my letters, sorted them on my rack, and realized that all of them made one word: DONGING. I threw it down on the board, quite pleased with playing all seven of my letters (I think it’s the first time I’ve ever done so), but my husband looked on dubiously. Donging? Was that a word? Well, of course it was – it’s the sound that bells make. He looked it up in the dictionary and declared it to be a noun, not a verb. I said that if he could make sootings, then I could make donging.

He unhappily played a word off the O in donging and our game continued, but I managed to maintain the lead that my 74-point word had gotten me. I won the game by 25 points. True, I was having an unusually good game (like putting a J-word on a triple letter score) and he was having an average game. But much to my delight and his chagrin, that is the first (and probably only) time I’ve beaten my husband at Scrabble.

As for donging… well, it got some creative juices flowing…

All over town
The church bells were donging,
Proclaiming to all,
With jubilant gonging,
That Christ was born
That bright winter morn.

We strolled to church
While the bells kept donging,
And the pastor preached
About all our wronging
Our kin and friends
To reach unjust ends.

He told us all
With the church bells donging
To turn to Jesus
With all of our longing,
Repent, forgive,
And forever live.

Books, Books, Books

Carla tagged me on the following book quiz, so here are my answers.

1. One book that changed your life.
This one is really tough! I’ll say The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren. I read it while I was touring Australia, at a point when I was becoming rather depressed and wondering what on earth I was doing down there. Had I gone just to tramp around having fun, or was there another reason for my being there? That book helped answer some of my questions and really took my relationship with God a lot deeper.

2. One book that you have read more than once.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. The first time I read it, I didn’t really like it, but it bugged me so much that I had to read it again six months later, and then I liked it. Just before I started university, I read it again, and then I ended up studying it in an English course a couple years later. By then, I loved it.

3. One book you would want on a desert island.
Definitely my Bible.

4. Two books that made you laugh.
My brother is the only one I know who sits laughing over books, so I’m not sure here… probably Sun on the Stubble, a book by an Aussie writer, that I read while in Australia and had to send home to him because I could just picture him reading it and laughing. And also The Paperback Writer by Stephen Bly – some very hilarious scenes and great writing in that book.

5. One book that made you cry.
Well, I’ve cried over more books that I’ve laughed over, but probably Dana’s Valley by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan. I bawled over the ending.

6. One book you wish you'd written.
Wuthering Heights. Brilliant book, especially since it was the only one she wrote. If I could write like that…

7. One book you wish had never been written.
The DaVinci Code. Really good suspense, full of crap. I read it because a friend was passing it on and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I’m not quite sure why it’s gotten all the attention it has, because a basic history or religious studies course would show that most of Brown’s “facts” are made up or long-disproved heresies. Unfortunately, some people believe anything they read.

8. Two books you are currently reading.
The Five Love Languages by Gary Smalley and Seize the Night by Dean Koontz. I read a really good interview with Koontz and decided I had to try some of his books. So far, he’s pretty good – intriguing narrator, excellent prose.

9. One book you've been meaning to read.
Since I finally got to the Koontz book, I’m not sure... probably something like Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell.

My Role Model

I've written another story for the FaithWriters' competition: "My Role Model." The topic was to write something to illustrate "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Book Review: The Other Daughter

Before Christmas, I finally got around to reading one of the books on my (very long!) reading list: The Other Daughter by Miralee Ferrell. I found Miralee’s blog online and participated in her blog tour back in October (see archives for interviews with Miralee) and was very excited to finally have my own copy of this book I’d heard so much about.

The story opens with Susannah looking forward to spending the evening celebrating her birthday with her husband. Then an unexpected surprise shows up on their doorstep: a young girl claiming to be David’s daughter. Susannah is devastated to find out that David had a one-night stand while dating her that he never told her about. In her hurt, she treats Brianna with hostility and scoffs at David’s faith.

As the story unfolds, Susannah wavers between her friends' conflicting advice. While she’s been a foster mom in the past, her own hurt keeps her from seeing Brianna’s pain, and she resents the love shown to Brianna by her father-in-law and her own daughter. Family remains at the centre of the story, however, and in the end, it is family that will pull Susannah through this time.

Miralee Ferrell tells a very good story, keeping the reader hooked throughout with her vivid portrayals of Susannah’s and David’s struggles. The ups and downs of the story keep the reader wondering what will happen next and how a happy ending will ever come about. I enjoyed this novel by a new author and look forward to seeing the sequel.