It has been so busy this summer that I just don’t have time to keep up on all the things, and unfortunately, the blog has slid way down on the list of things I’m trying to keep going. HOWEVER, today as I was weeding the garden and pulling up the dead snow pea plants, I…
Today’s excerpt from A Life Hid with Christ in God is from a letter Susan wrote to her sister in 1833. “…if you would be a happy Christian, if you would enjoy that ‘peace that passeth understanding,’ you must never rest satisfied until ‘every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.’ This…
As I was annotating the memoir of Susan Allibone, I came across a line from a hymn that Susan quoted in a letter to her friend. I was marking the references to verses and poems she often included in her letters, so I typed that unfamiliar line into Google and went down a lovely rabbit…
In Susan Allibone’s memoir, she often asks friends to pray for her. I was quite struck with how different her prayer requests are from my own. If someone asks me how they can pray for me, I usually ask for prayer about problems or difficulties I’m facing. Susan very rarely (maybe never?) asked for things…
Last year, I republished an memoir from 1850 about Susan Allibone, a remarkable woman from Pennsylvania who lived the last 21 years of her life in great suffering. After she died, a friend wrote the following to her family: “I have often been struck by the unselfishness of your sister. Most persons, afflicted as she…
My garden notebook was a little neglected in March and April, but I managed to get a few things in there. I am using it to keep track of weather, temps, and what I’m doing when in the weekly pages. I’m also trying to do at least one sketch per week to build my skills…
One of the things I most enjoy about Susan Allibone is that while she examined herself regularly, she never got bogged down in self-absorption or self-abhorrence because of her sin. She knew Who to take it to in trust and thankfulness. From her diary Feb. 4, 1833“To become a devoted Christian is the earnest desire…
I finally have a new entry in my reading notebook! I just finished Reconnected by Carlos Whittaker and really enjoyed it. His writing style is authentic, easy to read and even had me laughing a few times–which is odd considering it is a book about what our phones are doing to us. I’m trying to…
As my mother-in-law is dying from cancer, I’ve been reading excerpts from Susan Allibone’s memoir to her. It’s been such a precious time together and Susan has truly grown into a dear friend to both of us, a comforter to me and an encouragement to mom. Right now we’re reading through Susan’s thoughts on heaven…
Each fall and winter I try to put my garden “to bed” before the weeds get too bad. I was late getting to it this year, but it doesn’t matter that much as we don’t have to rush to beat snow. Here’s how I do it. Here’s how the east part of our garden looked…