I don’t believe that my husband would ever sit down and read an entire novel, but he always seems interested in what I am reading. He likes to flip through whatever novel I am currently reading just to see what is keeping my attention. It seems if there is a part of the book that is questionable or when read out of context seems inappropriate that is the part he will read. There are so many lines or paragraphs in a book that could spark the kind of discussion I would enjoy and not cause me to have to defend the book. So, if I was able to pick which part of the book he would flip to this would be it:
“If she was to become a wife and mother, she must learn the harsh lessons life can teach, although the lessons of war taught to James Whitmore seemed too harsh to bear repeating. Anyone who had studied history, however, must know that mankind would make war until judgment day, for one cause or another. And soldier after kinsman would fall.”
The Wedding Dress by Virginia Ellis
“‘All I’m saying is that once we head down the wrong track, we open ourselves up to all kinds of mischief. You’re putting yourself between this child and his mother, and that’s just wrong. We have to do everything we can to keep families together, not break them up, don’t you agree?’
Well, no I didn’t. I’d heard of too many families that needed to be broken up – cruel fathers, drunken mothers, drugged boyfriends, battered wives, and so on and so on. But I’d heard Pastor Ledbetter on all those subjects form the pulpit and, according to him, prayer and a good dose of family values would cure them all. To my way of thinking, about the only thing that would cure them was a baseball bat.”
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross
“It’s no secret that teens try to wear down their parents. God made parents to be the guard rails on the twisting road of life. You need to be strong enough for kids to crash into over and over and over again. You must stay strong, so that your teens will learn to stay on track. Guard rails get dinged up. But if they work well, they preserve the young lives that run up against them.”
“While ‘I don’t know’ can be a teen’s intentional means to shut out or provoke a grown-up, it can also be the truth. Teens often don’t know what they think or feel, because on an almost daily basis, they are becoming a different person.”
“To a teen, being understood is everything.”
Boundaries with Teens by Dr. John Townsend
“Death is just a bi-line in the newspaper until it visits you personally and suffocates your empty heart.”
A Train to Potevka by Mike Ramsdell
My son had been asking me for weeks to make some white chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies. I really didn’t feel like baking or eating baked goods after the holidays, so I kept making up excuses. Finally, the guilt got to me, and I baked. I got creative and tried something new. I found a recipe on-line and made whole grain adjustments. My son loved them and ate almost a dozen the first night. My husband thought they were a little too sweet but seemed to eat his fair share anyway.
