Two films, two music videos, books I'm reading, BookBub, and more
A C.S Lewis film, "Spare Parts," Sounds Like Reign music videos, books I'm reading, BookBub, and blog post projects in the works
Hello everyone,
Is spring springing where you are? I hope so. It certainly is here and I'm loving it!
I have a lot to share with you in this newsletter, but first, an update on my health situation:
In my I Speak Jesus newsletter on Feb 3rd, I explained that I had had a rather intense episode of vertigo. What I didn't mention was that the stress of the situation completely "undid" the progress I had been experiencing with my sleep.
I'll have more to say about what the Lord has been teaching me in all of this in a future blog post. But for now, I'm happy to report that all that remains of the vertigo are an occasional mild "swimmy head," and my sleep is slowly improving, too. If you have been praying for me, thank you SO much. I definitely needed it!
I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings. Psalm 40:1-2 AMPC
What We’ve Been Watching
David and I don't watch much tv (other than the news, which I'd be happy to reduce if it were up to me — cough, cough). So when we find something we both enjoy, it's a real treat. And recently, we found TWO films on Pure Flix that were delectably delightful!
The first was A Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C. S. Lewis. We loved the creative way the producers chose to tell the story. It was written and directed by Norman Stone, the same guy who wrote Shadowlands, another movie about C. S. Lewis. But unlike the older film (which we found slow and boring), THIS film grabbed our attention from the first scene and held it to the very end. Go to cslewismovie.com to watch the trailer, read a synopsis of the film, and find other ways to watch it.
The second was Spare Parts, a 2015 film based on a true story of a substitute teacher (played by George Lopez) and four illegal immigrant high school students from Arizona who pooled their ingenious resourcefulness to build an underwater robotics device, and against all odds, win a prestigious robotics competition at a southern California university (USCB). Jamie Lee Curtis was in her element as the feisty principal, and Marisa Tomei added her trademark Tomei-forte as Gwen Kolinsky, the teacher who just happened to know PBASIC, the programming language used by the robot's intelligence module.
I expect that one day in the future, we'll probably watch both of these again — they were THAT good!
What We’ve Been Listening To
A few months ago, when David was searching for a song he had learned at his guitar group, he found the Kirkland Family. And wow, what a find! They currently have over 500,000 subscribers on their Sounds Like Reign YouTube music channel, and there's a good reason why. As their tagline states: Inspirational songs for weary pilgrims on planet earth.
If you're looking for something outside the popular praise music genre that lifts up the name of Jesus, then I hope you check them out. The following song is one of my favorites:
And this is the song David was searching for that day:
Books I’ve Been Reading
Rather than list all the books I have on the go at the moment, I decided to take a screenshot of what I have downloaded to Kindle on my iPad:
Am I REALLY reading all these books all at once? Not exactly. There are more besides these, but I decided one screenshot was enough for now. 😊
I have been alternating between books ever since I learned about Thomas Jefferson's reading regimen:1
From sunrise until 8 AM - study agriculture, chemistry, anatomy, zoology, botany, ethics, and religion.
From 8 AM to noon - read law.
From noon to 1 PM - read politics.
In the afternoons - read history (ancient, modern, English, and American).
From dark to bedtime - read "poetry, drama, and literary criticism, with Shakespeare’s plays and Demosthenes’ and Cicero’s speeches required reading."
If only I had 15 hours a day to read. {sigh}
BookBub
As of this writing, we have over 2000 books on Kindle, probably 200 print books sitting in bookcases, and another 3000 resources in my Logos Bible Software.
How on earth have we amassed such a collection? One way is through BookBub.
What is BookBub, you ask? It's "a free service that helps you discover books you'll love through unbeatable deals, handpicked recommendations, and updates from your favorite authors." (Copied from their overview page.)
I LOVE bargains! So I joined BookBub, selected the category of books I was interested in, noted a few of my favorite authors, and the deals started pouring in via their daily emails.
Care to guess how much I paid for the 12 books shown above? Would you believe less than $30? Most books I buy cost $2.15 ($1.99 plus tax). They range in price from free to $3.99. And most are only for a limited time.
So if you read ebooks and, like me, you love bargains, then do yourself a favor and sign up with BookBub!
And remember: One can NEVER have too many books! 🤗
Blog Post Projects in the Works
It's probably no surprise that, just like I alternate between reading books, I also have multiple writing projects in the works.
Here are a few examples:
Prayers I Pray (Almost) Every Day - This will be a series of blog posts that will allow me to dig into sub-topics (e.g. the will of God, worship, grace, etc.). I've already written much of the Intro and two segments.
On Sleep, Stress, and Rest - I know David said he was interested in writing about sleep, but I've learned some things recently that are making a BIG difference. So we've agreed that I should be the one to write about it.
Bible translations - which is better, word-for-word or thought-for-thought? What about paraphrases? Why do publishers keep coming out with updates and newer translations? I have lots of ideas percolating about this topic. Oh, and just FYI: I have over 50 English translations of the Bible.
Healing is almost always a process- so what do you do in the meantime? Are there things you can do to speed up the process? Like with sleep, I've learned a few things recently about this and am eager to share them with you.
There are others, but these are at the top of the pile.
So what do you think? Did anything catch your eye from the above list? If so, you can leave a comment or reply to this email to let me know. But I have another idea: Let’s do a poll! I’ve not done one, so let’s try it.
I have it set for a week. And I’m assuming that once I publish this, it’ll become clear how it works. (Nothing like practicing in public, right? 😊)
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading this Hillam Happenings newsletter. Have a great weekend!
Sharon
Special Notice: We do not use affiliate links. The links and footnotes we provide are for copyright reasons, for citing references, and for your convenience only.Henry Moscow, Thomas Jefferson (Boston: New Word City, LLC, 2015), chap. 1, Kindle.
So glad your sleep is improving again! Thank you for this upbeat and informative post. I always consider your book choices to add to my list. Please speak on prayer soon!