Posts by Well-Read Mom
Ants in the Honey Cabinet
Ants in the Honey Cabinet Written by Emily Burns Russell My mom keeps bees. The delight and wonder this sparks in her life has been a joy for our family to share, along with gallons of honey we’ve helped her extract every June since she started this hobby. In our corner kitchen cabinet, we keep…
Read MoreA Well-Placed Nine-Top
A tale of a well-placed nine-top, unexpected fruit, and the true womanhood of Well-Read Mom that is good, beautiful, and true.
Read MoreSeeking Beyond the Suffering
Seeking. I am always seeking. Seeking a bargain, a better way to do a chore, or getting two errands done simultaneously. But this year has been different. Life events have pushed me deeper toward inner strength, perseverance, and, ultimately, toward God more fully present in me.
Read MoreSeeking the Hidden Holiness of Motherhood
In my time as a mother, I have sought long and hard for holiness. I want to feel holy. I want life to look holy. I have this false impression that my life before marriage was all those things, simply because I had the time and freedom to pray in peace, to attend mass daily, and to have a job that involved active ministry. Maybe it was holy, but holier than life as a wife and mother? More holy than a life of routine self-sacrifice, self-denial, and discomfort?
Read MoreErudite
I first learned about Well-Read Mom after our family moved from Florida to Georgia, and I was looking to meet new people. A dear friend invited me to join her evening group. The structure and rigor of the book selections fed my love for literature. Unfortunately, evening book club meetings were not sustainable for our growing family. I tried reading on my own, but it wasn’t the same. If I wanted a book club that fit my family’s needs, I would need to start my own chapter.
Read MoreFinding Charis
I began my journey in the Year of the Seeker by responding to a forwarded email from a friend inviting me to join a local Well-Read Mom group. It was July, and my husband and I were coordinating the fall schedules of our seven children. We had also just found out we were expecting. Though I have been an avid reader since childhood, I have never participated in a book club. I thought reading some new books and chatting with like-minded women might be a good opportunity.
Read MoreRevisiting Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Unlike Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a solo trip to the beach is neither possible nor desirable for me. However, I have thought about this book several times throughout the past year, especially when I needed retreat and refreshment.
Read MoreA Mercy Observed
I first read A Severe Mercy in college and fell in love with it immediately. I was a lifelong C.S. Lewis fan and I was more than willing to read a book with C.S. Lewis’s letters!
Read MoreTime Out for Friendship
Noah took time out for friendship. It is my hope in Well-Read Mom that we take time out for friendship too. Why friendship? When you really think about it, almost everything that is good, true, and beautiful in life is better through friendship.
Read MoreFather Wounds in True Grit
Why does Mattie pick Rootser? As I read True Grit, I was struck by the deep Father Wound of Mattie Ross. This realization caused me to reflect on this question. Mattie is given the names of several different marshals, and Rooster is not even listed as the best.
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