No fooling…it is actually April 2021…how did that happen?

I hope our neighbors didn’t mind me snapping a picture of their daffodils.

Do you love daffodils? I am envious of people who can grow clusters of them whilst we are spraying foul smelling concoctions on our little patches of tulips to keep the bunnies at bay.

Seriously, we have to be some kind of designated sanctuary amongst the animals. They are immune to my “no critters please vibe”…

case in point…

This little momma waddled from the front of the house, where she is making a nest in the most impossibly safe place by the edge of our driveway, to partake of the food the squirrel and grackles kicked out of the bird feeder this morning.

It’s like I’m Dr. Doolittle. Only when I talk to the animals, they don’t listen because I keep asking them to behave and they just don’t.

But in other news…

It is the beginning of a new month so time for us to recap March and forecast April.

Let’s see how we did:

In March I shared my reading stack to work through.

It is not because I don’t care, but I have only managed to move forward in a few and so I will report on those:

The Hobbit is wonderful. I had forgotten how much my mind can draw grand pictures when a great author gives me the details to hang this crazy imagination onto. But the blessing and curse of such a mind is that I must limit my reading. Otherwise I find my reality blending with the fantasy and hence I have learned that fiction is a treat taken in small doses for one like me.

I read a few pages often enough to keep the story alive in my mind when I return, but not enough that I am consumed by the weaving of the tale and lose interest in the actual world in which I live and function.

If you are someone like me, use fiction sparingly and only for brief bouts of a refreshing. You know who you are <3

I am very much loving Priscilla’s teaching on Elijah. I have not been able to stay on task in the weekly format, so I am thankful I did the online study so I can move at my own pace.

One takeaway this week was the realization that on Mt. Carmel, Elijah witnessed a frenzied and somewhat shocking display by 850 men who were priests for Baal and Asherah.

I think in the past I have downplayed what a scene this was to behold. As I read and listened to Priscilla’s teaching, I pictured that awful scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom where they have him held captive and my heart races in unhealthy ways just thinking about it.

And Elijah stood alone in the midst of all of that.

Wow.

The study is a good one. If you have the opportunity to study this one, I highly recommend it.

Finally, I have probably gotten the most reading done in the biography of Elisabeth Elliott.

It is very interesting and I am learning a lot more about her than I ever knew, but it is also a bit disconcerting because a lot of information is shared from her personal journals and I feel like I am reading someone’s diary and I can’t say as I like that.

I think of my own journals and things I have written and they were not for public viewing. It is an odd feeling to know so much about someone’s life.

I find I tend to skim over some of the more personal thoughts shared in this, but also enjoying learning about the personality behind this incredible woman of faith.

So there you have my book reports for the month.

I hope to continue to be disciplined to read, but I also have so many other little projects on the burner.

Like … knitting a hat, exploring some dessert recipes for spring, starting some zinnias from seed and trying to figure out where to plant pumpkin seeds the boys saved from our fall pumpkins.

April should bring some new additions to the butterfly garden, a little trip we have planned that I hope to share photos and stories about and who knows what else before the next thirty days pan out.

How about you?

What is on your heart to do this coming month?

Would love to know <3