What We Read During Three Weeks in the Hospital
In the midst of trial, there was blessing.
I spent many hours helping our daughter weather the needs she had: bathroom trips while attached to cords and drains, pain from abdominal surgery and two drain procedures, nausea and vomiting several times a day (I could relate to that- 'twas a lot like morning sickness), exhaustion because being in the hospital oddly prevents one from sleeping, and manic highs and lows as the morphine was bolused then diminished.
But there was also quiet. Time to think. Time to read. Time to look at my fifth child and study her.
Friends came and read to her and had their own special books:
,
, the
series,
,
. I remembered that she hadn't been old enough to listen in when we first read
, and it seemed the perfect light-hearted little distraction. Then a friend suggested Louisa May Alcott's
, and I just couldn't get over what a perfect fit this book was for our hospital stay. Its main characters both end up invalids after a nasty sledding accident, and what they learn in the process makes for priceless literature. The kind you want your child to read and ingest.
I read a book that breathed beautiful life into my own spiritual journey. Lauren Winner's
is a breath of fresh air. Like gulping in oxygen in huge doses after a long run. Like an ice cold glass of water.
I began Gary Thomas'
Pure Pleasure: Why Do Christians Feel So Bad About Feeling Good?
, and just like every other book Mr. Thomas has written, this one has been a blessing on every page. I should have known I'd like this book, too; in chapter one he writes about drinking a venti chai tea latte. The man speaks my language ;)