You can learn a lot about someone by the stuff they accumulate. As my eyes sweep across the bookshelves, I feel like I am reliving the ups and downs of our lives. Titles in the Marriage section start with A Fulness of Joy followed by What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew about Women, and even more down-to-earth, Dealing with Differences in Marriage. In the parenting section, I see 365 TV Free Activities and the Eyre's series on teaching children charity, responsibility, sensitivity, and joy; later acquisitions include When your Child is Strong-Willed and I Didn't Plan to Be a Witch. Early sources of personal enrichment were Gardening for Dummies, Immortal Poems of the English Language, and 501 Traditional Quilt Blocks. These have given way to titles like If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard, and (I'm not making this up!) Confessions of an Unbalanced Woman.
It's even harder for Frank to choose which books to take. His whole purpose in going to Jerusalem is to share with the Study Abroad all the things he has learned from his voluminous library. Because we only have two suitcases each, we are only bringing a handful of children's books, an illustrated Book of Mormon reader, journals and scriptures, and resources about the Holy Land or the languages we hope to learn. So that means a lot of dear old friends will be left behind.
(Care to comment on a few books you couldn't live without?)
Jill and Frank (and kids,)
ReplyDeleteOh, you will love it there. We were only able to stay in Jerusalem for a week, as it was very pricey, but the experiences we had were incredible. They beat out every expectation. To really BE in that area of the world gives you a new perspective about what life is really all about. We absolutely loved the Jerusalem center, and I would love for my children to have the experience of going there for a semester. To live there as a family for a while is an amazing gift you are giving your family.
Enjoy it all! Get out and SEE Jerusalem and the country, it is so beautiful. We arrive on the 21st, so we'll miss you, which makes me so sad. I was really looking forward to connecting with you.
Best,
emily
I love how your books are a sort of commentary on your life. That cracked me up. I could have said the same for some of those. I think I couldn't live without my sketchbooks--my old ones. It's interesting sometimes to see how far I've come.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we finally found your blog. We'll be in touch now :)
Sara