Dear Readers,

Remember when you were a child and you would occasionally have dreams of walking into a room of yours and instead of finding a closet or a bedroom, it would instead be utterly filled with whatever your heart desired? I used to dream I had secret rooms like those that would change with my whims and

desires.

Sometimes the rooms would be filled with magical woods, fantastic adventures, true lifelong friends, books like the library in “Beauty and the Beast,” dazzling things to eat, or rows upon rows of the prettiest clothes. These were just little passing fancies that would waft through my imagination sometimes.

Well, I seem to be living in the realistic version of one of those fancies. Here at The Kilns I am living for a short time in a place where there are rooms overflowing with wonderful books for me to read! It is almost overwhelming because I know that no matter how hard I will try, I won’t be able to read them all before my time is up. This makes choosing which books to read incredibly hard; the Sofie’s Choice of Book World!

Thankfully a new friend who comes to help me clean made my decision for me and pulled a book out for me from them all and thrust it into my hands saying that I absolutely must read this one: “Beyond Ourselves: a woman’s pilgrimage in faith” by Catherine Marshall. I am only a third of the way in so far, but already I know it is a jewel that I will treasure forever.

Catherine Marshall’s book “Beyond Ourselves” deals with the practical use and meaning of forgiveness, faith, and living in Christ, even in the mundane every day moments. Her book is full of stories of how she discovered and walked out these principles, as well as testimonies from people such as George Muller and Elisabeth Elliott. It is incredibly encouraging, yet practical enough not to be overwhelming. And her tone is as if you are reading a letter from a dear friend.

I am now adding Catherine Marshall to my list of ladies I want to invite over for a tea party in Heaven (the others listed previously in my dreams are: Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Louisa May Alcott, Lucy Maude Montgomery, and Beatrix Potter). What a wonderful time we shall have! I have always loved Marshall’s book “Christy,” but I had never read anything else by her. I really wasn’t aware that she had written anything else besides her book “A Man Called Peter,” which I new was about her beloved husband who died when they were both still young. I hate starting a book when I know the ending is tragic. It’s bad enough when a tragic ending surprises me, but start one willingly is usually too much for me to bare. However, knowing what I know now about her and her life, I think I just might make an exception and go back and read that book too.

If there is anyone who wants to know God more and to walk deeper with Him, you should really find this book and read it. Unfortunately it seems a bit hard to find, but it is worth the effort. Not too often have I found a Christian Living book that is written without mystifying scholastic jargon, pretense, or shallow self-help advice but is written by a person who has gone through the fires of testing and who simply shares the wisdom gleaned through her life journey with Christ.

Happy Reading!

Mary C. Pearce

The Kilns Acting Warden