Laddie

I just finished reading the book, Laddie, by Gene Stratton Porter.  I loved it!  Definitely a must-read.  It is such a wonderful, wholesome book, which would make a great family read-aloud.  In some ways, it reminded me a little of the Little House series.  It is about a family with 12 children that lives in Indiana sometime after the civil war.  The book is told entirely from the perspective of the youngest child, called Little Sister for the entire book.  I love the way the parents thank God for all the goodness in their lives.  They are such a good example (although fictional) of steady, loving parenting.  After reading this book I am motivated to become a better parent, a more thankful person, and to soak in more of nature's wonders. I highly recommend it to everyone.  Here is one of my favorite quotes:

"Father, when you pray for anything that it's all perfectly right for you to have, does God come down from heaven and do it Himself, or does He send a man like Laddie to do it for him?"

Father hugged me tight, smiling the happiest. 

"Why, you have the whole thing right there in a nutshell, Little Sister," he said.  You see, it's like this:  the Book tells us most distinctly that 'God is love.'  Now it was love that sent Laddie to bind himself for a long, tedious job, to give Leon his horse, wasn't it?" 

"Of course!" I said.  "He wouldn't have been likely to do it if he hated him.  It was love, of course!"...

So I wondered when you longed for anything so hard you really felt it was worth bothering God about, whether the quickest way to get it was to ask Him for it, or to try to put a lot of love into the heart of some person who could do what you wanted.  I decided it all went back to God though, for most of the time probably we wouldnt't know who the right one was to try to to awaken love in.