"Three Cups of Tea" - Thoughts before Colloquia

Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Themes
Role of Women
Mission – imperfections
Promises – Greg’s Mission to make and fulfill promises?
Education and its power to change
Role of western more economically advanced countries in the development of less economically powerful countries
Interaction of different cultures-ability of each to learn from each other



Questions
If our biggest goal was to develop strong families, what would we do differently than Greg?
Is the shunning of the crude man a valid form of governance?
How do Greg’s imperfections – shyness, poor communication w/superiors influence his ability to achieve his mission?
How do we get accurate news/information?
Is Greg’s focus on the education of girls going to have any unintended consequences?
How should we help? How can we help in a way that shares what is ultimately true and good about our lives w/out sharing that which only seems to be true and good?


Writing
Unique voice – does it help/hurt? Why is it used?


Big Picture
I want to take my mission seriously. I want to live it, not just hope that it happens.
I want to be more open to the seemingly impossible.
I want my children to grow up with stories of people willing to sacrifice for others.
I want my children and myself to better understand the concept of mission.

Ten Books for a Four-Year-Old Boy

My four-year old has always loved to sit on my lap and have me read to him. My shelves are overflowing with picture books, and he loves to scan their shelves and choose the perfect one for me to read, or to add to his book bag for rest time. Yet I feel like this abundance of books can detract from his connection to any one of them. His sisters had fewer, and seemed to love them more, though their lives also had fewer distractions and more attention from their mother, so who can say what is the true cause.

But ever the plan maker, I decided to choose ten books for him, ten books for the rest of his four-year-old year. I’m not exactly sure how I will make them special, I’m certainly not going to ban the others. I’ll think on it, but simply choosing them makes me feel better.

Ox-Cart Man
Corduroy
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Angus and the Ducks
Tacky the Penguin
Emma’s Pet
The Paperboy
The Day the Goose Got Loose
Harry the Dirty Dog
Tikki Tikki Tembo

Oh, no – I forgot I Heard Said the Bird! Hmmm... I’ve already agonized extensively to get it to this point. I don’t think I can part with any of these – and eleven is just not as lovely as ten. I guess there is always the day when I choose Ten Books for a Five-Year-Old Boy.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Early this year we listened to a fabulous audiobook, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare and read by Mary Beth Hunt. It was a great story, and the experience was enhanced by the rich and vivid reading of the reader. A thrilling combination of historical setting and genuine characters and relationship made this a memorable book.

I loved the experience of listening to an audio as a family. The homeschooling curriculum we use, Sonlight, has a lot of reading aloud, and I was looking for a way to save a bit of time. It was nice to free up a bit of time in our homeschooling day, but there were other unexpected benefits. The little boys were so cute. I was amazed at the way they picked up on the emotion of the book. They didn’t always know what was going on plot-wise, but they would perk up and start asking questions at tense or joyful moments. And something about listening to an audio with my kids, rather than always reading to them, seemed to change the dynamic of a shared book. Instead of always being the driver, I was a passenger right along with them, able to enjoy the scenery and feel like “one of them.”

The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a powerful book. It brings a brilliant focus to the conflict between cultures; a strict Puritan society and its intolerance for a determined but humble Quaker woman. As we come to know the young girl caught in the crossfire, we feel her deep desire to find her own way and her frustration with the limitations of her community. The lasting impression of this book is the strong emotion, I felt deeply for the characters and they truly came alive for me.

My oldest daughter also loved it saying –
“I liked how she was a loyalist to the king and how the book made it seem like she was going to marry someone else, and it was ‘unexpecting.’ I also liked what they said about the old woman being a witch; I thought it was interesting that back then they persecuted women that were thought to be witches. I love how it was realistic, exciting and romantic!”

Summary:
Vivid picture of life in early America – Connecticut 1687
Best appreciated by 10+
Great on audio
I loved it!