Like millions of other Americans, I tend to think of a new year as a fresh start—a time to set goals or resolutions that, when accomplished, will help make me slimmer, healthier, more well-read, a better dog owner, a reliable volunteer in my community, or countless other personal milestones.
But essentially, when I make those resolutions, I’m really simply trying to list ways I can be a better person. And being a better person begins with some fundamentals.
Last week I happened to come across this short piece in an old issue of The Christian Advocate magazine, and it seemed to crystallize all the reasons—and all the outcomes—I’m seeking to accomplish when I make my new year’s resolutions.
While my typical resolutions often focus on the external—my health, my hobbies, or my schedule—Philip L. Frick’s “Ten Commandments” remind me that a truly “fresh start” is an internal journey.
If I really want to improve myself, I need to do more than just check off a list of goals or develop a new habit or two; I need to always keep a higher purpose in mind as the basis for everything I do.
Maybe not all of Mr. Frick’s Ten Commandments will resonate with you, but perhaps at least one or two will speak to your heart as we step into 2026 together.
For me, these simple guidelines are a reminder that the best version of myself isn’t found in a gym membership or a reading challenge—it’s found in the everyday choices I make to put God first and love others well.
Here’s to a year of real transformation, one small step at a time!
In a recent post I mentioned how much I enjoy reading stories and articles in old newspapers and magazines.
Not long ago I was paging through an 1888 issue of The Home magazine and came across an essay titled “Confidence.” I expected to read a lesson on self-assurance and developing a strong character to deal with Life’s adversities.
But that didn’t happen. Not with this article. In fact, this article really surprised me, and I read it about three times to make certain I understood the author’s meaning.
Here’s the essay in full (with a couple of my favorite magazine illustrations to add a bit of visual interest):
The lack of confidence in one another, is a terrible thing to contemplate, for it suggests the unreliability of human nature and the lack of character. The world is so full of villains that men sooner or later are apt to adopt the harsh rule to regard every man as a rascal until he proves himself honest.
It is probably true that every man who has the disposition to help his fellow men is often grossly imposed upon. The imposter and dishonest man are usually accomplished hypocrites, and with smooth words and studied actions are liable to deceive Satan himself.
The honest victim of such wiles is nearly always kind-hearted and unsuspicious, with a firm faith in human nature—notwithstanding its many defects—and while determining after experiencing each new deception, to be more on his guard, is still the prey of the designing, and his own good nature and the evil natures of those who mark him for a victim of their schemes, may at last operate to harden him and drive him into a state of unreasonable uncharitableness.
If there is any gain to anybody from such dishonest practices as lead to such results there might be some excuse for them, considering the weaknesses of men. But it is a fact that nobody gains and that everybody loses. The rascals who plot day and night against their fellow men are not usually profited even in a material sense. They are chronically both poor in purse and character.
The world—so full of enjoyment to honest men—is a source of torture to them. Dishonest themselves, they doubt the honesty of others; guilty, they fear retribution; and dishonorable and vicious, they shrink from the gaze of mankind.
It is a miserable man who fears to meet another. It is wretched existence that neither enjoys the confidence of our fellow men nor gives them our confidence; and while these solemn facts are patent, it is a marvelous thing that the chief purpose of life should not be to build character and win confidence.
Money is not nearly as valuable as character, for money cannot buy the respect of thoughtful men and women, and the most beautiful portions of life’s pathway are like deserts without the respect, love and confidence of mankind.
I wish I knew who wrote this, but, sadly, that information wasn’t printed; I’d like to read more of this author’s writings. His/her thoughts about trust, character, and the human tendency to become cynical after being deceived are insights that feel as relevant now as they must have felt to readers in 1888.
I think it’s remarkable how words written nearly 140 years ago can speak so directly to our lives today.
In our modern world we’re often advised to be cautious and skeptical—to protect ourselves from scammers, fraudsters, and those who would take advantage of our good nature. But this old essay is a timeless reminder about what truly matters. Some things, like honesty, respect, and the value of integrity never go out of style.
It’s no secret that I’m not technologically savvy.
Websites stump me.
Constantly changing social media platforms are my nemesis.
And I cannot download apps to my phone because my current phone is so old it won’t accept software updates anymore. Despite that, I refuse to replace it because it works just fine for my needs, thank you very much.
It always seems that I struggle when it comes to any device or software, especially the ones that promise to be “user intuitive.”
And that brings me to the topic of my latest struggle with Facebook.
For the last nine years I’ve had a Jenny Berlin Author page on Facebook. I haven’t always posted faithfully, but I’ve certainly done plenty of posts since the page first went live in 2013.
But a couple of months ago I began to receive notices from FB that they were going to delete my Jenny Berlin Author page because it was grey.
I admit I have a touch of grey hair at the temples, but I don’t think my account needs to be deleted because of it. (A little joke. Not a good one, but a little one.) I like my FB page; I want to keep it just as it is.
But I quickly learned you can’t argue with Facebook. There’s no way to protest their decision. And even when I followed the links on their messages to try to remedy the situation, either the links didn’t work or the pop-up screen told me to click on links that didn’t exist.
So I’m stuck.
That means that as of August 31 Facebook will delete my Jenny Berlin Author page, whether I like it or not.
So I took matters into my own hands and resurrected an old Facebook account I set up years ago and rarely used. It’s a personal profile account that I never did much with because I was so busy with other things.
But as of today, that old Facebook profile is alive and well and ready to go! You can find it by clicking here:
If you’re on Facebook, I hope you’ll stop by to say hello!
Last year I set up a new reading nook and created a plan to reduce the number of books I own (you can read about it here).
Progress was slow at first; then I gained a bit of momentum as I went through my old Mills and Boon nurse romances. Every single one of them made it into the “donate” pile.
Next I tackled my collection of Heartsong Presents romances. In the 1990s they were some of the first Christian romances I read, including this early novel by Lauraine Snelling:
Dakota December, a 1996 novel by Lauraine Snelling.
I remember how happy I was to find these books. I think they were among the first romances I found that included an element of faith woven into the story; and the best part was the publisher distributed the books by mail order. Every month four new Heartsong Christian romances magically appeared in my mail box! Woo-hoo!
Another genre I read a lot was romantic suspense; and because my older sister bought just about every Victoria Holt gothic adventure novel ever published and passed them along to me, I developed quite a passion for them.
The cover of The Legend of the Seventh Virgin by Victoria Holt.
Each of Holt’s novels followed a pattern: A beautiful/lovely young woman—alone in the world—inherits/takes a job/goes to live in a legend-haunted castle/chateau/mansion.
Cover of The King of the Castle by Victoria Holt.
Soon after her arrival, the heroine either gets curious or inadvertently discovers a long-buried secret, thereby putting herself in danger. Usually that danger involved spooky specters, trap doors, and attempts to murder her in order to keep that dark family secret hidden from her prying eyes.
This epigraph in the front of Holt’s novel The King of the Castle helps set the tone for the spookiness about to ensue:
To me Holt’s heroines were a wonderful blend of Nancy Drew, Jane Eyre, and Lucy Pevensie. They were honest, brave, resourceful, and smart. And no matter what threats or dangers were thrown in their way, they never backed down. In the end, they were rewarded with everything they ever wanted: love and a place to belong.
When I was in my late teens and early twenties I devoured Victoria Holt’s books. Manfreya in the Morning was my favorite and I’ve read it many times over the years.
The cover of Manfreya in the Morning by Victoria Holt
But my spooky castle novel addiction didn’t stop with Victoria Holt. Once I finished reading all of her books, I sampled gothic suspense novels by other authors.
The cover of A Finger to Her Lips by Evelyn Berckman
They were pretty good, too; but for me, Victoria Holt was the queen of romantic suspense.
Over the last few weeks I’ve re-read her wonderful novels. The stories are still great; but reading them also took me back to a time when they provided a much-needed escape from my humdrum world of school and work. And now that I’ve reread them all, I know it’s time to say goodbye to them.
It’s a tough decision to make, but into the donate box they go. Next week I’ll pick another genre of books from my collection to re-read and either donate or re-shelve. I wonder what books I’ll choose?
Is there a book or genre that takes you back and reminds you of “the old days” every time you read it?
My “real job” still takes up a lot of my time, but I’ve managed to make some progress on some of my personal goals:
My sister and I have been writing a new book, and it’s really coming together! Our work-in-progress just passed the 90,000 word mark, which means it’s going to be a real, honest-to-goodness novel one day.
But, as always, what really keeps me busy is the Isabella Alden website. Between writing posts, researching the lives of Isabella and her family, and searching for more of her stories to share, it’s almost another full-time-job!
I think my efforts on the blog are paying off, though, because the number of subscribers and visitors continues to grow daily. Last Friday morning readers from a variety of countries visited the site:
It’s thrilling to know Isabella once again has fans all over the world!
And the best part of that growth is that I still have plenty of her stories to share, as well as bits and facts about her life.
So, I guess that means that I can look forward to having my almost-full-time-job of running the Isabella Alden blog for some time to come.
Is there a topic or story you’d like to see featured on Isabella’s blog? Leave a comment and let me know!
Are you watching the Winter Olympics? I missed the opening ceremony, but I’ve been trying to watch at least part of the coverage of every event category. I’ve watched curling, speed skating, bobsled heats, all kinds of skiing, and even hockey.
By far, the skating events are my favorite. When I was young I became fascinated with ice skating, mostly because I grew up in southern California where snow and winter sports were uncommon. But my mother was a fan of Olympic skater-turned-actress Sonja Henie, who parlayed her three gold medals into a film career. My mom never missed one of Sonja’s movies when they were on TV.
The movie I remember most was “Sun Valley Serenade.” In it Sonja and co-star John Payne (who played Natalie Wood’s optimistic neighbor in “Miracle on 34th Street”) sang, skated and danced their way around an Idaho ski resort. Hi-jinks and romance ensued.
I tried ice skating once when it was about twelve. Unfortunately, I spent more time falling on the ice than gliding across it, so I never tried it again. But like Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, I’m pretty certain that:
If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient.
Instead I’m content to watch Olympic ice skating on TV.
Pairs skating are my favorite events. I was mesmerized by USA’s Madison Chock and Evan Bates’ beautiful free skate performance; the same for France’s Gabriella Papdakis and Guillaume Cizeron (who earned a gold medal in the event).
So yesterday, when I was browsing Amazon for a new book to read, this one caught my attention:
Isn’t the cover gorgeous? I’ve never read this author before, but the book has some great reviews. And since I was in an ice skating mood, I didn’t hesitate to tap the “Buy It Now” button. It’s going to be my weekend read as we head toward the Olympics closing ceremony on Sunday.
What do you think? Have you ever been inspired to read a book based on real-life events?
(By the way, I don’t receive any compensation for directing you to Traci Hunter Abramson’s book; I just like to share interesting books I find with others.)
It pains me to have to admit it, but I have come to the point in my life when I have to own up to the fact that I have too many books.
There. I said it.
Now the question is: What do I do about it?
When I stand back and look at my bookcases full of the books I love and want to read again; and books I want to keep forever; and books just waiting to be read for the first time—I honestly wonder how I can ever part with any of them.
But I have to, because there just isn’t room in my home for any new books. So I’ve come up with a plan to help me make the tough decision about which books stay and which books go.
Now that the weather is nice, I set up a little reading nook on my screened porch, with a small bookcase and a comfy chair. The window blinds help shield me from passersby, but I can adjust them to let in the right amount of reading light. And the rug on the floor brings a bit of warmth to the cold concrete floor.
On the shelves are a variety of books:
Some I have not yet read, but they’ve been sitting on the top of my To-Be-Read pile.
Some I have read, but I read them so long ago, I need to refresh my memory in order to decide if they’re still keepers.
Of course, I had to organize them by genre, then by author last name (don’t ask me why; I just had to).
And I added this little lady to keep watch over the historical romance shelf:
Once I’ve worked my way through a re-read of these books, I’ll be able to make that crucial decision of which books to keep and which to donate or share with others. Then I’ll restock the book nook shelves with the next round of books to re-read.
I tried it out yesterday with a cup of tea and had a very nice hour of reading time. This may turn out to be a very good system. What do you think?
I mentioned in an earlier post that I recently purchased a lot of old newspapers and magazines. I know some people like to rip old newspapers apart in order to frame their advertisements, but I collect magazines and newspapers for the articles and stories.
A lovely wood-cut illustration from Gleasons’ Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion.
Somehow, mixed in with the newspaper issues I purchased, the seller had added a few issues of a periodical called Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, all of which were dated in the 1850s.
I never heard of the magazine before. Flipping through the pages, I saw they were filled with poems, song lyrics, bits of news stories, brief biographies, and histories of all sorts.
But the best things were the stories. They have titles like:
The Pirate’s Dungeon
Rodolpho: The Mystery of Venice
The Clergyman’s Love
Conrado de Beltran: The Buccaneer of the Gulf. A Romantic story of the Sea and Shore
As soon as I saw the titles I thought immediately of Josephine March in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Perhaps you’ve read Little Women, too.
In particular, I was reminded of the latter part of the novel, when Jo went to work as a governess to the children of a family friend, Mrs. Kirke, at a boarding house in New York. While there, she cared for Mrs. Kirke’s children by day, but at night she wrote sensational stories for a newspaper called The Weekly Volcano.
Her first story was a “thrilling tale;” and when the newspaper’s editor bought it for the princely sum of “twenty-five to thirty,” Jo saw a way to make some good money. She “rashly took a plunge into the frothy sea of sensational literature” and produced story after story.
Soon Jo’s “emaciated purse grew stout, and the little hoard she was making to take [her sister] Beth to the mountains next summer grew slowly but surely as the weeks passed.”
When I was young, the March sisters—Jo, in particular—were my favorite literary characters. But as I flipped through the pages of the old magazines I received, and saw the story titles, I realized it’s been decades since I last read Little Women.
In fact, my last read was so long ago, when I sat down to write this blog post, I couldn’t remember the titles of any of Jo’s sensational stories—or even if the titles were ever mentioned in the novel!
So, of course, there was only one way I could think of to answer that question: I had to drop everything and re-read Little Women to refresh my memory.
The Frontispiece from my poor battered, often-read copy of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
Hours later, I’m still reading, unable to lay Little Women aside. I’d forgotten how well written and entertaining the novel is, and how much I care about Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy; and even Aunt March, Marmee, and Laurie. The last few hours of reading have reminded me of all the reasons I loved Little Women when I was young—and all the reasons this charming, entertaining novel deserves to be read much more often than once every twenty-plus years!
So, thank you to the book seller who tucked a few issues of Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing Room Companion into my recent order. You have given me many more hours of pleasure than I anticipated.
How about you? Is there a book you loved in your younger years that deserves a re-read?
It wasn’t always that way. I used to watch a variety of programs in different genres, but over the last several months I stopped watching programs I used to enjoy.
Dramas have become too gritty and upsetting; medical shows too intense; and comedies, for the most part, are just annoying and rarely make me laugh.
I don’t know when it happened, but the number of programs I watch—and especially the number of channels I’m willing to tune into—have really shrunk in number.
In a previous post I wrote about how much I enjoy Signed, Sealed Delivered, and you can bet I’ve watched the entire series as well as the films over the last few months. But old favorites only go so far.
So when I heard that Britain’s BBC had filmed a brand new adaptation of AllCreatures Great and Small (the semi-autobiographical books by veterinarian James Herriot), and it was coming to American PBS stations in the new year, I was intrigued.
I was a big fan of James Herriot’s books when they first appeared in the U.S. in the mid-1970s. I read them all, and enjoyed them so much I read them again. They’ve been on my keeper shelf ever since.
Then the BBC adapted the books for TV in a delightful series that I watched and loved. It ticked all the boxes: quirky characters, entertaining anecdotes about animals, some drama and some laughs, and a sympathetic main character who was just your average guy trying to learn the ropes of a new job in a brand new city.
The original leads in the 1978 TV series.
One of the main reasons I loved the original books and TV series was how comforting they were. They made me nostalgic for a time I never knew but would like to: when life was simple, and people talked to each other face to face; when handshakes meant something, and neighbors helped neighbors.
A sweet moment in the new adaptation.
In fact, I loved the old show so much, I wondered if the new adaptation could possibly live up to my expectations. Would they try to modernize the story to make it “relevant” for the twenty-first century?
I am happy to report, they did not!
I’ve watched the first three episodes of the new version, and I like it very much. It’s a faithful adaptation of Herriot’s books. The characters are just as lovable, charming, and entertaining in the new version as they were in the old.
The cast of the 2020 adaptation.
Another thing I love about the new series is the pains they took to expand James Herriot’s world. It depicts Yorkshire—its villages and countryside—in all its glory, so I really get a sense of place, and how different those new surroundings must have been for James to get used to.
Actor Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot with the gorgeous Yorkshire countryside as a backdrop.
At last I found something new to watch on TV! And since PBS has aired only half the episodes, I now have a show I can look forward to watching for the next four Sunday evenings. How refreshing!
A charming Yorkshire village setting for the new TV series.
One good thing that has resulted from watching the new series is that it has inspired me to dust off my old copies of the original James Herriot books and reread them. It’s been several years since I even touched them, and I have to say it’s like getting reacquainted with an old friend.
As much as I enjoyed the 1970s TV show and like the new 2020 version, the original book is better. It just is.
Do you have a favorite television show you like to watch over and over?
In the crazy pandemic world we live in, is there a book, TV show, or movie that entertains and comforts you?
Like a lot of people, I had some big plans for 2020.
And as it did for a lot of people, COVID-19 changed each and every one of those plans. Changed them as in, none of my plans were accomplished. Not one.
In any other year, I would have beaten myself up for such poor performance, but not this year. With the box full of crazy uncertainty this year foisted on us all, I decided I would not fall into the trap of focusing on my shortcomings.
Run for your lives! It’s the attack of the year 2020!
Instead, I want to tell you about something good that happened—something from which we will all benefit.
If you know anything about me, you know I’m a fan of writer Isabella Alden. Her novels mean so much to me, and I admire her example of living a Christ-centered life. It’s been my joy to help spread the word about her stories on my other blog (www.IsabellaAlden.com/blog) and help new readers discover the beauty of her stories for themselves.
Because I post regularly on that blog (and on corresponding Facebook and Twitter accounts) with samples of her stories and news about her life, I’m always on the hunt for information I can share about Isabella.
A couple of months ago, I found a treasure trove of some of her short stories in a collection of magazines I purchased from an auction site. Each story is new to me with titles I’ve never heard of before.
A few of the stories are only one chapter long; some stories are as long as eight chapters; and one is a full-length novel! I feel as if I hit the Isabella Alden Jackpot!
If you’re like me, you probably need a good Isabella Alden story after the year we’ve had, and I’ve got the perfect one to share. Please check with me here (or on Isabella’s blog) on January 12, when I’ll publish the first of the new stories, “For This.”
In the meantime, I wish you a bright and promising New Year! See you in January!
Writer Jenny Berlin 