S Club Mama

Bedtime is such an endearing time for my family. I love rocking the baby to sleep, scratching my girl's back before bed, reading the Bible or a story to my big boys. They get in bed, under their covers, and my husband and I kiss each of them goodnight. It's a sweet time in our house, not usually as chaotic as I've heard other families say. I'm very thankful for this time with our kids. Each night we read out of the Bible - right now it's the Action Bible. However, we really do like to read bedtime stories, too. We read Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons just last night (all the kids were giggling! It was great!). I was really excited to see that Michael W. Smith had teamed with Mike Nawrocki (co-creator of Veggie Tales and Larry the Cucumber's voice) to write "Let's Get Ready for Bed." I was expecting something very lyrical that would be a good addition to our routine. image via BookLook blogging program The book is about Eddy the bear...

One of my gifts is the gift of encouragement. I frequently enjoy writing notes to my friends and acquaintances, telling them what they mean to me or what they mean to our Lord. I know that words of affirmation are my love language and I like to share that language with others. Paperless Post is a website that helps me to do this in a manner that fits my life. I was frustrated after my baby was born in July. I struggled to get thank you notes written for the wonderful ways people were blessing us with meals and gifts. Once I got them written, they sat on our counter or in my purse for months because I didn't go out or I'd forget they were there. Nothing worse than undelivered mail. With the USPS price of stamps going up, I fear that will begin to kill the art of snail mail (is that still an art?). Whether that be notes of encouragement, birthday or wedding invitations, thank you notes, or Christmas cards; it gets to be expensive to send a card. this is the car...

I can't remember if I first read or heard Annie Downs. I know she is a frequent speaker at the annual IF:gathering (ifgathering.com) but I've also read Let's All Be Brave (perhaps a devotional based on that?) and Looking for Lovely (which I enjoyed). That to say that I enjoy her. I haven't listened to her podcast but I know that we would be fast friends. I knew right away I wanted to read "Remember God" by Annie F. Downs because I've been through some things in the past few years that make me wonder "if He is really kind - really deeply always kind" as she writes on the back cover. Watching my son have seizures and brain surgeries that affect our whole family (another son dealt with anxiety and still does to some extent...just today my daughter who is three was pretending she was having a seizure...oh dear...it affects us), makes you not doubt but just wonder about God and His character and what you know to be true and how it doesn't seem to...

I have found myself drawn to autobiographies and biographies about missionaries for awhile now. I like to read about their passion for the Lord, their love for people, and their hardships. Yes, their hardships. These always end up showing God's character through his compassion, kindness, gentleness. Not always in the taking of the hardships but through His walking with the missionary through it.  Anyone who knows missions knows Elisabeth Elliot or at least her husband, Jim Elliot. Being familiar with their story, I was ready to read "Made for the Journey" by Elisabeth Elliot. It did not disappoint.  image via Baker Publishing I have a degree in English and I fully understand how vital it is to read the Bible in one's own language so I adored all of her linguistics talk! Her honesty about the physical hardships, her identity crisis, and her faith lessons she learned during them. Sometimes we can think of missionaries as Super Christians but Elliot is deli...