S Club Mama

While my boys naturally go toward books about superheroes and space cats, I do try to have books that point them to Jesus in our home. Having the opportunity to read "Goodnight, Manger" by Laura Sassi (illustrated by Jane Chapman) was really a blessing. We have far less really young kid books about Jesus and God as we have grown up in our faith as our boys have grown up. Now having our little Princess, I'd like more books her age to point her to Jesus. "Goodnight, Manger" does just that. It's rhyming stanzas show Mary and Joseph putting the baby Jesus to bed only to be interrupted by barn animals and wise men and angels singing "Hosanna." Everyone tries to help the newborn King to sleep. image via amazon.com It's a really sweet little story that will show your young ones Jesus. If you're looking for theologically deep (which who is at 16 months old?), this is not for you. It depicts the wise men and shepherds visiting at the same ti...

"A hope filled anthem for the woman who feels she is both too much and never enough" was enough to catch my attention (and a hearty thumbs up from Jennie Allen helped) to jump at the chance to read "Wild and Free" by Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan. Who hasn't ever felt like they were too much and also not enough? I raise my hand real high in answer to this one. image via Amazon.com I really love how this book is crafted. Connolly will write a chapter, followed by a prayer, and a response from Morgan. Then Morgan will write a chapter, followed by a prayer, and a response from Connolly. However, I will admit, it took me several days (week?) to really get into this book. I don't know exactly what it is, but it felt like drudgery. Truly. And then, I cannot tell you what happened, but then it didn't feel like that. I kept reading and finding jewels. These pearls of wisdom. I could get through the book faster the more I got into it. And I want to ...

I did not grow up praying. I still feel very awkward when I pray. I have read a lot about prayer because that's how I learn best. I still feel awkward. However, I have learned that God doesn't heard our awkwardness but our hearts.  My desire for better prayers (if there really is such a thing) lead me to read " Prayers that Changed History" by Tricia Goyer. I thought this author was familiar to me and I believe she has written articles for the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) magazine.  "Prayers that Changed History" is written for older elementary students, I think. I really like how it's written and arranged, though. You read a story about an historical character, then a question is posed based upon this story, a bit on how his or her story changed history, a Biblical account that is similar to this story, and finally how this can show in your life. Just a great explanation to really explain the relevance of this story in history and to the Bible...

Our family really like "The Jesus Storybook Bible" by Sally Lloyd-Jones. I was really excited to review "The Story of God's Love For You" by her. What I didn't know is that the text from each is exactly the same. Exactly the same.  I was reading a very critical review on Amazon for "The Jesus Storybook Bible" (and by default "The Story of God's Love for You") and I thought the reviewer brought up one point I really hadn't thought of before.  In this text, the author really takes some liberties from the Bible. The story of Leah and Rachel from Genesis 29-30. Lloyd-Jones says that Leah "wasn't beautiful at all (some though her quite ugly). The Bible says "Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance" (Genesis 29:17 ESV). Not exactly the same, but perhaps that's me being nit-picky.  Then in this text, "The Terrible Lie" about the Garden of Eden, it says: "'...

Devotionals are a wonderful way to start my day, reaching out to the Lord in thought and prayer, getting insight from seasoned Christians in areas like parenting, marriage, or life. I had high hopes for this "Once A-Day Devotional: Nurturing Great Kids" by Dan Seaborn devotional. It just did not meet my needs.  image via amazon.com The devotional itself is set up nicely. You can use it chronologically or whenever you want (has dates and Day 1, Day 5, etc). There's a Scripture verse at the start to tie in the lesson, then the lesson, a parenting principle, and points to ponder. These are half-page devotionals so they take no more time than to eat your cereal in the morning. I just did not feel like there was much depth to these devotionals. For another season in my life, they may have been great. Just for now, though, I'm looking for more than what seems like common sensical lessons. I also greatly wanted more Scripture than just one verse at a time.  Fo...

Promise I have some fun posts coming up, but I need to write a few of these book reviews first. Up first is " The God-First Life " by Stovall Weems. I was thinking this was going to be a more in-depth, practical book of how to put God first in our lives. It was more like a beginner's book of "ok I trust Jesus, now what?" which is terrific. There needs to be more books like this because when I first trusted in Jesus/became saved, I had no idea what that kind of life should look like. Now, don't get me wrong, there isn't a one-size-fits-all lifestyle for being a Christian. But there are a few things Christians should be doing and that's growing in fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, faithfulness. I think that Weems laid out his book well to explain how we go about growing these things. Through having new priorities, a new family (God's church), a new life, and new freedom. image v...

Big A and I have always talked about adopting one day. Life has come at us fast with all the moving and biological children and group home foster children that we've had in the past 6 years, so it hasn't really been a discussion topic until lately. We have several friends who have adopted or are looking to adopt, both domestically and internationally. So I wanted to read more about it and "Becoming Home" by Jedd Medefind was a really good place for me to start. image via Amazon Basically this is a really condensed version of things we can do to help the international orphan crisis. We, as Christians, are called to be involved in this through the Scripture verse James 1:27: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (NIV) What does it mean to look after widows and orphans? I didn't really learn anything new about t...

Veggie Tales has been around for some time; I remember watching Madame Blueberry in junior high. It wasn't until I started to watch the shows with my kids that I learned how valuable the lessons they taught are. Which is why I'm so thankful they started to make Veggie Tales books. We own a Veggie Tale Bible and Saint Nicholas books but have read numerous more. " Pirates, Mess Detectives, and a Superhero " by Karen Roth stay true to the Veggie Tale premise of using time-honored Biblical virtues in their lessons. This is a 3-in-1 book (I love the frugality of that) that centers around Larry the Cucumber and his other produce pals. image via BookLook Bloggers In "Pirate in Training," Junior Asparagus aspires to be one of the "Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" because he doesn't want to go to school anymore. The pirates give him lessons in being a pirate that show him how they use math and reading (things you learn at school) to get by in...

Andy Stanley is one of my favorite author/pastor/speakers. I've gone through his "Guardrails" series, "iMarriage," and am currently going through "Big Church." I've listened to him at our church and through the Chick-fil-a Leadercast I attended last year (and possibly the previous year). It was just natural for me to want to read "How to Be Rich" even though I didn't feel like I belong in the "rich" category. image via BookLook  Notice the title is "HOW to Be Rich" rather than 'How to GET Rich.' Big difference. The subtitle says it all: "It's not what you have. It's what you do with what you have." According to Stanley, if you make $37,000/year you are among the TOP 4 percent of wage earners in the world. You are rich. I am rich. Since we are rich, what then? Do we know how to be good at being rich? Or is this the truth: "as long as you're heading up the pyramid, your fo...

"Homeless in Harvard" by John Christopher Frame was about a Harvard student who had befriended a few homeless people who live their lives on the Harvard Square (or thereabouts). He decided to live as a homeless person for a summer prior to his last year of college. I haven't had much experience with homelessness except walking around downtown Denver or Kansas City - even around Lincoln, NE. My husband and I are always willing to buy food, more than give money but we have done that on several occasions, too. During a Denver Christmas Conference before Moose was born, Big A went out on the streets of Denver with several other college students to hand out socks, tents, and other supplies to help accommodate some of the many, many homeless people who live on the streets and sleep around the capitol building. I know it was an experience for them to meet the people and hear their stories. Frame took his experience with a group who serves meals to the homeless one step furth...

I wasn't sure about the premise of this book: an old lady takes a bus. Woohoo. However, despite my misconceptions, Harriet Beamer Takes the Bus took me by surprise. Harriet is a widow, for a few years, who has a tumble at Christmas. She takes a sucker's bet with her daughter-in-law: if her ankle is broken, she'll move in with Prudence and Henry, her son, in Calidofnia. If it's not broken, she can remain in her home in Philadelphia. The ankle was broken. The house went for sale and Harriet decided to move her own way - by taking public transportation as much as possible across the country, collecting salt and pepper shakers along the way. She comes to realize that her trip wasn't crazy (well, maybe) but that she needed to do it to move on with her life. To show her that she still has a few wonderful years left; that she's not being put out to pasture. The journey itself is awesome - something only from a novel. She rides buses, trains, a motorcycle, a he...