Reading, Writing & Pondering

Are there days where you wonder, 'Is God really there?' Do you sometimes struggle in your faith? If you answered 'yes' to either of these questions, Robin Dance wants you to know you are not alone. In her new book, For all Who Wander, Dance shares her story of struggling with her faith. For All Who Wande r is part memoir and part spiritual encouragement book. Dance tells her story from the time she was young and her mother died of cancer while the family was attending a small town church until her later years when she started struggling more with her faith in her 40s. It was at that point that she felt her most honest prayer was that of father in Mark 9:14-25, "Lord I believe; Help my unbelief." They had also moved around that time and were struggling in their new church home. If you struggle with faith, church, and feel like that could be your prayer too, then For All Who Wander is likely to leave you feeling like you have found a kindred spirit. Fo...

Are you looking for a book that is full of action-packed adventure? The Way of the Brave by Susan May Warren is the first book in the Global Search and Rescue series and it is full of nail-biting, page-turning action. Former pararescue jumper Orion Starr joins Hamilton Jones and his buddy Jake in the search for three lost climbers on Denali in Alaska. Jenny Calhoun and her friends, Aria and Sasha, are headed up Denali for their annual mountain climbing excursion--when things don't go as planned. When things on Denali get out of control with the weather and the winds, the ladies find that they are in a bad place. It is then that Orion and the guys step in to rescue them. The Way of the Brave kept me turning pages quickly. I read this book during a blizzard where I live so it wasn't hard to imagine the climbers stuck in the wind and the snow on the mountain. I did like the main characters in this book. However, at the end of the book, Warren leaves us hanging in several w...

Sometimes it doesn't feel like we have any special gifts are skills. Yet, God tells us in Psalm 139 that we are all made uniquely special by Him. What's So Wonderful About Webster? by Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick is a reminder to children that they all have special skills. What's So Wonderful About Webster? is about Webster's experience with Field Day at his school. Webster's school is getting ready for a Field Day competition among the various grades. He doesn't know what to do for Field Day because he doesn't think he has any skills for the competitions. As a result, Webster doesn't want to go. . .but after some encouragement he does. In in attending the field day competitions, Webster discovers just what his skills are. What's So Wonderful About Webster? is aimed at elementary aged students. This is a large book, measuring about 8 by 11 inches with a dust jacket and nice heavy pages. The words are dark and easy to read and the illu...

When my son was little, I remember hearing this phrase, "The days are long but the years are short." As I reflect on my son turning 18 a couple of months ago, I believe it is true. The years sure did go by quickly. If you are in a similar position as I am, you may want to read Empty Nest, Full Life by Jill Savage. This book covers a lot of aspects of how to live a better life after your kids leave home and how to love them best as adult children. Empty Nest, Full Life is divided in to two parts: Let Go! and Hold On! In the first part, Savage talks about how to let go of expectations, guilt, opinions, traditions, your child's problems and idols. She goes in to detail in these chapters on some concepts that I hadn't really thought about. I could relate to so many stories she shared. Reading Empty Nest, Full Life kind of felt like having a mentor woman take me under her wing and to give me some great advice over coffee/tea. The second part, Hold On!, encourages em...

On May 16, 2013, Becky Powell received a phone call that would change her life. Her husband, Mark, called her and told her he had done something terrible. That day she learned he took his own life and that he also had borrowed millions of dollars over a period of several years and was deeply in debt. In her book, Awful Beautiful Life , Becky Powell tells her story with the help of writer Katherine Reay. Awful Beautiful Life: When God Shows Up in the Midst of Tragedy is Becky's story of how she handled life and promised to pay back every penny her husband took from those he borrowed money from while he was alive. Even more amazing to me than that, is that in our modern world where many turn away from God, Becky turned to God every day to help her through the challenges and stress of this difficult situation. Becky and Mark also had three children: Madison, Boone,  and John Luke. As a mom, she wanted to be sure she guided her kids to keep looking to God and not become victims in...

There is not doubt about it, there is a lot of scary stuff going on in our modern world. It is enough to worry adults, let alone kids.  Sissy Goff offers advice to young girls on how to overcome their worry and anxiety and focus on how brave they are instead in her new book, Braver Stronger Smarter: A Girl's Guide to Overcoming Worry and Anxiety . Braver Stronger Smarter was written for elementary aged girls but it can be used by girls of any age to learn practical ways to deal with worry, anxiety, and other overwhelming emotions. Actually, the book also offers girls who don't deal with those issues now a way to handle those emotions if they do come up for them. The book is divided in to three sections: Understanding, Help and Hope. Each section contains three chapters with some good advice and learning tools for girls in each section. Parents and caregivers are also encouraged to read the companion book, Raising Worry-Free Girls , as they work with a young girl. Braver St...

How do you define Love? How do you find lasting love in our modern culture? Love defined by Kristen Clark and Bethany Baird have written a book to guide single women in to seeing love and relationships the way God sees them. Love Defined is divided in to five parts: Happily Ever Disaster, Bringing Back True Love, Single and Waiting to Mingle, Working Through the Nitty Gritty, and Living Well on this side of the Alter. Clark and Baird are sisters who write throughout this book about their own experiences, as well as the experiences of other people they know. They aren't relationship experts but they are the founders of GirlDefined Ministries and previously authored a book called, Girl Defined . Throughout this book, they share from God's Word as well as their experiences. At the end of each chapter, there is a short study to help readers grow and remember what they are learning. At the end of the book, there are two appendixes: Finding Freedom from Past Sexual Sin and Fif...