Reading, Writing & Pondering

Our son is going to be 12 this November. It is hard to believe as the years truly have gone by fast. We have had some big changes in our life this past year as we have changes locations for my husband's job. I can see ways that these changes have been a challenge for all of us. I especially can see where these changes are challenging as a boy in process of changing into a man. I spend time in the mornings praying for him but I wanted to know better how to pray. 65 Promises from God for Your Child by Mike Shreve sounded like a book that could help me pray through the challenges my son faces in our family and in today's world. According to Mike Shreve, God is on our side and has give us promises for our children. This book contains 65 of them--promises for mercy, salvation, compassion, hope, truth and many more. We just need to pray them and believe them for our children. In fact, he encourages us to memorize them and speak them over our children whenever we can. He encoura...

The Brinkman Family adventure CDs are based on the adventures of real missionaries who share some of their humorous escapades through the Brinkman Family tales. The stories are dramatized with various voices for the different characters, along the lines of the Adventure in Odyssey stories. My son is 11 and he enjoyed them. The jacket says that children under the age of 10 may find the stories to be intense so they encourage parents to listen along with them. They seemed to be the right amount of adventure for my son's age as he didn't get too worried and just seemed to enjoy the stories. These CDs would be great to have for long car rides. They would be good to help kids see the excitement in being a missionary.You can purchase these CDs for yourself at: http://brinkmanadventures.com/   You can even listen to a sample at: http://brinkmanadventures.com/listen . They operate on a donation basis and they can download the episodes on the site or order physical CD's.  If...

Daunted. Not a word I use very often so not a word I thought much of until I read Undaunted: Daring to do what God calls you to do by Christine Cain. To be Undaunted is to allow us to not be stopped or discouraged by the challenges we face in life but rather to allow God to use our lives to help others. I could hardly put this book down. Christine Cain writes in such a fashion that this book was a page turner for me. I found her story to be inspiring, and by the end of this book, I felt like God could use me to make a difference in the world as well. Instead of giving in to discouragement in our disappointments, Cain encourages us to let God use those parts of our lives and to remember that something better awaits us. Throughout much of the book, she shares some of the challenges and difficulties that she has overcome in life. She also includes steps to help overcome disappointment and to work through fear that could be holding you back from living your life the way God wants you...

While I don't currently have heart disease, I have seen heart disease in some of my family members so I was interested in learning more about how to avoid it in my own life. Spiritual  Secrets to a Healthy Heart by Kara Davis, M. D.offers information on how to live in all arenas to avoid heart disease as much as you can. This book offers information on how to keep your physical, spiritual and emotional health all in check to support your heart. The book is divided into 3 sections: How We Live, How We Feel and How It Is. I especially liked that this book addressed the body from the spiritual and the emotional besides the physical. From a spiritual point of view, I liked that there is a Biblical viewpoint throughout the whole book, which was important to me as a Christian. I could also see through this book that the Bible has a lot to say about our health. I know my body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit so I want to keep it healthy as much as possible. Kara Davis offers some wisdo...

Rejection. We've all faced it at one time or another in our lives. Downside Up by Tracey Mitchell takes a long look at rejection. She offers a plan to view rejection as a "golden opportunity" instead of a negative thing. Tracey Mitchell offers personal advice from her experiences, other people's personal stories and Bible stories of people who have faced rejection like Joseph in the Old Testament. These stories help the reader feel like they are not alone in their times of rejection. The book offers some help on healing from past negative experiences and then she ends the book by offering ways to dream for the future. I found that aspect to be especially uplifting. Until this book, I don't think I personally realized how easy it is to let those who reject us or our ideas kill our dreams. That was an Aha moment for me.She also shares how we can't live in the past and go forward into the future. I could see clearly through her illustrations why this is no...