Reading, Writing & Pondering

  There is just something about being in the dark that seems to stir up all the fears inside us, especially in children. Penguin and Moose Brave the Night by Hannah C. Hall is the second Penguin and Moose book and is a cute way to talk about night time fears with young children. Penguin and Moose Brave the Night starts out with Penguin going over to Moose's house for a sleepover. In a different house and bed, Penguin starts to feel afraid. When he admits his fears to Moose, Moose reminds him that God is with him wherever he goes so he needn't be afraid. Let me start off by saying that I love Stacy Curtis's illustrations in this series. They are whimsical and appealing to young children--and adults. The book is a nice roughly 9-inch square size.This story would be a cute one to read with young children before they go on a sleepover as this is about Penguin's first sleepover. It is natural for children to be a bit apprehensive to sleeping somewhere different even when t...

  I don't know about you, but if left to my own devices, I can be a pretty harsh self-critic. Dwell on These Things Inspiration Cards by John Stange, are modeled after a book by a similar title. They are a beautiful way of having some positive encouragement from the Bible handy whenever I start to fall in to that pattern. Dwell on These Things Inspiration Cards are not only full of wisdom and encouragement, but they are so nice looking. They are designed to sit on your desk, nightstand, or a table to be there whenever you need one. I love the earth tones and the wavy designs on them. They are a sturdy, fairly heavy thin cardboard so I thought they felt like quality. I think they are soothing just to look at. I also think the phrases and  thoughts are helpful to reflect on. However, they don't have any actual Bible verses on them, which I found rather surprising. There are 31 cards in the box so a person could also read one a day on rotation to keep better thoughts in their h...

   Most Christian parents want the best for their children. They especially want them to follow the Bible and live a Christian life. In Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible , Danika Cooley offers great advice on how to do just that. Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible is divided in to three parts: You're the Leader, Faithful Reading, and A Daily Walk. Cooley writes as both a parent of four children and as an educator who both homeschools her children and also develops Bible curriculum. She offers solid advice on how to overcome any fears you may have to guide and teach your young ones from the Bible. I especially like that she gives different ideas to make it interesting to young children in a way that inspires them to get more involved. She also teaches parents how to prepare lessons, crafts and other ways to make the Bible interesting so that children learn and grow at their own levels. If you have young children that you want to help learn the Bible, you will want t...

  Is getting what you want the point of prayer? Skye Jethani answers that question in his newest book, What if Jesus Was Serious About Prayer? What If Jesus Was Serious About Prayer? is divided in to six parts:  1. What Pray is(and isn't) 2. Keep it Simple (and Unceasing) 3. It's Off to Work (with God) We Go 4. Learning to Pray (Like Jesus) 5. The Truth (& Nothing But the Truth So Help me God 6. Prayer Changes (How You See) the World One of the neat things about this book is that the author has doodles throughout the book that help the visual learner (which is me) better understand the wisdom and teaching that he is trying to impart. Each of the six parts of this book is further divided into smaller teachings that include the visual doodle, a reading and Scripture along with blank space to write your thoughts. What If Jesus Was Serious About Prayer? is subtitled "A visual guide to the spiritual practice most of us get wrong." It is different than any other prayer ...

  Time Travel may sound a little crazy but it definitely intrigues me. I've read several time travel books and I thought Come Back to Me by Jody Hedlund was definitely among the best When Marian Creighton is called about her father being in a coma, she goes home to his bedside. He also leaves her clues in a safety deposit box. Clues that could help him--and possibly her sister who has a serious illness. While Marian struggles to believe what she finds in the box and the research her father has been doing, she tests the theories herself. Soon after, she finds herself back in the Middle Ages during a peasant uprising in 1381. She also meets William Durham. a knight who offers her protection. . .and maybe even more. I enjoyed this novel so much. The storyline and the characters were all quite compelling to me. Come Back to Me was written in such a way that the time travel did seem quite plausible. I liked how the author shared Marian's struggles in not fitting in with the time p...

  Before the pandemic, I would say life moved much too fast for many of us. In Jennifer Dukes Lee's new Bible Study, Growing Slow, she encourages us to slow down and enjoy life. Growing Slow Bible Study starts out with a short chapter on how to get the most out of the study as well as an introduction to the study from the author. She then has 6 chapters to be covered over six weeks:  1. Cultivate: Turning over the Soil of Your Heart 2. Plant: Becoming a Good Soil Girl in a Fast-Paced World 3. Grow: How to Flourish under Pressue 4. Harvest: Grow. . .and Make Disciples 5. Celebrate: Let's Get This Party Started 6. Heal: Leave No Stone Unturned If you noticed, there is a trend in this study to relate to the land. Jennifer Dukes Lee lives on a generational farm and has seen land used for farming for many years. She relates that land use to claiming God's promises. Through looking at land in the Bible and in the world today, Lee relates it all to helping us slow down in life. Sh...

  Are you looking for a journal to keep track of your Bible reflections? A Bible Study Journal For Women from Barbour Publishing is gorgeous both inside and out and also quite user-friendly. A Bible Study Journal For Women starts out with 38 pages of insights from the bestselling book, How to Study the Bible. There is a lot of good information in this short space on preparing to study the Bible, various styles of studying the Bible, using Bible study helps and getting motivated to study the Bible. The rest of the book is beautifully illustrated blank Bible study pages that are ready to use. I was so impressed by the quality of A Bible Study Journal For Women. The pages are fairly thick with plenty of lines. Yet, I could see using this journal not only to write but to do some art journaling as well. I also found the brief introductory pages to be full of good reminders and information on studying the Bible, even as a more mature Christian. It has a flexible cover with a beautiful fi...

  I don't know about you, but a lot of times I just want to fit in with everyone else. According to Ginger Stache, you weren’t born to be like everyone else because God made you to stand out. In Chasing Wonder , Stache encourages readers to live the life of adventure and to trust God through all of the adventures. Chasing Wonder is divided in to 3 sections: An Adventure Mentality, Live in Wonder and Splashing Joy. Each chapter is full of encouragement, stories from Stache's life of adventure and uplifting Bible verses. At the end of each chapter, there is a short page that sums up the basic ideas from the chapter called, "Step by Step." Stache is definitely an encouraging writer and, as a reader, I could feel her energy and excitement for life as I read through the pages. It did make me want to become more adventurous in my own life. I enjoyed her stories of traveling all over the world as she works for Joyce Meyer as her Chief Creative Officer. Some of her storeis w...

    Do you feel content with where you are in life? Maybe you do or maybe you are feeling stuck in a difficult season? Satisfied by Alyssa Joy Bethke is a simply gorgeous book full of encouragement, faithful Bible verses and colorful pictures--all put together to remind you that wherever you are, you are loved by God. Satisfied is divided in to three sections. In each one, Bethke shares stories from her heart and soul about how God has met her where she is to help her through various challenges such as moving and a miscarriage. She also reminds us that if we are searching for a community, that we should not give up. She shares how it took her time to build that community after they moved. She also shares many encouraging stories about mothering and being a marriage partner. There are a lot of good Bible verses and quotes from other books woven in. All in all, with the pictures of the Bethke family, their house and gatherings of friends, it just feels like the reader is welco...

In Finding His Family by Christina Miller, Abe Armstrong returned home from his time in the armed services and opened a gym in his home town. Before he left to join the army, he secretly married Rosemary. . .but Rosemary's struggles with her father kept them from living as man and wife. As a result, Abe got tired of waiting for her to do the right thing and left to join the army. Then Rosemary moved to another town, pregnant with their child. Abe didn't know he had a daughter until the day they walked through the doors of his gym with Rosemary's father a few years later. Can they form a family after the years have passed?  I always know when I pick up a Love Inspired book that I will get the "happily ever after" story that I am hoping for. I usually read them when I am in the mood for a "happy ending" story. However, I got a little frustrated with Rosemary throughout Finding His Family . Both Rosemary and Abe struggle throughout the book with a lack of ...

  My son had an Adventure Bible he used for many years. As the cover says, it is the number one selling Bible for kids. Now, this Bible is available in the New American Standard Bible (NASB) version for those who would prefer that version. This Bible will get them excited about God’s Word with all of the colorful pictures, charts, highlighted verses to memorize, articles about living in Bible times, amazing Bible facts, and other activities throughout the Bible. This Bible comes in hardcover, as shown, or in a leathersoft edition. It is also red-letter and has a dark comfort print typeface in 9.5-point print size. This is a great Bible for kids to take to church, Sunday school or other youth Bible study classes and to just read and peruse at home. In the front cover, there is a presentation page, a page sharing how to use the Bible and a page with the ABCs of being a Christian. The Adventure Bible is aimed at children ages 8 to 12. My son really liked this Bible and spent time read...

    No matter what our age, some days we just feel alone and scared. God's Always Loving You by Janna Matthies offers a good message to little ones with her sweetly rhyming verse that God always cares for us, no matter what emotion we are feeling. This cute board book, measuring 7 inches square, is illustrated with lovely paintings of children in various scenes. The illustrations work nicely with the rhyming verse and the complete book is such a good way to teach little ones that God cares for us at all times--whether we are scared, lonely, frightened, or frustrated. What a great way for toddlers, ages 1 to 3, to build that lifetime of depending on God as a source of strength and caring. I think God's Always Loving You could be a good reminder for the parent reading the book too. It may also be a good way to spark more discussion and answer questions about God with a toddler. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

  In The Heart's Charge , Mark Wallace and Jonah Brooks, two of Hanger's Horsemen, help deliver a baby. Unfortunately, the baby's father recently passed away and the mother didn't feel she could handle the baby so they took the baby to a foundling home. When they went there, Mark is amazed to find the woman that he almost married several years ago. The Horsemen also discover that there are rumors of missing children in the area and they decide the stay and find out if there is any truth to the rumors--and to help the ladies who run the foundling home with some needed repairs. The Heart's Charge by Karen Witemeyer was an enjoyable read that had both romance and a mystery. I thought the characters in this book were great and I enjoyed Mark, Katherine, Jonah and Eliza all so much. I also enjoyed the children in the book. However, I didn't like the people who turned out to be the "bad guys," but that is good thing right? I did have an inkling of who the b...