Reading, Writing & Pondering

Martha of Bethany in the Bible is known for being super responsible and calling out her sister, Mary, in front of Jesus for not helping her. Yet, as a reader, I wonder just who this Martha is. How did she become this responsible, hard-working woman? Up From Dust by Heather Kaufman is Martha's Story in her new Women of the Way series. This book is divided into two parts. The first part chronicles Martha's early life. Martha was responsible for raising her siblings, Mary and Lazarus, after her mother passed away and her father became apathetic towards life. She is forced to take up a mother role that she wasn't really ready for. She also gives her young heart to a shepherd and then tragedy strikes. Martha has faced many challenges. The second part is her life around the time that Jesus enters her life. One of Martha's friends calls on Jesus to heal her husband from leprosy. Martha struggles with her feelings towards Jesus. She isn't sure she can trust him because of

  Practices for Embodied Living: Experiencing the Wisdom of Your Body by Hillary L. McBride, PhD is an illustrated hands-on book on learning to live better with your body and to understand how your body can guide your thinking.  I was drawn to this book as someone who has been listening to The Body Keeps Score (on audiobook) by Bessel Van der Koelk. I think they pair well together. However, McBride also has a more in-depth book that she published previously entitled, The Wisdom of Your Body. It is on my list to get and I understand that this book pairs well with her first book. Practices for Embodied Living , from my perspective, is along the lines of a workbook or guided journal. It isn't just a book to read. It is a book to use to reflect on your life and experiences so that you can grow and learn how to better understand your body. I read through this book but I have not yet taken time to do all of the exercises in it. I think that is something that you can't rush through.

    In 1940, Germany invaded The Netherlands and Aleida van der Zee Martens escaped to London. At that time, she was separated from her three-year-old son, Theo. She is a young widow desperately searching for her little boy. Embers in the London Sky by Sarah Sundin starts right out in the nitty gritty of war and all of the difficulties. In the beginning, readers also learn that her husband was abusive to her and her son. It is because he handed the child off to someone else, without her knowledge, that Aleida does not have her son. Aleida soon gets a job with an agency evacuating children to the countryside to help her search for her son. During this time, she also meets BBC radio correspondent Hugh Collingwood. Together, they search for her son and deal with the daily London bombings during the war.  At the same time, there is also a mystery as Hugh's uncle is murdered and the pair seek to help the police find the killer. This case becomes more complicated as the book goes on and

  I always enjoy a book of essays so I was happy to get to read Life is Hard, God is Good, Let's Dance by Brant Hansen. This is my first book by this author, although he has published other books Each of the 26 essays in this book were enjoyable reads that had some basis in the Bible or related to the Bible. Most of them also had some lightness to them, which I appreciated. I've been wanting to read more lighthearted reads. I like the sub-title of this book, Experiencing Real Joy in a World Gone Mad. Hansen writes about working in radio, helping at CURE hospitals, how he got a dog (loved that one!), and how he pushed himself to socialize with neighbors to share the love of Jesus.  Life is Hard, God is Good, Let's Dance most of all encouraged me to put myself out in the world to show Jesus' love to others. I think true joy is sharing life with others even when we mess up. That was another thing I liked about this book, Hansen shares his faults and what he sees as his l

  Jake Beckett and his twins, Kyle and Kayla, are training a service dog for their good senior friend Miss Myrna who has macular degeneration and is losing her eyesight. As Their Inseparable Bond   by Jill Weatherholt starts off, Jake and his kids keep busy helping Miss Myrna, but they are also sad as the children's mother passed away awhile ago. Olivia is an emergency room doctor in Miami. She is divorced and she worried about her Grandma, Myrna, so she takes a leave of absence from her job to help her Grandma and possibly move her back to Florida to live with her. Myrna doesn't want to go and enjoys her small town life. Olivia is soon caught up in the lives of Myrna's friends. She helps Jake train Myrna's dog. She helps the children. Although, little Kayla is wary of her to begin with. When Kayla learns that Olivia's dad passed away when she was young, they bond over shared losses. Their Inseparable Bond is a sweet and clean read. I like dogs so I enjoy the K-9 e

  Teach Me to Feel by Courtney Reissig is sub-titled Worshiping Through the Psalms in Every Season of Life. The psalms are among my favorite parts of the Bible maybe because I feel a little less crazy when I see some of the ups and downs of the psalmist's emotions. In Teach Me To Feel , Reissig shares some personal stories, her emotions that relate, and the psalms.  I like how down to earth this author is. I found this book to very easy to read and relate to. I have been through miscarriages and I had a fairly difficult time birthing my son, although my story is different than hers. The book starts off with her sharing this story and her tangled emotions. I could relate to a lot of what she wrote. She covers 22 emotions from grief and envy to pain and worthlessness throughout the book so actually there is a lot to relate to through the whole book. She also covers gratitude, contentment and hope. From one end of the spectrum to the other, I could relate to her stories in this book.

                          A wonderful way to start the New Year would be to pray for your loved ones with a candle in the Holy Land. There are some different packages for these prayers. You could have them pray and they will send pictures of your prayers. This is very reasonably priced, I think. If you would like to keep the candle or gift the candle in a wooden box, it is more expensive, but these could be a meaningful gift for a loved one--especially the person who has everything already.    From their page:   We invite you to share your prayer request(s) with us so that we can intercede with you and take your concerns before the Lord in prayer. As you can see on our website, we offer several ways to do this. This page profiles how we would consider it an honor to light a candle and pray on your behalf (or the person you designate) during a special ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Your candle can be lit in honor of a loved one now in heaven or as part of a focus o

  The First Christmas Night by Keith Christopher is the story of the first Christmas written in the format of, Twas the Nigh Before Christmas." I think this is well done and I loved it. It is fun to read and it has the whole baby Jesus story written in a way that I think young children will listen and remember.  The First Christmas Night is a 24-page board book that measures roughly seven inches square. It is a nice size for young ones to hold on their own. The thick cardboard pages make it easy for pre-schoolers to turn on their own. This book is aimed at pre-school children and I think that is pretty much spot-on.  I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.