Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Like many people, I haven't had a great relationship with my dad. 40 Days to God, My Father by Rosann S. Coulon is a devotional aimed at those of us who have difficult father relationships in one way or another. Maybe your dad was absent or maybe you didn't have a good relationship for another reason, but if your relationship is marked by heartache of some sort, this book was written for you, according to the author. As you would expect from the title, this book has forty devotions in it. In the introduction, the author shares some of her story with her father. She also shares how she encourages readers to read the book. The book is divided into 10 sections with four devotions each: A Loving Father, An Encouraging Father, A Faithful Father, A Guiding Father, A Trustworthy Father, A Providing Father, A Protecting Father, A Comforting Father, A Healing Father, A Mercifal Father and followed by an Epilogue about holding tightly to our Heavenly Father's Hand. There is also a...

  It is easy to feel alone sometimes--no matter what our age. We talk about God with our children, but it takes time to get to know Him. Is God Awake? by Sheila Walsh is a good book to read with young children to help calm their fears and turn them towards knowing God. Is God Still Awake? is a fairly large book at roughly 8 1/2 by 10 inches and 32 pages long. It is written for children ages four to eight, which sounds about right in reading it. It is a great book for early elementary children. The illustrations are bright and vibrant and they draw you in. The words often rhyme and are likely to be comforting at times of fear and feeling alone. There is a bit of humor at one point with the dog and the cake her mom made, which I thought made it fun.   Sheila Walsh also points children to the Bible for proof of God's character and the faith of parents or other loved ones. The language in Is God Still Awake? seems to be age appropriate. I think it is a great book for those wh...

    It is no secret that God is a mystery. God Speaks in Whispers by Mark Batterson and Summer Batterson Dailey is a beautifully illustrated children's book (illustrated by Benedetta Capriotti) that could help children understand how to hear God.  Young children are full of questions about everything but especially about God. In God Speaks in Whispers , children are invited to "hear" God through the Bible, through friends and family and through the sounds in nature. This book also reminds children that God loves them all, all the time.  God Speaks in Whispers is a good book to get conversations going with young children about how God speaks. I think that the rhyming is original and well-done. The illustrations are also cute and well-done. It all works together to help families understand that God is everywhere, that He cares about us all, and that He speaks today. I think this collaboration between a pastor and his social worker daughter is a good one. I hope they ...

Little children are so fun to be around. They ask so many questions and want to know why this and why that. I love seeing their inquisitive hearts and minds. Why God? by Dan Dewitt is the perfect book for young children and their families who are wondering about God. The story in Why God? features Thomas and his sister, Hope, who have a lot of questions about the world. Some of them are funny and some of them are big and serious like the ones where Thomas wonders about God. All of the questions together make for a fun story with cute illustrations. Why God? addresses the big and small questions kids have. The illustrations are bright, vibrant and fun. Along with the eye-catching illustrations, the story takes the questions children have and helps them see the wonders of God in our world today. I especially like the Parent Connection page in the back of the book. This page helps parents guide their children into some good discussions based on the story and the Bible. I though...

Maybe you had a wonderful father. Perhaps your dad was cold and distant and not really engaged with you. Or maybe you didn't know your father at all. Irregardless of the type of father you had, Louie Giglio shares in his new book, Not Forsaken , that God is not a reflection of your earthly dad. Not Forsaken is the first audio book that I have listened to on my device. I truly enjoyed listening to this book. The narrator did a good job of reading and keeping my interest in the content. I felt myself want to keep going in the book and to know more about how to re-frame my view of God and to take this information to better live out the Christian life.  Not Forsaken was an interesting book to me. Without going in to details, I had a dad that has left me with an empty hole in my heart. I like how Giglio invites us to see God differently though this book . I especially liked how it started out with the Watch Me chapter. . .Boy did it bring back memories of being younger and wanti...