Reading, Writing & Pondering

Surprise! Do you like surprises? The Jesus Who Surprises by Dee Brestin offers a look in to how Jesus showed up in various places in the Old Testament and how He shows up today when you least expect it. The Jesus Who Surprises is a Bible Study through the Old Testament. It is divided in to three parts: How the Story Began (The Books of Moses), How to Live in the Story (The Psalms) and How the Story Will End (The Prophets). These three sections make up a total of 13 lessons. The beginning of the book includes a brief section on how to use the book and Bible study followed by an optional get-acquainted Bible study. In the back of the book, there are also facilitator resources with hints for leading a group and notes for each lesson. The Jesus Who Surprises is such a good study. I have done Brestin's studies in the past with groups of ladies and found them to be both informative and the learning fun. The Jesus Who Surprises does a good job of tying the Old Testament stories...

Psalms for Little Hearts introduces children to the psalms and what they can mean to us as children of God. Dandi Daley Mackall writes modern psalms based on the Bible so children can understand them and relate to them understand that God's word is written for them. There are 25 psalms in Psalms for Little Hearts targeting children ages 8 to 12. Although I think children as young as five would find value in this book with others reading it with them. All of the psalms are all labeled with what the message of each one is: God's Beautiful World, God Gives Me Joy (when I feel sad), God Fights for Me! (when they are the underdog), Give Thanks (teaching gratitude), and God Listens (for when hope is needed). These verses all rhyme and are ones that children could relate to. Then, at the end of each verse written by Mackall, she has a portion of the psalm from the New Living Translation of the Bible so readers can read the psalm she based her verses on. The illustrations of P...