Reading, Writing & Pondering

Raising Cubby is aptly sub-titled A Father and Son's Adventures with Asperger's,Trains,Tractors, and High Explosives. This autobiography is an interesting look at the life of a not so typical dad, John, with his son, Cubby.  John is diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at age 40. . .this book shares some of John and Cubby's adventures as John has a different approach to parenting than many other dads. The book is full of interesting adventures they share. . .I did find their adventures interesting. The book is fairly detailed though so I did not find it to be quick reading. I am glad I took the time to read it though as I enjoyed learning about John and Cubby.  By the time Cubby is seventeen, Cubby's main interest is chemistry. That interest gets him into some trouble with the authorities and the book begins there, goes on to share the story leading up to that point and then ends there. . .with a brief epilogue of life afterwords.I was surprised when it started...

I'm a gardener and I come from a family of gardeners. I also married a gardener and connected with his family of gardeners. When the NIV God's Word of Gardeners Bible came out, I knew I needed to get one. I was not disappointed. Shelley Cramm had the inspiration to write a gardeners Bible from her background in architectural and garden design, along with her involvement in local Bible study groups, Moms in Prayer and Moms of Preschoolers. I think Cramm did a beautiful job of putting it all together in this Bible. According to the back cover, The NIV God’s Word for Gardeners Bible will inspire you to seek God in a personal way through informative essays, devotional readings and prayers that explore the nature of the gardener’s work, the rewards of gardening, the influence of seasons and weather, and the joy of the harvest. This Bible contains 260 daily and 52 weekend readings throughout the bible that explore gardens/gardening aspects in God's Word. There are also...

I was thrilled to be part of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Books this year. . I am a members of Circle 17. . .a group of 5 sisters who committed to reading Lisa Wingate's book, The Story Keeper, and sharing our thoughts with one another. . .a traveling book group. I loved this idea and was truly tickled to get to read an advance copy and partake in all of the fun. I also received a pretty notebook from the sister before me to keep my stories in. First of all, I need to share that this year God has had a running theme in my life that "my story matters." It has shown up in my art journal class, in an on-line Bible study, I received a "Your Story Matters" necklace for Mother's Day from my hubby who is my greatest encourager and then I received my chance to read, The Story Keeper. I know it is no co-incidence. Jen Gibbs is an newly hired editor at Vida House publishing in New York. She has worked in the industry 10 years and Jen knows the ropes and has ...

The NIV Life Journey Bible exceeded my expectations when I received a hard copy to review. It is a beautiful Bible with dark print. I especially liked that it was easy for me to read although the print is not too big. I have been making changes towards growing in emotional wholeness over the past few years. The sub-title on the bright eye-catching cover of this Bible "Find the answers for your Whole Life" caught my eye. This Bible offers helps in addition to the Bible text to help you stay on track for emotional and relational health. There are "Insights" on various pages from the doctors that share glimpses into Scripture to show how it can bring emotional growth and development.  There are profiles of Bible characters like David, Esther and Paul which illustrate life lessons from their lives that support emotional and spiritual health. Themes of emotional health and wellness are also highlighted in the Book instructions before each book. Various essays are a...

As you can see, the cover page of the latest book from Jennifer Rothschild proclaims in bold letters God Is Just Not Fair, while the smaller subtitle states, "Finding Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense." That bold title grabbed me! For me, this book seemed timely. I'm not sure I was feeling God wasn't fair when I picked up this book to read, but I have been struggling to make sense of life lately. I found this book to be engaging from the beginning. This is the first book I've read by Jennifer Rothschild. I liked her style. . .she seems conversational and down to earth. I also found I laughed a few times and I shed a few tears. . .she knew how to reach me where I am. She should understand those who are hurting as she has been through a thing or two in her life. At the age of 15, Rothschild lost her sight to a devastating disease. She has also face Depression five years ago, which caused her to wrestle with God. In God Is Just Not Fair, Rothschild asks s...

The Power of Hope by Dutch Sheets is a small book that is full of help to renewing your hope if you are in a place of needing hope. This is my first book by Dutch Sheets and I did find it encouraging. I have been going through several challenging life situations lately and my hopes were indeed dwindling. I found this book to be a good source of encouragement and inspiration that is solidly based on Scripture. Sheets shares encouraging stories of real life people in both today's world and Biblical times. I liked that each chapter was fairly short because I needed to reflect on his words after each chapter. I liked that this book offers journal pages in the back of the book. Each chapter then offers specific advice on what to reflect on from that chapter in the journal, how to apply truths from the chapter, and a prayer to pray. I especially liked that the prayer was all ready for me to pray because there were days I just wasn't sure how to pray. Also, there were a list o...

i The Extravagant Fool by Kevin Adams is the story of an underdog who overcomes many obstacles to honor God. It's a book full of essays in which Adams shares his story of losing his business, investments, rental houses and just about everything he owned in a short period of time. During that time, however, he gained a trust in God and dependence on Him that most of the world today would consider quite "foolish." This book was encouraging in that in the end, the family overcame a lot of challenges and difficulties through their dependence on God as provider.The entire book is a memoir of his experience. I truly found the faith and trust of Adams to be inspirational. . and I felt my own faith grow as I rely on God during some personal challenges. In that way, it sounds like the author's goal was met as he said in the end of the book, "My only hope for this book is that it be compelling real-life evidence that God can be trusted with everything." I am gla...