love to paint

It always says a lot to me that I can whip through a fiction book in a day or two and a nonfiction book in weeks.   When I start reading a good story, I get drawn in and just want to know how it ends.   Last night, I finished reading a new book and when I was done, I just smiled.   The book I read is Angel Sister by Ann H. Gabhart.   I have never read a book by this author before, but I enjoyed her story and her writing.   Storyline:   Kate's family is a mess.   Her father, Victor, is turning to the bottle and her mother, Nadine, and he are both belittled by their controlling fathers.   She finds an abandoned little girl on the church steps when she goes to the church to take her grandfather some preserves.   This little girl causes a stir in their extended family and the town.   You hope that this will be the story of healing in Kate's family and without giving too much away--it is just that. Writing:   The writing is good and ...

Over the past year, I've read several memoirs.   Choosing To See by Mary Beth Chapman and Unplanned by Abby Johnson were wonderful stories that deeply encouraged me.  In both, I clearly heard in the author's voices their desire to love the Lord and serve Him.  They both also acknowledged their weaknesses and faults.  They took responsibility for their decisions.  Reading these books has grown a desire in me to read more like them.  When I recently read The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Ms. Tsemach Lemmon, I was also encouraged by the story and enjoyed hearing how Kamila Sadiqi supported, loved, and cared for the people in her life--her story wasn't just about her. I picked up Scars of a Chef by Rick Tramonto with Lisa Jackson with the thought of looking for a story that would be encouraging.  The cover makes the Rick Tramonto look like a very rough and tumble guy.  But, that is what publicity and marketing does--its goal is to make you curiou...

For a week, I thought I felt at a loss with no books to read and review.   It was a good loss, because my load lightened.  I was reminded of a few lessons I've learned along the way.  The biggest of which is:  Don't take on more than one heavy book at a time!  I took on too many in January... So, here's my new list of upcoming books to be reviewed: Two Devotionals for children-- Get Wisdom by Ruth Younts God's Names by Sally Michael I chose these because I like to read devotionals with my children at night--as much for them as for me.  I want to find some solid, biblical books that I don't have any concerns or reservations about.  I read several devotionals last year.  I loved The Jesus Book and Mighty Acts of God and Starr Meade's two devotionals for middle schoolers.  But, none of the others I read for elementary age children stood out to me. Memoir-- Scars of a Chef by Rick Tromonto with Lisa Jackson Rick went from a pit to beco...

One thing my veteran homeschooling friends have told me is that t here is always more we could be doing.  But, that doesn't mean we should.   One of my friends encouraged me this summer to simplify as much as possible.   So, for Sami this year, this is my curriculum: HSP 1 Math- 4 pages or 2 lessons 100 Easy Lessons-1 lesson a day Handwriting without Tears 2-4 pages a day, and after they've finished a book I have them retrace the pages with a sharp crayon or colored pencil for additional practice  The Bible Illustrated for children by Ella Lindvall (1 story a day) Health once a week, 2 short lessons The Writing Spot workbook And she did the Explode the Code A, B, and C books last year.  So, she started Book 1  at the beginning of December  and does two pages a day. . I have just now begun to increase her reading practice.  She reads 2 Bob books or Now I'm reading books or 2 Hooked on Phonics Lessons in addition to the 100...

Last month, I reviewed a book that deeply distressed me about eating disorders.  The answers that the book had were to shift the desire for control over one's life from food to other things like relationships.  The answer wasn't what I was hoping for and what I feel in my heart as I've watched several friends live and struggle with eating disorders. I found this quote in Starved by Nancy Alcorn "The enemy wants you to believe that because you can deny yourself food you have some sort of power over your body and over your life.  But the Bible says that we are slaves to whatever controls us (2 Peter 2:19...Satan is your adversary, your enemy.  He wants you to believe that you are in control of your life, but this is a deception tactic to keep you in bondage.  The way to walk in freedom is to choose to surrender control of your life to God instead of trying to control your life yourself." The hardest part about eating disorders is that they begin, not out of a ...

I recently discovered when I began my search on CBD for an edition of The Pilgrim's Progress to read to my children that there are many editions out there. Pilgrim's Progress was written by John Bunyan while he was in prison in 1678 during a 12-year incarceration. He was in jail because he preached without the permission of the church of England.  The story is told in two parts.  The first is his dream of Christian journeying from his home through the Gates of Heaven to the City.  The second part is the story of his wife, Christiana, and her journey with their children after her husband had been gone a while. So, which do you choose?  Well, I think it depends on what you're looking for--and who you're looking for. If you're looking for a way to share the story with young children age 5-9 years old... ...you could listen to Adventures in Odyssey's rendition.  They did two episodes based on The Pilgrim's Progress .  I loved them.  You can purc...

A few years ago, I read The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.  A friend of mine was told by an Afghan woman once that it was hard to believe these books were fiction because they could have been non-fiction.  These two books draw a very vivid picture of what life was like for women in Afghanistan in the twentieth century.  I remember being shocked by how little I knew about that part of the world when I began reading The Kite Runner .  That shock shook me out of my little American egocentric view of the world with the help of another book, Love in the Driest Season , by Neely Tucker.  All three books I highly recommend if you haven't read them. A new book is going to be released in March which is not fictional.  It is the true story of an Afghan woman and her life during the Taliban regime of the 1990s.  This story is not about history from long ago.  This story is recent history, which makes it all the more heartwr...

My last post alluded to the book I'm going to review today.  One of the first questions I ponder when I begin writing a book review is :Who is the intended audience?  My second question is whether or not I think the intended audience is the best audience for this book, or if I would recommend it to a more specific audience.  That question is the crux of this review. Book to be reviewed:   Who is God? And Can I Really Know Him?  by John Hay and David Webb, published by Apologia From the description of the book's publicity materials:  "the audience is children ages 6 to 14...is nondenominational in content and is suitable for families belonging to any evangelical or mainline church." From my perspective, the best audience for this book is families who are attending nondenominational churches who have children who are 10-13 years old.  I would not recommend this book to:  families who attend denominational churches or with younger children, unle...

I remember when I was pregnant with Autumn being introduced to an idea that was new to me.  The teacher of our Sunday school class brought up the idea that in teaching our children about God from the time they are born, they will always know God.  As a soon to be new parent, I thought that would be amazing.  I would love to guarantee, in a sense, that my children will know and love the Lord. When my daughters were 3 and 5, they told me that they knew God and loved Jesus. They may have been even younger, because I didn't write down the date.  I puzzled about it for a bit and wondered if they were certain.  I questioned them several times.  They told me they were certain. Last year, I read God, Marriage, and Family by Andreas Kostenberger.  As I read the book, I became keenly aware that we cannot "guarantee" how our children will turn out or that they will come to know the Lord.  I questioned what I'd been taught in that Sunday school class s...

Before I had kids, I was generally pretty even keel through the month.  Then, I had kids.  And everything changed.  I struggled with post partum depression after the birth of each of of my children.  It subsided after I stopped nursing, but my hormones never quite returned to normal.   I realized this year that I have really begun to struggle with PMS.  Each month, I would find times when I couldn't keep from crying.  It was irrational.  This year I have also struggled to exercise regularly--which I was able to do after my girls births.  I began talking to friends about PMS and asking how they deal with it in their lives.  One friend shared with me that she plans her week so that it will be less stressful and gives herself more room to breathe.  But, other than that one friend, most women I talked to simply struggle with it like me.   A few weeks ago, I discovered that Lorraine Pintus wrote a book titled  Jump off the ho...

Over the past year and a half, I've read several of Jerry Bridges' books.  This morning I finished reading The Pursuit of Holiness . Sometimes there are books that you know you need to read though they aren't easy for you.  That was the case for this book and me.  Every time I read a chapter I felt encouraged and challenged.  I would put off reading it.  My lack of discipline I suppose.  When I find myself needing to read a book, yet struggling to do so I set a goal of reading a chapter a day.  Within a few days I've made my way through the book. Jerry Bridges books are always challenging and encouraging to me.  In this book, tackles the question of how we pursue holiness by living an obedient life.  He talks about the role of discipline in that pursuit and why we must pursue God and living a holy life.  He clearly says at the beginning that holiness begins with God, not with ourselves.  That is one thing I most appreciate about...