Skip to main content

Wisdom and Grace

One thing I love to do is write a review about a book I enjoy!  Yesterday, I received a book in the mail that I've been looking forward to reading for two months.  


That book is Get Wisdom! by Ruth Younts.  I shared a few months ago that I'd begun to search for devotionals that I like for children.  I found a good one in God's Names by Sally Michael.  This is another good one.  It's very different than God's Names, though.  God's Names is much more of a read aloud book and is less interactive than Get Wisdom!.    


In the beginning of the book, Ms. Younts wisely begins by talking about what Christian wisdom is and how wisdom and the Gospel are related.  She explains that we can't be good enough and we can't earn God's love.  She also explains why we want to be good.  The scriptures in this page are ones that I want to memorize with my children so that they will be written on our hearts.  The next section gives a definition for each of 23 traits (like listening and orderliness), a Bible verse, a prayer, and a symbolic picture to help children remember what the words mean.  The next section includes a lesson plan for each of the traits.  There's a short introductory activity, the memory verse, discussion questions, and often role play suggestions for each trait.  


At the beginning of the book, Ms. Younts says that the best age range for this book is K-4.  I agree with that age range.  This book would be perfect for children's church or another time when you have children of these ages together.  I thought of my church and the times that we have been volunteering to help watch children while the parents are taking classes at a local shelter.  Most of the activities would work for home devotions as well.  Only one of 23 activities wouldn't.


What I liked best about this book is the appropriateness of both the questions and the definitions.  I know that my Kindergarten and Second grade daughters would both be able to answer these questions and understand the definitions.  When I was a classroom teacher, one of the most difficult things was to structure an activity so that all ability levels could participate.  Ms. Younts has done an excellent job with this book of making that possible with this book.  


If you're looking for a book to use once a week for homeschooling, for family devotion times, for Sunday school, or for children's church with K-4 graders and you have multiple age children, I highly recommend this book!   


Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Shepherd Press.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Grieved

Why is it that my generation (I belong to Gen X) and generations after us always seem to think that they know more than the generations that have come before us? Why is there such a lack of respect in our generation for our elders? Why do we think that the liturgy of the church and hymns are irrelevant? It is ironic to me that the emergent movement is saying that the seeker sensitive movement is irrelevant. It seems as if it was only a few years ago when it was the seeker sensitive movement that said to the traditional church that it (the traditional church) was irrelevant. I'm reading a book with all of these big words and I want to be honest--I didn't understand a lot of it. I'm not dumb. I understood most of it, but the author was assuming a lot of background knowledge on the part of the reader. Most of the time I learn deep theological concepts and then I have to store them in my "attic" (as Autumn would say) because there isn't enough room in the ...

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story.  My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard.  Am I questioning too much?  Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way.  But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them.   Recently, I read a book that troubled me.  The book I finished reading was  Guiltless Living  by Ginger Hubbard.  When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...

ESV, NIV, or NASB and then there's the ICB, ESV or NIrV...which should we read?

I am so thankful for my friend's question about the ESV vs. NASB and NIV. I couldn't remember the difference so I went to look it up. I knew that John Piper and Tim Keller, both pastors and authors that I deeply respect have switched over to the ESV. All of the churches that we have attended over the past few years PCA or Reformed Baptist have also switched to the ESV. I did find a blog that explained the differences and that helped me ( http://thefoolishgalatian.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/niv-vs-esv-and-why-piper-switched/ ) I knew why I didn't like the KJV--it was written in the days when writers were paid by a patron and that often slanted the translation. The NKJV, from what I understand, is a revision of the KJV that uses more modern language. Most churches I have attended used the NIV until the ESV came out. The blog I found explained that the ESV is a more literal translation---like the NASB. The NASB is a very literal translation. The ESV has come to be consid...