love to paint

It's interesting to grow up with my kids.  When they were younger, we read many Bible storybooks to them.  But now, they are all old enough to read the Bible themselves!  I have realized the same thing is happening with the books they read.  We are moving into a new era or phase. Magic Treehouse and Imagination Station have had their time in my girls' minds and on their shelves. But, it's time for these to be passed on to their little brother.  I think he'll probably be ready for them by the end of the year. The Imagination Station is a fun and easy to read early chapter book series.  It's basically a Christian Magic Treehouse series.  I've written a few reviews about it before.  I remember loving the first few books of the series.  I was struck by how the young boy and girl treated each other and the people they came across on their adventures.  I was pleased by the series.  But, as the series has gone on, the writing hasn't se...

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...

There are many books that come through our house.  Every once in a while, I find one that I think of as a "Must Read".  If anyone chose to ask me (which I would feel very humbled by), what books I'd recommend, these are the books that would jump to my mind.  I just finished the first one for this year.  There are tears in my eyes and I simply want to cry.  But, I'll get to that in a moment.      "Were you really so gullible?...Were you and your pro-choice coworkers really driven by compassion and tenderness, by motives of truly helping women...      I often find that people don't like my answers.      That is understandable.  My story is not neat and tidy, and it doesn't come wrapped in easy answers.  Oh, how we love to vilify our opponents--from both sides.  How easy to assume that those on "our" side are right and wise and good; how those on "their" side are treacherous and foolish and deceptive....

As I grow older I'm more and more aware of the size of books and their print!  Oops!  I'm getting ahead of myself... I was excited to receive the new Christmas devotional that Tyndale published this year by Nancy Guthrie titled Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room .  I haven't read a Christmas devotional with my kids before so I thought this would be a good year to start.  I didn't glance at the size of this book before I requested it.  It happens to be the size of a 4 x 6 picture (almost to a tee).  It's a little hardback book with tiny print and tiny lines to write on. The devotionals are fine in and of themselves.  Nothing especially stood out to me.  Each devotional day had a story/thought and two or three verses.  She didn't reference passages to be read, but rather single verses.  Scattered throughout the book there are also reproductions of the music for several Christmas hymns and stories about them.  I enjoyed these stories...

On the first page of Almost Heaven , by Chris Fabry, I read this paragraph... "I believe every life has hidden songs that hang by twin threads of music and memory.  I believe in the songs that have never been played for another soul.  I believe they run between the rocks and along the creekbeds of our lives.  These are songs that cannot be heard by anything but the soul.  They sometimes run dry or spill over the banks until we find ourselves wading through them. " p.3 It was a beautiful expression about music and life.  Music makes my husband's heart tick and so this quote resonated with me.  I've come to appreciate how much music is a part of people's souls.  It tells our stories and in it we are able to say things that we might otherwise not be able to say.  With music we cry out in grief and with music we cry out in joy. Almost Heaven is Chris Fabry's third novel set in the town of Dogwood, West Virginia.  It is the story of Billy A...

At night time, we read a Bible story or devotional to our kids. Autumn is now 6 and Sami just turned 4. For several years, we read the stories from the Read Aloud Bible Stories (v.1-4) and the Tell Me Jesus Stories by Ella K. Lindvall. These are my very favorites for 2-5s. I can't wait to read them to Eli soon. After that, we tried a few books, but found they were too old for the girls. My favorite this year has been The Jesus Book and the Read and Share Bible. But, I really like the book we are using right now. It is Big Thoughts for Little People by Kenneth Taylor. It has new pictures (instead of the original ones from the 70s). It is perfect for Sami at 4 yrs old. She was just a little young for The Jesus Book. But, we will soon be done with Big Thoughts, so I'm always on the lookout for a new book for our devotional. I think we will likely go back and read through the whole Read and Share Bible. It is perfect for both girls right now and great for 4-6s. But, o...